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Concept CreationTop Ten Tips

10 Years of Predictive Markets

March 2015By BrainJuicer®

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I love innovation and testing new ideas but sometimes I feel like I’m starting my concept with an insight statement just to adhere to an old-fashioned rule; if only there was a more concise, realistic way to introduce an idea.

An idea should be based on an insight but stimulus does not need to contain an opening insight statement. If it helps you to focus, start by writing the insight at the top but once you finish the rest of the concept delete the statement before testing.

The insight that sparked the idea should be built into the rest of concept, it should be obvious what need the product meets.

Excluding insight statements won’t make a huge difference to your scores in most cases (our last with / without parallel showed no net difference across 17 concepts and +0.96 correlation between cells)…

….but “Without” is more realistic and predictive: in the same parallel, removing insight statements improved the correlation with market share from +0.63 to +0.77. Discrimination was also improved. Insight statements just introduce noise.

Where to start: Insight statement

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Aim for 25 words maximum. Be clear, focused, concise.

The traditional 80-word limit is too long – you rarely get the chance to make such a long pitch to consumers in the real world

Longer concepts take longer to read and accept (obviously). More surprisingly, when long concepts are rejected we see they are rejected as quickly as shorter versions of the same ideas.Excess text is a barrier, not a driver

Successful 5-star concepts are about 10% shorter than those in the bottom half of the database

Be as brief as possible…

“I am sorry these concepts are so long. I didn’t have time to make them shorter.”

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25 words is the sweet-spot but beware going much shorter

Incredibly short concepts (under 20 words) or those with no text at all tend to test poorly.

Short, cryptic metaphors are risky at screening stage – most fail

…but no briefer

Word count range Average Performance (database %ile)

<10 27

10-19 28

20-29 43

30-39 35

40-49 32

50-59 36

60+ 28

BrainJuicer® experiments on 187 concepts

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Appropriate visuals help explain the idea swiftly and emotionally

If you have a pack shot then include it to maximise realism. If not, don’t worry – concepts without packs score just as well on average

Either way, we recommend including one further visual to help bring the idea and its benefit to life. This could be an ingredient image or a simple sketch of how the product is used

This should remove the need for some text(see point 4)

More show, less tell

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As with text, don’t use too many images for one concept

Collages and complex diagrams can confuse and overwhelm, leading to rejection

Avoid visual overload

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If you know what the brand will be then include it; if not it’s still helpful totest unbranded initially

There is no net disadvantage for unbranded concepts – on average they score the same as branded concepts, respondents assume that the final product will get a reasonableand appropriate brand added

Addition of brand may help or hinder the final idea and it’s not simply down to brand size

Brand if you can

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Unbranded Cherry Cider Branded Cherry Cider

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A cherry cider concept tested worse with Carling branding (big brand but slightly inappropriate for the product?)

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Unbranded IPA Branded IPA

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…while Brewdog (a much smaller brand) boosted an IPA beer concept

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Don’t include variables which few shoppers consider at the point of purchase, like full lists of ingredients

Include price if known but take care to frame it appropriately – a standalone price may be misleading for some categories so relative pricing or a reference point may be necessary (e.g. “the same price as original Snickers”)

Don’t assume that respondents will understand weight in grams / ounces for all products, you may need to use more intuitive scaling e.g. number of typical servings, hand shown reaching for pack for scale

Consider context

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If a feature or ingredient is likely to be polarising – go with it, be clear about its inclusion and find out how people feel about it. This is a safe environment to test extremes. You can always test an alternative version that excludes it entirely too

Avoid smuggling it in as a detail or half-heartedly – the attempt to dilute rejection may end up dampening all desire, even arouse suspicion

No “with a touch of cream” but “made with real cream”

“Mild chilli” has little left for either chilli lovers or haters. Better to have a spicy variant and a non-spicy variant or pick a side, don’t sit on the fence with one that tries to be both

Weasel out the weasel words

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Consumers know they can’t have it all, all of the time. Extended reasons to believe won’t usually help a bold claim

Consider what could be sacrificed – overtly - to boost the central benefit and make for a more emotive, honest claim

Try supporting 1 or 2 elements at the expense of another:

“The most delicious doughnut you’ll ever try and made with 100% natural ingredients. We’re sorry about the calories!”

“Our beer isn’t the cheapest but you’ll appreciate the quality of ingredients and excellent taste.”

Make a sacrifice

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Try to write as you’d speak (to a customer) Avoid: jargon, slang, repetition

It should flow, make sure you direct the readerSome details can be left for the end (e.g. bullet points of key variants, price) but avoid scattered text boxes with ambiguous order of priority

Read it out loud, ideally to someone unfamiliar with the idea.

If it feels odd to either party then re-write it

Read this first

Then this

Then this last

Be proud to read it out loud

Start here?Or here?

Is this bit key?Optional details?

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1. Insight statement (baked in)

2. Word count ok? Aim for c.25 words

3. Non-pack images – one cohesive visual to bring the idea to life

4. Pack image – include if available

5. Brand – ditto

6. Price – ditto (if you’re sure about it)

7. Context – any reference point needed for e.g. scale or price?

8. Any weasel words / half-hearted claims to remove?

9. Any attributes which could be sacrificed overtly?

10. Read it out loud

Concept Checklist

Now get testing – Good Luck!!

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Turning human understanding into business advantage

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