Concept Evaluation

Just what is the purpose of Concept testing?  This is a question I frequently ask when discussing Product Launch Models.  It has been my experience that there are very different protocols and reasons for doing Concept Testing.  One of the most frequently mentioned purposes for Concept Testing is the assessment of the market potential of the product idea.  I have no problem with the need or desire to evaluate the market potential of the idea at this stage.  My problem is with the execution of the evaluation.

The extreme case, and one frequently encountered, is where a company identifies a potential consumer need, quickly writes a concept and utilizes the rapidly developed concept to evaluate the potential of the new idea.  I find they spend very little time writing the concept.  It seems that they believe they can easily communicate the vision of the new product to the consumer.  this ease of communication has not been my experience.  I have found that a single visual, sentence, or even a word can drastically change the acceptance of a concept.

Successful new ideas do not come along very often.  It is our responsibility that we do not reject a good idea on the basis of our execution.  If rejected, it should be on the basis of the idea itself.  I believe concept Testing should involve the enhancement and development of the vision of the new product.  We should experiment with different ways of expressing the "reason for being," the "benefits," the "reason to believe," the "product description," etc.  In the early stages of the product launch program, we should give the new idea every chance to succeed.  In the early stages, we should experiment with different ways of positioning the new idea/product.  This should be a learning and understanding process.  Later in the product development stage, we will be assessing the marriage between the concept and the actual product.  It just may be that a concept other than the concept of choice will be a better marriage and therefore present a better market opportunity.  In early stages of development, keep your options open.