Editor's note: Tim Huberty vice president, account planner, at Campbell-Mithun Esty, Minneapolis. He is also an adjunct professor at the Graduate School of Business, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn.

Inevitably, after the advertising agency loses its battle to test its own commercials, the worrying really starts. Now, the agency will no longer have any control over the process. The fruit of their labors will be taken from them and put in the hands of - gasp! - an outside testing service. Now all the agency can do is wait, worry and even pray.

The purpose of this article is not to present the pros and cons of outside testing services. Those services have been around for several years now, so, obviously, they're doing something right. They take an advertising agency's creative product - be it in a preliminary or a finalized version - and collect consumer reaction to it. Agencies argue that these "independents" rarely have the full insight to the strategy which went into the campaign (but then, neither do consumers). Clients point out that before paying millions of dollars in media fees, they want some gauge on how the advertising will play with consumers. And to allow the agencies to test their own work would be a blatant conflict of interest. So they turn to independent research suppliers who only have their credibility, reputation and good name riding on the process.

At that point, most agency people, grumble, gripe and throw up their hands: "It's going to be tested. And I can't do anything about it." However, it is also true that most agencies know that their work is going to be tested even before the creatives are given the assignment. And they can do something about it. The purpose of this article is look at those testing services, figure out what makes an ad test "good" and work that learning into the development of future creative.

So this article will remove that victim mentality from the agency and make them active craftsmen once again. I will set forth four simple rules which should help agencies design advertising that "beats the systems." Herein are four simple hints which should help any commercials test better in any system. In fact, it could be said that following these rules from the outset might even make any testing unnecessary!

The testing services

In preparing for this article, several testing services were examined. Several methodologies were scanned. These include:

  • Over-the-Air Testing Services (such as ASI) - Here one or more rough or finished commercials are shown over several geographically-dispersed cable television systems, "hidden" within the context of new TV programming respondents are recruited to watch. Within 24 hours after the program has aired, respondents are called and quizzed about one or more ads.
  • Forced Exposure Systems (such as Millward-Brown or Diagnostic Research) - Here respondents are shown rough or finished commercial a at a shopping mall research location. Respondents are shown one commercial and then asked several questions about it.
  • Audience Sessions (such as McCollum Spielman or ars) - Once again, respondents are recruited to watch "new television programming." This time, however, they will meet at a central location (an auditorium) and review the advertising with hundreds of others.
  • Print Testing Services (such as Mapes and Ross) - The client's ad is "dubbed" into a magazine, like countless other ads. The respondent is given an opportunity to page through the magazine, then asked what ads she or he remembered seeing. Hopefully, one of those will be the client's.
  • Physiological Testing Services (such as The PreTesting Co. or Perception Research) - In these systems, a machine is trained on the body. This machine then "measures" consumer reaction to the ad via tracking movement in the respondent's pupil or even the pitch of his or her voice.

The fact is that no matter which system is used, there are certain rules which enable some ads to test better. Two of these rules focus on the message; two of these rules focus on the presentation. After all, one way of beating the system is to find out what works and then use that learning to your own advantage.

1. "Keep it simple, stupid!"

The old "K-I-S-S" rule has been around for a while. But nothing could be more relevant for today. Too many times, agencies try to be clever for the sake of being clever. The result is a "whiz bang" commercial that gets people talking but doesn't make them remember the product that was advertised.

This tends to be a problem at creative-driven agencies. Special effects dazzle consumers, but the medium becomes the message. Creatives sometimes come to believe that they're artists, that they're making mini-documentaries. Unfortunately, they lose track of reality: They're selling soap.

Sometimes the blame also falls on the client who insists on overloading the commercial with "relevant" messages. For example, I once told a client that people could remember "two, just two, support points." So he said, "I've got two points -- 'Healthy for you and part of a balanced diet' and 'Low in fat and only 70 calories.' " Excuse me, but I count four claims there. Another client demanded that eight separate points be made about her product. She got a goulash commercial which tested abysmally.

