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Simulated Test Marketing, Actual Results

Are you frustrated with a product or marketing campaign that your gut says should have been successful but somehow it wasn’t? You’re not alone. Ninety percent of new products or services fail.

In Market New Products Successfully by Kevin J. Clancy, Peter C. Krieg, and Marianne McGarry Wolf talk about how to avoid the problems with conventional approaches to market testing and not become part of this devastating statistic.R.M. Gordon, a marketing professor in business management at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, reviews the book in Marketing Management magazine.

In Market New Products Successfully, the authors introduce a different type of test marketing, the simulated test marketing (STM). As opposed to testing in the real world, as most marketers do, STM can deliver better information and more reliable forecasts.

A good STM system will give you a forecast of market responses to your product and campaign, but also diagnostic information such as how to position, price and advertise the product. The authors articulate popular mistakes to avoid, like setting high expectations for the level of distribution in the first year.

R.M. Gordon gives two thumbs up. This book is "clearly written and easy to understand - without being dumbed down. This is the best practitioner book I've seen on the subject". The book outlines how to use STM, how different STM systems work and the strengths and weaknesses of each.

If you would like to run an STM, we can offer our Fusion suite of interactive 3D applications and environments. Respondents can explore virtual retail stores or interact with products from a shelfset. Clients can present various package designs, alternating store locations, shelfset position and point-of-purchase materials to gauge purchase intent. For more information on Fusion, click here.

Posted on March 19, 2007
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