How to set up brand and advertising research

Most brand and advertising research fails before a single response comes in. Not because the analysis is wrong, but because the setup already decided the answer.

A leading introduction, a target audience that is too broad, or one option presented better than the others will all produce a clean-looking result that means nothing. Four things to get right first:

1. Gather and organize your assets

• Asset collection: before diving into the survey creation, gather all the assets you want to test. This includes images, videos, text, and audio files.
• Templates to the rescue: ensure a cohesive and professional look for your survey with the use of our provided templates. These are especially handy in ensuring a uniform presentation across different asset types.
• Quantity does matter: while we suggest opting for 4 distinct options per survey for clarity and brevity, our platform can accommodate up to 8.

Present every option the same way. Same size, same background, same context. If one logo sits on a mockup and the others sit on white, you are testing mockups.

2. Think about your target market

• Narrow beats broad: Testing with the general population tells you what the general population prefers. If your customer is a 30 to 45 year old woman buying premium skincare, the general population is not your audience and their preference is not your answer.
• Leverage goahead's attributes: our platform offers the ability to target based on attributes such as age, location, gender, and education. Use these to your advantage.
• Automated matching: with goahead, once you've defined your target, the platform will autonomously pair your survey with the most relevant participants.

3. Seek internal perspectives

• Valuable: think about whose opinion within your organization or network you value. Internal feedback can offer a different perspective from your target audience.
• Who to consider: this could be colleagues, supervisors, clients, or mentors. Their feedback will be separated from the primary results, ensuring clarity in analysis.
• Internal feedback is reported separately from the audience result and never mixed into it. Colleagues know the brief, have watched the work evolve, and often know who made which version. That is useful context and it is not audience evidence.

4. Prepare for an accurate introduction

• Set up: the introduction to your survey sets the tone. If participants aren't given a context, they might not view the content in the intended light.
• Check this example: imagine presenting four logos that utilize the Comic Sans font. Without context, participants might view them neutrally. However, if they knew it was for a sophisticated law firm software as opposed to a children's toy brand, their feedback would undoubtedly differ.
• Clarity ensures accuracy: always make sure that your introduction gives just enough information to guide the participant, without leading or influencing their perspective.
• Simple rule: give enough context that the participant understands what they are looking at, and nothing that suggests which answer you want.

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How many options should you test? Four is the practical sweet spot and goahead supports up to eight. Every option you add splits the vote further, so an eight-way test needs a considerably larger audience than a head-to-head to separate the winner from the pack. Shortlist internally first, then test the finalists. In summary, a validation research isn't just a set of questions; it's a meticulously planned tool to gather actionable insights.

You can find our asset templates here.