Securing Rapid Results with AdPulse

What would you do if you had a very serious and complex message about a very serious and complex issue? And what if that message had to be delivered to and be clearly understood by a very wide and diverse audience? These are the questions that TransLink, Metro Vancouver's transit authority, was faced with in designing a critical communications campaign.

In less than one year's time, Vancouver will be hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics. With thousands of sports enthusiasts expected for the big event, the city needs to be ready. Transportation. Security. Communications. All are significant issues that TransLink is facing as it prepares to welcome the world on its busses and trains.

Sheila Hartmann, Manager of Marketing Research at TransLink, sat down with Ipsos to discuss how AdPulse – a made-in-BC advertising research product – is helping TransLink secure the 2010 Games for a made-in-BC success.

What was the research issue you wanted to address?

With the Olympics coming next year, we have a heightened need to ensure security on our transit system, both in the build up to the Games and during the Games themselves. Our communications, transportation, and security teams – including partners at the federal level – collaborated on a system-wide advertising campaign that would help raise the security standard on our busses and trains and get people to understand the need to be alert to security issues.

The problem was, how could we build an effective campaign that quickly communicates everything we need – in a memorable and engaging way? We worked with our creative teams on some ideas but had to be sure that the ideas stuck and resonated. We wanted to test these ideas but needed to do so quickly, efficiently, and with detailed accuracy. That's why AdPulse intrigued us.

Why did AdPulse suit your needs?

I had conducted some research on the products and options available to us. Because we have a long-standing relationship with Ipsos, I looked into what products they offered. We had ruled out a more traditional focus group because of some of the constraints associated. But because AdPulse is conducted on-line with a broad cross-section of respondents and good normative data, we felt it was the product that was going to help us best measure our success. And because it can be conducted very quickly, we knew we could have results on a short turn around and quickly turn any concerns around with our creative teams.

What were the findings?

We were testing very preliminary line advertising, much of it in the concept phase. So we began testing with an unfinished ad and not a final, polished product. We really needed to make sure the ideas connected with our audiences and that they understood them before we further refined the creative to the final stages. Because if not, it was back to the drawing board.

Thanks to the fast and detailed analysis provided by AdPulse, we got the information we needed. We were of course very pleased that people understood our ads, that they "got" the concept and found it entertaining and memorable.

But we also found out that we needed to make our brand more prominent. That included the brand of our partners at Transport Canada. This campaign is not just about dollars. It is about ensuring safety during the Olympics and building a sense of community responsibility for the security of our Games. You just can't put a price on that. And people needed to know where that message came from and feel it is authentic and has authority.

Knowing that our concept worked and that we needed stronger brand presence, this meant we could translate the concept into something more real, something more final. We tweaked and strengthened our brand presence and have moved forward on the creative to produce the final product. Soon, they will be appearing in our stations, platforms and trains as we get closer to the Olympics.

How did AdPulse and Ipsos benefit your business?

AdPulse delivered fast results with impressive detail. It was a product that helped fulfill our needs. But the people at Ipsos made just as important an impact. They took the time to go through each finding verbatim. And because we were working in partnership with many parties – specifically security and transportation officials – this helped to create and build confidence amongst our group, making it easier for the nonadvertising and non-marketing types around the table to understand which communication objective had been met and which needed improvement. Confidence and communication is vital to security, and AdPulse and Ipsos delivered just that.

I would look to use AdPulse again on our message testing, specifically for unfinished ads that require a fast turn around to ensure the creative is getting the point across. It worked for us on this critical issue and I'd recommend it to other organizations needing quick results which still include great attention to detail

AdPulse – A new advertising research solution in Canada

Use AdPulse to test your creative ideas quickly and cost-effectively to make better decisions, launch successful campaigns and minimize your risk while maximizing your investment dollars. Testing ideas before launch will focus resources and production on your best ideas.

AdPulse is ideal for evaluating ads when budgets and/or timing is tight but advertisers still want a sense of whether they are going in the right direction.