What Is Market Testing?

Market testing is not test marketing!

Test marketing is one of many forms of market testing others include simulated test
market, informal sale, minimarket, rollout.

Test marketing is also a much less common form now due to cost and time commitments
and other drawbacks.

Where We Are Today in Market Testing

Scanner systems allow for immediate collection of product sales data.

Mathematical sales forecasting models are readily available that can run on a relatively
limited amount of data.

We are building quality in, testing the marketing components of the product at early
stages (ads, selling visuals, service contracts, package designs, etc.) rather than testing the
whole product at the end.

Increased competition puts greater pressure on managers to accelerate product cycle time.

Market testing is a team issue, not solely in the province of the market research
department.

Market Tests Must Have Teeth

Managers must be willing to take action based on market test results.

Negative market test results cannot be ignored just because the team is reluctant to kill
the CEOs pet project!

Insights gained at this stage include:

Solid sales forecasts with greater accuracy.

Diagnostic information to revise or refine any aspect of the launch.

To gather this information and not use it is asking for trouble!

How Market Testing Relates to the Other Testing Steps

Two Key Values Obtained from Market Testing

Solid forecasts of dollar and unit sales volume.

Diagnostic information to allow for revising and refining any aspect of the launch.

Deciding Whether to Market Test

Any special twists on the launch? (limited time or budget, need to make high volume
quickly)

What information is needed? (expected sales volumes, unknowns in manufacturing

process, etc.)

Costs (direct cost of test, cost of launch, lost revenue that an immediate national launch
would have brought)

Nature of marketplace (competitive retaliation, customer demand)

Capability of testing methodologies (do they fit the managerial situation at hand)

Types of Information That May Be Lacking

Manufacturing process: can we ramp-up from pilot production to full scale easily?

Vendors and resellers: will they do as they have promised in supporting the launch?

Servicing infrastructure: adequate?

Customers: will they buy and use the product as expected?

Cannibalization: what will be the extent?

Methods of Market Testing, and Where Used

Speculative Sale

Often used in business-to-business and consumer durables, similar to concept and product
use tests.

Give full pitch on product, answer questions, discuss pricing, and ask:

If we make this product available as I have described it, would you buy it?

Often conducted by regular salespeople calling on real target customers.

Conditions for Speculative Sale

Where industrial firms have very close downstream relationships with key buyers.

Where new product work is technical, entrenched within a firm's expertise, and only little
reaction is needed from the marketplace.

Where the adventure has very little risk, and thus a costlier method is not defendable.

Where the item is new (say, a new material or a completely new product type) and key
diagnostics are needed. For example, what set of alternatives does the potential buyer see,
or what possible applications come to mind first.

Simulated Test Market (STM)

Create a false buying situation and observe what the customer does.

Follow-up with customer later to assess likely repeat sales.

Often used for consumer nondurables.

Simulated Test Market Procedure

Mall intercept.

Self-administered questionnaire.

Advertising stimuli.

Mini-store shopping experience.

Post-exposure questionnaire.

Receive trial package.

Phone followup and offer to buy more.

Possible Drawbacks to STMs

Mathematical complexity

False conditions

Possibly faulty assumptions on data, such as number of stores that will make the product
available

May not be applicable to totally new-to-the-market products, since no prior data

available.

Does not test channel member response to the new product, only the final consumer

Controlled Sale by Informal Selling

Used for business-to-business products, also consumer products sold directly to end
users.

Train salespeople, give them the product and the selling materials, and have them make
calls (in the field, or at trade shows).

Real presentations, and real sales, take place.

Controlled Sale by Direct Marketing

More secrecy than by any other controlled sale method.

The feedback is almost instant.

Positioning and image development are easier because more information

can be sent and more variations can be tested easily.

It is cheaper than the other techniques.

The technique matches today's growing technologies of credit card

financing, telephone ordering, and database compilation.

Controlled Sale by Minimarkets

Select a limited number of outlets each store is a minicity or minimarket.

Do not use regular local TV or newspaper advertising, but chosen outlets can advertise it
in its own flyers.

Can do shelf displays, demonstrations.

Use rebate, mail-in premium, or some other method to get names of purchasers for later
follow-up.

Controlled Sale by Scanner Market Testing

Audit sales from grocery stores with scanner systems over a few markets or national
system.

Sample uses:

Can use the data as a mini-market test.

Can compare cities where differing levels of sales support are provided.

Can monitor a rollout from one region to the next.

Minimarkets and Scanner Testing: IRIs Behavior Scan and Info Scan

Cable TV interrupt privileges

Full record of what other media (such as magazines) go into each household

Family-by-family purchasing

Full record of 95 percent of all store sales of tested items from the check-out scanners

Immediate stocking/distribution in almost every store is assured by the research firm.

Result: IRI knows almost every stimulus that hits each individual family, and it knows almost
every change that takes place in each family's purchase habits.
The Test Market

Several test market cities are selected.

Product is sold into those cities in the regular channels and advertised at representative
levels in local media.

Once used to support the decision whether to launch a product, now more frequently used
to determine how best to do so.

Pros and Cons of Test Marketing

Advantages:

Risk Reduction

monetary risk

channel relationships

sales force morale

Strategic Improvement

marketing mix

production facilities

Disadvantages:

Cost ($1 mill+)

Time (9-12 months+)

hurt competitive advantage

competitor may monitor test market

competitor may go national

Competitor can disrupt test market

A Risk of Test Marketing:

Showing Your Hand

Kellogg tracked the sale of General Foods' Toast-Ems while they were in test market.
Noting they were becoming popular, they went national quickly with Pop-Tarts before the
General Foods' test market was over.

After having invented freeze-dried coffee, General Foods was test-marketing its own
Maxim brand when Nestle bypassed them with Taster's Choice, which went on to be the
leading brand.

While Procter & Gamble were busy test-marketing their soft chocolate chip cookies, both
Nabisco and Keebler rolled out similar cookies nationwide.

The same thing happened with P&Gs Brigade toilet-bowl cleaner. It was in test
marketing for three years, during which time both Vanish and Ty-D-Bol became
established in the market.

General Foods' test market results for a new frozen baby food were very encouraging,
until it was learned that most of the purchases were being made by competitors Gerber,
Libby, and Heinz.

The Current Role of Test Markets

Despite the cost and time commitments, traditional test markets still are used, especially
if risks and uncertainties are high.

Starbucks did traditional test markets for Via instant coffee, as the risks were judged to be
high and a failure could hurt overall Starbucks brand equity.

Was Via perceived as high-quality and worthy of the Starbucks brand?

Were Starbucks taste features delivered by an instant?

Were Starbucks customers skeptical of any instant?

Did Starbucks customers like the individual packet format?

The Rollout

Select a limited area of the country (one or several cities or states, 25% of the market,
etc.) and monitor sales of product there.

Starting areas are not necessarily representative

The company may be able to get the ball rolling more easily there

The company may deliberately choose a hard area to sell in, to learn the pitfalls
and what really drives success.

Decision point: when to switch to the full national launch.

Types of Rollout

By geography (including international)

By application

By influence

By trade channel

Patterns of Information Gained During Rollout

Risks of Rollout

May need to invest in full-scale production facility early.

Competitors may move fast enough to go national while the rollout is still underway.

Problems getting into the distribution channel.

Lacks national publicity that a full-scale launch may generate.

Probable Future for Market Testing Methods