For leading modern brands, functional efficacy is usually a given – their real point of difference from the crowd is where they sit emotionally. Differences are often very subtle and B7’s Adcept technique can examine these with depth and detail in qualitative research in a way that traditional research techniques cannot match.
Within any product sector, the leading brands tend to stand for the same sort of emotions. For example most whiskey brands stand for maturity and discernment while washing powders compete over caring for one’s family. The key issue for brands in these sectors is to find what type of discernment or what type of care? The differences are almost always subtle and nuanced.
Unfortunately traditional research techniques lack the detail and subtlety needed to uncover and explore emotional areas. Concept statements only give you a handful of idea areas to examine and therefore cannot provide the pinpoint emotional positioning sought. Concept statements also suffer from being unfamiliar and unrealistic and lacking in emotion. B7’s Adcept technique is different – Adcepts ‘get’ emotion.
Because our Adcepts are in the familiar language of brands – advertising – consumers find them easy to relate to and asses. The format also allows us to explore different emotional tones – is our whiskey’s discernment modern or traditional, serious or humorous, internally or externally focused etc? Because we show consumers up to 80 Adcepts in a focus group, we are able to explore an emotional territory from a number of different angles. The volume of material combined with the 360 degree emotional view allows an idea to be explored with a depth and precision not offered by any other existing technique.
B7’s founder, Paul Tidmarsh, says “Defining and owning the right emotional territory is fundamental to a brand’s success – we’ve spent 10 years developing our Adcept methodology into the most effective way of unearthing and then precisely defining the emotional positioning for some of the world’s most successful brands.”
