How to Develop Winning Marketing Claims A Case Study on the Apple Watch
Summary Apple Watch marketing claim key findings We compared two of Apple s marketing claims on the Apple Watch against each other: What you ll learn in this guide We ll show you how to use surveys to test marketing claims by taking the guesswork out of your big decisions. Our guide includes: Tips for getting key metrics Best practices on writing claims testing surveys A real-world example of how our claims testing framework can be applied to your brand oo We found that the claim with a style and personal preference focus scored higher in clarity, a key metric. Identifying what resonates with a target market allows for more targeted advertising and potentially higher likeability and purchase intent: oo Taking a further look, we were able to segment the market into two distinct groups early adopters and those who wait to purchase new products. The differences for early adopters, Apple s target market, and later stage adopters, were significant: oo Early adopters found the claim with a style and personal preference focus more convincing, unique, and memorable. oo They also listed text messaging as the most important for a smartwatch to have, significantly higher than any apps their later adopter counterparts listed. Created by and for the use of SurveyMonkey. This study was not commissioned by Apple or the other companies measured in the study. 2
Table of Contents 5 Marketing Claims Testing Overview 9 12 The Smartwatch Category Apple Watch Study: Marketing Claims Test 16 19 Market Segmentation Taking It to the Next Level 3
Methodology What? SurveyMonkey fielded a Marketing Claim Test study on two Apple marketing claims to demonstrate how to successfully test marketing claims. How? The survey was fielded through the SurveyMonkey panel. Respondents represented the general U.S. population. A total sample size of 417 was used for this study. When? We fielded the survey from 5/1/15 5/4/15. 4
Marketing Claims Testing Overview 5
5 benefits of testing claims with surveys Test various claims Filter out the Refine your Test with Save money quickly and easily A survey allows you to present a wide range of ideas to your target market, and get quantitative feedback fast. ineffective claims Let your target market decide what works and what falls flat by asking them directly to investigate what customers want. good ideas If you test a bunch of concepts through a survey, you can quickly see which ones are rising to the top. diverse audiences It s much easier to use surveys than expensive focus groups to reach different demographic groups in your target market and segment their responses. After you ve launched your first concept testing survey, take a look at the results and see if any ideas tanked. Now imagine having spent months and thousands of dollars developing those ideas. 6
How to determine marketing claim success The quickest way to determine a winning claim is to use a standard scoring model. This is an example scorecard that incorporates several key success metrics depending on the type of claim you re testing and how you define a successful claim. Top 2 Box: The percentage of respondents who answered the two most positive answer options A B Attributes Tested Step 1: Define your key success metrics. Purchase Intent Statistical Significance Appeal Statistical Significance Uniqueness Statistical Significance % % % % % % Step 3: Use the top 2 answer choices for each question to more easily compare how each claim performed. Step 2: Set the number of metrics depending on the claim you re testing and how you define success. Relevance Statistical Significance % % Average Score % % *Z-test scores at 95% confidence interval Created by SurveyMonkey Step 5: Determine which claims performed better by using stat testing, a calculation that shows if two numbers or scores have a significant, or big enough, difference. This shows if one concept truly resonates with consumers more than the others. Step 4: Compare the average scores of each claim to determine which one performed best based on the success metrics you chose. 7
Key success metrics Here are several key metrics you can incorporate into a claim test: Purchase Intent: Appeal: Recall: Uniqueness: Whether your claim motivates respondents to buy The overall appeal of your claim is a strong indicator of purchase intent A gauge of how well your target audience remembers your claim How different one claim is from the others Relevance: Perception of Quality: Message Clarity: Believability: A way to determine if your claim resonates with respondents If your claim is perceived to be for a high quality brand/product How clearly your claim messaging is understood by respondents How trustworthy your claim is perceived to be 8
The Smartwatch Category 9
