Test Marketing

Test Marketing

Silk and Urban (1978) presents that test marketing is a prominent step in the New Product Development process of ‘branded, low-priced, frequently purchased consumer products’. This step enables the experimented launch of the new product allowing the devised marketing strategy to be analysed and sometimes the product intended to expose problem is that otherwise would be undetected (Silk & Urban, 1978).

Marketing plans are primarily exposed to a carefully chosen sample of the population before deciding whether to reject it prior to its full scale launch. Drawing upon Silk and Urban (1978), Test Marketing is a experiment conducted in a field laboratory ‘comprising of actual stores and real-life buying situations, without the buyers knowing they are participating in an evaluation exercise.’ Depending on the quality and quantity of sales data required for the final decision, test marketing may last from few weeks to several months (Business Dictionary, 2013).

Examples in the Industry

In 2013 Adidas delivered a plan to reinvent their whole marketing strategy across all their brands. It will introduce a new sport performance “Home Court” area to key stores in January 2014 to showcase the technology behind products. The company has been highlighting the innovation behind its products in football and athletics campaigns this year in an attempt to differentiate itself from rival brands. Adidas is launching this Test Marketing strategy prior to the World Cup that will create increased sales due to the re-launch (Marketing Week, 2013) 

Marketing Week (2013) presented that ‘Adidas believed it has become too reliant on Barcelona FCB footballer Lionel Messi to broaden its reach at the expense of the brand itself. It is placing a greater focus on expanding its retail estate in the hopes of crafting a brand experience it can scale.’

Test marketing advisory is a business within itself and is prominent in the sport industry, with organisations such as PreTesting Group, offering companies advice on this stage of the NDP.

Reel Feel Test Marketing Strategy

There will be test market cites implemented in three main cities in the United Kingdom including London, Manchester and Glasgow as these is are the main shopping cities with the highest number on consumers visiting throughout the year according to a review by the Telegraph (2007). Scotland Food and Drink (2013) highlights the importance of a carefully chosen cite as this allows accurate monitoring due to a competitive buying environment.

The chosen outlets within the cite will include three main stores that provide athletic training shoes like the Reel Fit performance trainer; Footlocker, JD Sports and DW Sport shops. These stores are primarily related to sport performance sales and are used Nike and Adidas and therefore attract consumers.

This test market will be a ‘Controlled Test’ as it is the cheapest form however caution must be taken when analysing test results as minimal adverting will be carried out (Scotland Food and Drink, 2013). It will run for 8-12 months with the aim to follow the AIDA approach (Blakey, 2011). The marketing strategy will also have the aim to attract female consumers due to the bright colours available and the ‘no fuss’ gym approach due to the lack of laces that females look for in a training shoe.

Information that will be collected from the test market will include; number of sales, market penetration that has occurred and the weight of purchase (Scotland Food and Drink, 2013).

+Paul Blakey 

References

Silk, A. J., & Urban, G. L. (1978). Pre-test-market evaluation of new packaged goods: A model and measurement methodology. Journal of Marketing Research, 171-191.

Lipstein, B. (1968). Test marketing: a perturbation in the market place. Management Science, 14(8), B-437.

Joseph, S., (2013). Adidas details plan to 'reinvent' its retail strategy. Available at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/adidas-details-plan-to-reinvent-its-retail-strategy/4008788.article. [Accessed on: 29/01/2014]

Pretesting Group (2013). Our Difference. Available at: http://www.pretesting.com/who-we-are/differences/. [Accessed on: 29/01/2014].

Business Dictionary (2013). Test Marketing. Available at: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/test-marketing.html#ixzz2rni8ooFI. [Acessed on: 29/01/2014]

Telegraph (2007). Fashion: Britain’s Six Best Shopping Cites. Available at: http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG3361028/Britains-six-best-shopping-cities.html. [Accessed on: 29/01/2014]

Blakey, P. (2011). Sport Marketing. SAGE. (p.6).