Many kinds of pretests evaluate advertising efficacy based solely on impact, assertiveness, and rational persuasiveness. That is not enough. Capturing attention and an entertaining, convincing form are indispensable secondary virtues. The primary virtues of effective advertising are a result of its concrete, behavior-steering effect. The actual communicative performance of a concept predominantly unfolds in unconscious processes of the viewer. Pretests need methods capable of uncovering these aspects.
Hence the decisive issues regarding conclusive acceptance and impact analysis are as follows: What “effect” does a communication concept have in the psyche of the consumer? Which behavior-steering motives does it address? Does it succeed in addressing and giving an attractive charge to ideas connected with the product group in general and with the concrete product in particular? Does it effectively reduce reservations about a product on a subliminal level? Does it stabilize the brand core? Does it add new facets to the brand core? Does the concept succeed in marking a new positioning of the product advertised and conveying this in a coherent, credible way? And finally: What are its formal strengths and weaknesses (relationship between picture and text, integration of the slogan, branding, etc.) – are their ways of enhancing the effect?
The Message Tuning Concept (MTC) developed by rheingold gives clear, transparent answers to these essential questions, enabling progress to be made in the creation of advertising. The MTC goes much further than conventional pretest procedures. It penetrates the inner impact mechanisms of communication concepts, precisely showing whether and how they do their creative work.
There are no patent recipes or generally valid impact parameters or factors of success when it comes to creating advertising. Each concept works in its own way. Thus, advertising continually develops new conceptual tricks and communication techniques to appeal to the psyches of consumers and to strengthen a brand image.
The MTC analyzes a draft in a differentiated, individual way, showing its psychological effects on consumer behavior – beyond all rational justifications and perceived attractive aspects. A knowledge of specific and unique impact mechanisms leads to solid bases for decision-making and provides valuable creative impetus for further development of communication measures.