Introducing our claims testing suite: for enhanced brand messaging.
Claims are all around us. When I got ready this morning there were claims on my shampoo, suggesting that using this product would make my hair shinier. As I enjoyed my morning yoghurt, the claims on the pot told me it had 0% sugar and was deliciously good for my gut health. Even checking my emails this afternoon, I came across numerous snappy brand messages from everyone from my bank to my mobile provider, all trying to persuade me to change my behaviour in some way. And watching TV in the evening? Well, you can guarantee there will be some type of claim in every advert! So, it comes as no surprise that some academics believe we can see up to 20,000 claims a day!
However, with this many claims around us, our brain can’t process every single one on a rational level. Instead, claims are processed on an unconscious, emotional level: we are making countless unconscious split-second decisions, assessing whether they are motivating, believable, relevant, and trustworthy. That’s why it’s important to leverage human understanding at every stage of claims development to ensure you truly evoke trust, connect emotionally and drive motivation for purpose.
With so many different types of claims it can be difficult to know where to start! The lines are blurred between promotional, functional or emotional messages. Moreover, there are different ways of expressing each of these, whether it’s benefits driven (vs. previous version), stats driven (e.g. 8 out of 10) or testimonial led (expert endorsement). As such, care needs to be taken when assessing those that are optimal for your brand.
As consumers are processing claims on a subconscious level, to truly establish if a claim is winning, we need to be able to understand not only what consumers say they want explicitly, but also their implicit emotional reactions. Imagine for a moment that you were searching a shelf for a drink to perk you up for your day at work, and one of the drinks claimed it “keeps you alert for 12 hours”. On a rational level this may be very appealing to you, but would your subconscious really believe this?
For early stage claims research, our ClaimSCOPE tool looks at your category as a whole, scoping out a roadmap for your possible claims approaches – backed by secondary research and the expertise of our in-house team. Our ClaimOPTIMISER approach incorporates implicit testing to understand the true level of conviction for each claim – does the claim truly convince people to change their behaviour and is it truly credible for your brand to make each claim? Finally, who hasn’t heard of ‘8 out of 10 cats’?! Gaining supporting consumer experience can also be beneficial in promoting a product and withstanding legal challenges from competitors – we call this substantiating to attack and defend and have developed our ClaimSUBSTANTIATOR tool for this exact purpose.
No matter what stage you’re at with your claims research, our toolkit can contribute to the journey to ensure you’re using the most effective claims for your brand. Reach out to hear more about how we can help you enhance your brand messaging.
