Pretest a Mock Version
The Production phase includes developing scripts, working with a studio for production and post-production, pretesting, and sound design, as well as several approvals along the way. This phase is when the creative concept turns into the campaign!
Pretest a Mock Version
How do we know if our script works?
By the end of this step, you will have pretested in-house recordings of your scripts for radio and print and incorporated the findings into your final scripts.
How to conduct this step and achieve its main objectives:
Make a Dummy Recording
It might be tempting to go straight to the recording studio with your script, but you will save time and money in the long run if you make a rough dummy recording and pretest it among your intended audience first. This pretesting can help identify problems with comprehension or acceptability, which cannot easily be corrected after an expensive studio recording.
If you plan to produce content for both TV and radio, it may be easier to create a radio version for pretesting, as shooting and editing a dummy TV spot is resource intensive and the feedback from a radio pretest will give you plenty of feedback that can be applied to both formats. Alternatively, you could use the storyboard format, updated with your final script, to pretest a TV spot.
A quick and easy approach is to make recordings with your in-house staff, if you have the capacity. If not, the best approach might be to negotiate a pretest recording with your voice actors and production agency as part of the overall project cost. You also need to work with the in-house team (or production agency) to put together a first cut, which is the first complete assembly and editing of the raw content. This first cut will likely be much longer than your preferred length; it is just meant to give you and the core team something to react to and to ensure key messages and intentions are captured.
Continue consolidating feedback from your group and sharing it with the agency to make corrections until the core group approves the pretesting cut. This step may require up to three or four drafts. The pretest cut should be close to a final spot, without the sound design and music, which is better left for the studio production version.
It is typical at this point for someone to recommend changes to the script. Occasionally, the feedback will be valid, such as an overlooked technical detail. Sometimes, it is a style preference. If possible, late feedback should be held to be addressed after pretesting rather than stopping the process to record another dummy version.
Get the Pretest Version Approved
Before you move ahead with pretesting and to avoid setbacks later, make sure you get all necessary final approvals for the dummy version in writing.
Conduct Pretesting
The objective of pretesting is to evaluate the effectiveness of a creative execution before it is broadcast. Many questions in the Pretesting Tool and Concept Testing Tool are the same, and they both use a similar study methodology. However, concept testing seeks to determine whether an idea can be used as a vehicle to deliver messages, often in comparison with other creative concepts. In contrast, pretesting is not used to compare different creative executions because the time and money required to reach the pretesting stage is significant. Instead, pretesting is used to ensure the key message is clear and effective, as well as to identify issues regarding word choice or potentially alienating elements for the intended audience.
Pretesting Guide and Report
Suggested time:
1 week
Participants:
Core design team; RMEL unit
Example: Pretesting Guide and Report
This example of a Pretesting Tool and consolidated Pretest Report can be adapted to your context. As with Concept Testing, the results from the pretest should focus on actionable takeaways and recommendations to finalize the spot while avoiding a long narrative report that takes extra time to both write and read.
Effort required:
Review the Pretest Findings
After the pretest, the core group should review the consolidated findings and feedback and decide on any changes. It may be helpful to include a wider range of stakeholders to ensure consensus on the final campaign. Pay careful attention to two crucial elements: how well respondents were able to receive the campaign’s SBC messages and whether there was anything respondents could not understand.
Get Final Revisions Approved
This is the last chance to consider any other feedback before returning to the studio to record the campaign. Make sure you get any necessary approvals beforehand to avoid later delays.