Apple s entering a new market... Do you own any of the following devices? 75% 80%...but they ve got high category recognition 100% of respondents knew what a smartwatch is: 50% A smartwatch is a computerized wristwatch with touchscreen display and functionality that is enhanced beyond timekeeping. 20% 23% Many smartwatches run mobile apps, while a smaller number of models run a mobile operating system. * 0% An activity/fitness tracker (e.g. Fitbit, Garmin, etc.) 3% A smartwatch (Apple Watch, pebble, etc.) No, I don t own either of these devices *Definition provided to respondents. 10
And Apple has the highest brand recognition Based on your current knowledge, which of the following companies make smartwatches? 100% 90% 93% 80% 70% 60% 23% 50% 40% 40% 30% 20% 10% 18% 18% 13% 13% 11% 11% 4% 0% Apple SAMSUNG Android Google Sony LG Motorola Pebble Other 11
Apple Watch Study: Marketing Claims Test 12
Apple claims test summary Background: Apple released the Apple Watch for pre-orders on April 10, 2015. We used SurveyMonkey to test the effectiveness of two of the marketing claims found on the Apple website. Goal: Put two in-field claims head to head to see which one performs better. Key insights: We found that the claim with a style and personal preference focus scored higher in clarity, a key metric. We then segmented the market into two distinct groups to see which claim resonated best with the target market. 13
The 2 claims Claim 1: Person and technology relationship focus Claim 2: Style and personal preference focus Our most personal device yet. Apple Watch represents a new chapter in the relationship people have with technology. It s our most personal product yet, because it s the first one designed to be worn. vs There s an Apple Watch for everyone. A device you wear is vastly different from one you keep on a desk or carry in your pocket. It s more than a tool. It s a true expression of your personal taste. So we designed Apple Watch to reflect a wide range of styles and preferences. Because we want you to love wearing it as much as you love using it. 14
Apple Watch scorecard We found that the claim with a style and personal preference focus (Claim 2) scored higher in all key metrics: Claim Test Scorecard (Top 2 Box Scores) Claim 1: Person and technology relationship focus (A) Claim 2: Style and personal preference focus (B) Attributes Tested n=417 n=417 Purchase Intent Statistical Significance Believability Statistical Significance Likeability Statistical Significance Clarity Statistical Significance Top 2 Box = Extremely likely + Very likely 11% 12% Top 2 Box = Extremely appealing + Very appealing 36% 37% Top 2 Box = Extremely unique + Very unique 33% 37% (A) Top 2 Box = Extremely relevant + Very relevant 33% 41% Average Score 28% 32% *Z-test scores at 0.95 confidence interval 15
Market Segmentation 16
Segmenting responses reveals additional data Taking a further look, we segmented the market into two distinct groups: early adopters and those who wait to purchase new products. Identifying what resonates with the target market allows for more targeted advertising and higher likeability and purchase intent. I usually try new products before other people do. Strongly agree Agree Strongly disagree Disagree Early adopters Later-stage adopters 17
Identifying what resonates with the target market The differences for early adopters, Apple s target market, were significant: They found Claim 2 clearly more convincing, unique, and memorable. They also listed text messaging and phone calls as the most important for a smartwatch to have, higher than any apps their later adopter counterparts listed. 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 23% 10% 18% 15% 13% 10% 5% 0% Confusing Late Early 37% 55% 38% 56% Convincing Irritating Unique Memorable Later stage adopters found it more irritating 35% 51% 25% 20% 15% 0% 11% 21% Text Messaging Late 16% 22% Phone Calls Early 16% 15% Calendar 22% 17% Activity tracking 1% 2% Camera remote 6% 7% 6% 1% Music Maps Instagram Later stage adopters selected activity tracking as their top choice 18
Taking It to the Next Level 19
Going beyond your first test Claims testing goes beyond asking respondents to rank and rate claims against one another. Take it a step further: Ask respondents open-ended questions to get the "Why?" behind their answers. Track your performance over time by setting up recurring surveys. Need some help selecting metrics? We can help. SurveyMonkey can provide you a list of all the available key metrics you can test and get respondents to rate claims on. The possibilities are endless: Package testing, logo testing, name testing, claims testing...the list goes on. Our concept testing framework spans a variety of categories all you have to do is provide us the stimuli, and we can make that concept Testing happen. Contact us to get started 20
Bring Your Best Ideas to Market with Claims Testing Learn more about testing your marketing claims by contacting SurveyMonkey today: Contact us to get started 2015 SurveyMonkey. SurveyMonkey, the SurveyMonkey logo, SurveyMonkey Business and the SurveyMonkey Business logo are trademarks of SurveyMonkey Inc. and its affiliates. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. 21