Written by Marija Smudja, Advetising Insights director at EyeSee

Only 7% of companies are choosing to keep investing in marketing, while others are cutting down advertising budgets and putting on hold future campaigns for the time being. With people still unsure about the forthcoming, investing in ads and creating anything but an impeccable and impactful commercial may seem daunting to advertisers.

Before they even hit the screens, video ads see a number of developing phases, and testing material during these seemingly rudimentary stages can be the most efficient way to understand the true potential of an advertisement.

Pre-testing ads during development prevents poor performance

An animatic is a sequence of storyboard images with sound effects and music edited in, which aims to illustrate what the final advertisement will look like. However, many brands skip over this stage in the process of testing ads. Developing animatics and seeing what works with the viewers and what doesn’t, is a lot more budget-friendly than going through the entire production process only to end up with an underperforming ad. It offers a plethora of performance insights and, importantly – before the commercial is even produced. Being somewhat of an advertisement blueprint, it allows us to understand how the viewers are reacting to the scenario, if they understand the message, is the lighting good, is the music suitable, is product placement adequate, does the tagline make sense, and so on.

Introducing changes at this stage is a lot smoother than attempting to adjust an already produced, filmed, and edited ad. 

Animatics insights are a good indicator of final video success

The two main concerns brands have when it comes to testing animatics is the hesitation around testing an unfinished version of the ad and spending too much time and money doing so.

Even with studies confirming that pre-testing at this stage can be as insightful as testing already entirely produced video ads, many advertisers believe that the animated rough form just doesn’t compare to the final and polished ad. Although the reluctance is understandable, we found that animatic pre-testing results are just as effective at predicting the impact potential and the performance of the commercial when compared to a finalized ad.

The other concern marketers tend to have is that pre-testing animated ads is time-consuming. Simply skipping over a step in the process and getting a commercial out as quickly as possible may seem cost-effective. However, animatics can be made in as little as three days, tested over a span of a week, and still provide insights that can cut down redundant work – making it not only time but also money-saving. Many companies develop and plan commercial ideas months in advance, which is precisely when they can and should go through the pre-testing process.

Here are some best practices when it comes to animatic testing across industries:

• Industries like Insurance, Banking, Telecommunications, or Automotive industry invest a lot of money in advertising aimed towards building a loyal and firm relationship with the consumer. With no room to make costly yet underperforming ads, testing them while they’re still in the works saves effort, budgets, and time.
• Brands in the FMCG industry tend to have a slightly different business approach, and constant pre-testing of products might seem like a waste of resources. However, strategic changes within the company, like new pack re-designs, new product developments, etc. should be tested in the animatic form, along with classic shopper research, to gain valuable insights into the best ways of communicating what you’re selling.
• If any brand decides to change their target group or change the tone in communication to the consumer, testing animatics can validate if and how it should be done before the brand uses up its funds in a project that can possibly damage its image.

To understand the potential of animatics and the next steps brands should take to optimize the commercial before it gets aired, in addition to conventional methods, like surveys – we use eye-tracking and facial coding. Tracking respondents’ gaze provides insights into whether people grasp the message, and if the product placement and branding are well-executed. On the other hand, measuring respondents’ emotions through facial expressions allow for a more comprehensive insight into what drives positive or negative emotions, where the attention drops, if the viewer is engaged in the narrative, etc.

On top of all of this, using a combination of behavioral methods ensures a precise analysis of every second of the ad and enables singling out its strengths and weaknesses.

Seek into further ad fine-tuning instead of giving it a go/no-go

Although it may seem like consumers can’t always grasp the full potential of the ad while it’s still in the works, by using methods like facial coding, we can predict an ad’s viral potential 2 times better than any combination of survey questions.

Despite often being seen as a creativity buzzkill, pre-testing ads is an opportunity for further fine-tuning and a deeper understanding of consumer behavior. It can even open doors for more creative and original concepts, rather than using the same generic ideas that are thought to elevate ads’ potential. Deciding to implement universal elements that are proven to work well and resonate with the consumer just to boost better results in the pre-test isn’t the best strategy.  

Final thoughts:

• Often seen as a waste of resources, animatic testing actually saves budget and time – our clients re-test the same ad in animatic form at least 2-3 times to ensure a smooth full-up production
• The final execution of the commercial is insight-driven – people can overestimate their interest in advertised products (even by 85%) when methods like facial coding show the actual interest is 15%
• Pre-testing animatics is an opportunity to tweak the ad to perfection!

Interesting in learning more about animatics pre-testing? Reach out to us at [email protected]