Industry Expertise
The AdSAM® measure has been incorporated in hundreds of studies in a variety of industries. However, AdSAM® has extensive experience in:
From car manufacturers and national grocers to national media properties and cosmetics, AdSAM® has worked with a variety of consumer product and service brands at varying points in the strategic planning process.
A few example studies AdSAM® has contributed to are as follows:
Product Development: AdSAM® conducted an international exploratory study with woman to determine unmet beauty and health needs. The findings were used for the development of new products and messaging strategies.
Copy Testing: A major consumer goods company tested the emotional impact of a variety of campaign concepts that scored similarly on rational measures. AdSAM® was able to identify differences in the concepts’ emotional impacts. This emotional distinction provided the client the needed direction for their selection of a campaign direction.
Brand Tracking: A major auto manufacturer tracked the emotional impact of their brand and its competitors’ brands over several years to assess their brand’s progress in making stronger emotional connections with key segments and in emotionally differentiating from its competitors. The findings were utilized to optimize the campaign’s impact by informing adjustments to campaign elements.
Healthcare
AdSAM®’s extensive healthcare experience has included work with patients, physicians and other patient influencers. AdSAM® has been incorporated into research for new treatment conceptualization to the development and refinement of new treatment brands.
A few example studies AdSAM® has contributed to are as follows:
Message Optimization: A treatment brand sought to determine the optimal messages to include in communications with physicians around the world. AdSAM® completed a conjoint analysis with physicians in eight key countries to determine the mix of product messages that would optimize the brand’s share and its emotional connection with physicians. As a result of the study, an overall global message strategy was established for the brand, and each country was provided message adjustments to address country differences.
Market Landscape: A pharmaceutical company sought to determine if there was space in a fairly crowded category for the introduction of a new treatment option. AdSAM® uncovered an underserved, opportunity segment for the company. This segment was emotionally detached from all the current treatment options and felt that they had little control over their treatment.
Concept Testing: A mature treatment brand sought to launch a new campaign in the defense of its leadership position in a crowded category. AdSAM® was utilized to test various concepts and communication elements (i.e., copy, images, colors). By assessing the emotional impact of all stimuli and the reasons for such feelings, AdSAM® was able to determine the concept that best achieved emotional differentiation and identify the adjustments needed to strengthen the communication elements.
Human Resources
Employees bring brands to life. Whether they are building products or interacting with customers, their attitudes and actions can strengthen or compromise the foundation of a brand.
Most companies understand the correlation between employee satisfaction and company success. Those that do will often engage in regular employee research to measure satisfaction and identify opportunities to better serve employees. That said, employees are not always comfortable articulating their perceptions and feelings for fear of the consequences resulting from their honest comments. AdSAM® provides a solution.
AdSAM® is a non-verbal, unintimidating method of collecting employees’ feelings about their work environment, etc. Employees’ emotions are captured without asking them to articulate them, which results in more accurate, less watered-down responses.
An example study:
Brand Assessment: A major daily newspaper wanted to reinvigorate their brand in light of the decline in newspaper readership. AdSAM® was utilized to understand employees’ feelings about the brand, the product and work environment. AdSAM® uncovered that the negative and unempowered feelings felt by the employees were transferring to the tone of newspaper and the actions of customer service. As a result, an internal campaign was launched to improve employee morale before the launch of an external campaign.
Political Communications
Traditional political polling focuses on rational measures like, “If the election were today, who would you vote for?” While questions like this are certainly important and time-tested, such traditional polling does not take into account the actual feelings that lead to changes of heart among voters.
Recognizing this issue, AdSAM® developed its own polling system called SenseUS™. Since September 2007, AdSAM® has been tracking the hearts and minds of voters. Voters’ emotional responses predicted many events of the Presidential Primaries. A few such predictions:
- The downfall of Giuliani and the factors that contributed to his fall from grace
- Neither Romney nor Edwards could win the nomination because they were not making relevant emotional connections with voters
Visit the links below to read about SenseUs in the news: