Measuring Message Appeal

One client asked us to hone their message to a target audience of engineers; specifically, how manufacturers relate to engineers. AIM market research produced four concepts that their targets were interested in: A company that will be there for them for the long term, a company that would be responsive to problems when they arose, and two other messages. These messages were then tested with specific customers and non-customers.

AIM produced the resulting advertising using what we now call our “eavesdropping” technique. It is based on everyone’s innate interest in “listening in” on conversations. The spread ads pictured two people talking, and the long headlines featured a direct quote highlighting the messages that the research uncovered. When the ads broke, the client was overwhelmed with responses. “That’s just what I was looking for,” was a message we heard back from the client’s prospects. In an independent readership study, the ads scored as the most read ad in the issues where it appeared. Often message testing research leads directly to proper execution of advertising.