Try this simple exercise: The next time someone comes up and starts talking to you, listen to what he says for just 30 seconds, while everything else is going on around you. Then, try to play back everything the next day.

2. "Tell me news. Provide different/new information."

People are busy today. They don't have time to listen to your messages if you're telling them the same thing over and over again. Thus, before even giving creative people their marching orders, clients and account people should come up with some new information. Again, think about that friend that you're talking to. How long is that friendship going to last when you have the same conversation day after day, week after week, month after month?

Sometimes it's hard to come up with new information about your product. Then, the marketing minds have to work that much harder. If they heard it before, it's not worth repeating. Many, many ads test poorly because they ignore this rule. I had a client who saw her ad testing score nosedive over a two-year period. The first ad broke the (norm) bank; the last ad broke the agency's heart. Fact is, the agency kept making the same ad over and over again.

The information has to seem new each time the consumer sees the ad. That's the challenge -- and the scary proposition, given the fact that consumers aren't remembering it because no new information is presented based upon a one time exposure.

3. "What's in it for me?"

Clients love their products. They should. Their task in life is to convince everyone to buy from them. However, no product ever sold merely because it was a good product. Any/every product had to fulfill a need for the consumer.

And yet, so many advertisers and agencies spend 30 seconds thumping their chests about they superior they are. But who cares? Consumers really want to know what's in it for them! "How will this product make my life easier/simpler?" "How will I be a better person?" This is not to say that messages should not concentrate on the product. Rather, it is saying that all messages should be consumer-based. One should not talk about a product unless the message has a direct relevance to the buyer.

A client will mandate that a new product be "gorgeously photographed on the best china plate." Nice touch, except consumer research showed that most people would eat the product on the run. Another client mandated that her rather-technical telecommunications product be thoroughly explained. It was - although people never figured out when to use it. Years ago, I worked on a commercial for a spaghetti sauce. We used vintage silent film clips of people comically eating spaghetti -- as it spun off their forks, into the laps of other surprised onlookers. Moms immediately recognized what was in it for them and they called the client immediately. The commercial was on the air less than one weekend.

4. "I want to see me!"

H.L. Mencken has been quoted many times over: "No one ever went broke overestimating the intelligence of the American people." Maybe that's why more marketers aren't rich. Too many marketers try to sell their products by portraying "ideal" consumers. Maybe they're afraid of being associated with advertising that shows real consumers, the people who are really going to buy the product.

That's why there's always skinny babes selling diet stuff. I'm sure beautiful women do drink diet soft drinks, but last time I checked with the secondary sources, significantly more diet soft drinks are consumed by people with more of a weight problem.

We once tested two commercials for two different products. In one, a young consumer was pictured in a Laundromat trying to do his laundry, next he was shown trying to microwave a meal. Consumers made the connection: "Yeah, somebody like that would buy those things." A few months later, we made another commercial for a low-fat dessert. The presenter was a petite young woman, who probably never weighed more than 90 pounds soaking wet. Consumers never made that connection. "Why would that skinny young thing be eating low fat stuff?"

The fact is, consumers want to see themselves in your commercials. They want to crawl inside their television sets (or their magazines) and see themselves. They don't want to see their "idealized" selves. "That's somebody else," they say.

Conclusion

So, four simple rules for producing advertising that will not only be more fun to watch, but should be more fun when the bills come. Two of these rules focus on your message and two of these rules focus on the execution itself:

1. "Keep it simple, stupid!" - One message is more memorable than several. Truly, less is more.

2. "Tell me news. Provide different/new information." - Tell them something they don't know, that they'll want to hear again and again.

3. "What's in it, for me?" - How will it make my life better?

4. "I want to see me!" - You'll make a better commercial by using the actual people who will be buying your products.

In a nutshell, remember you're talking to real people who want real information about real products that will make things really better for them.

Following these simple rules should help your advertising pass the hardest test of all - the test of time.