Global Market Researcher AcuPOLL Points to the EFactor Emotion and Equity Provide more Advertising Success Predictability

CINCINNATI, Feb. 17, 2004 -- Market research and advertising testing is getting a whole new twist, as the days of putting primary importance on advertising recall and persuasion are going the way of leisure suits and shag carpeting. According to advertising research experts, the real ability to predict product and advertising success lies in the emotional bond created by the equity built as the brand grows and branches out - enter the EFactor.

Global market researcher AcuPOLL has created a proprietary technique for unearthing the unarticulated emotional connections (UECs) and the equity building potential of advertising. It is through the use of this industry first program that uncovers the EFactor of advertising, and gives AcuPOLL clients a strategic advantage in the marketplace.

AcuPOLL general manager Mark Sneider said marketing executives must demand more success and the ability to predict success of products, ideas and advertisements from brand researchers and managers. He said that all too often, brand managers still rely on how well an ad persuades or is recalled, but research suggests that it is how a product bonds 'emotionally,' and how the brand 'equity' is preserved that predicts success of a campaign. It is this EFactor, as Sneider calls it, that is really what executives need to grasp.

"Advertising campaigns can cost millions. Failed campaigns can cost jobs," Sneider said. "The reason why some products sell and others don't points to a market failure of pure advertising without quality research done up front. Qualitatively and quantitatively testing ads and ideas up front is a valuable investment, particularly when it goes beyond the traditional 'go/no go' concept. Maybe it will work, but executives should not be satisfied with maybe and must not be willing to do that with their brand or their budget."

Sneider added that as advertising fails to convince customers as to "why to buy," the industry will remain in doubt as to its effectiveness, and that brand executives and advertisers alike should look to programs that provide superior ways to develop early stage ideas. He advises that there are many factors all brand managers must know about their ideas, and "in the competitive world of branding and marketing, up front testing is king."

With world headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, AcuPOLL Research, Inc., is a global brand building research agency that uses a patented system to provide companies with clear business recommendations based on a thorough analysis of customized data. AcuPOLL provides the fastest, most predictive, and most accurate research methodology. Over the past ten years, AcuPOLL has quantitatively tested over 30,000 new product ideas and ads, giving it the largest, most current database in the marketing industry. AcuPOLL has predicted the success of new products, services, mail order catalog items, retail concepts, advertising, promotions, and business services. AcuPOLL is an internationally recognized company with offices in the United States, Asia, Europe, Mexico, and South America. More information can be accessed at www.acupoll.com or by calling 513.943.0020.