According to the World Health Organization, there are an estimated 2 million different medical devices on the market which are categorized into +7000 generic device groups.
So if a new healthcare product or service concept wants to enter the market, it’s safe to say it will need strong branding.
The best way to test healthcare branding before entering the market is to use market research.
Medical marketing and advertising concept tests can answer a variety of questions like:
- How appealing is this healthcare concept?
- What does my target audience think of this ad?
- Does the branding for this healthcare concept have any red flags?
- Does this ad make the target audience want to learn more about the concept?
Recently our healthcare market research company completed an ad concept testing survey with health plan administrators. Keep reading to learn more about the process and results.
Recommended Reading: Ultimate Guide to Ad Concept Testing Surveys
The Challenge
An organization is working to create the branding of a new product/service in the health services category.
To understand the effectiveness of the branding, the goal of the market research was to test the concepts/stimulus of 1-page each via an online survey with health plan administrators.
The healthcare branding studying included the following objectives:
- What elements of the creative concept resonate and help the audience understand what the brand stands for?
- What elements of the creative concept are confusing or do not add value to the brand story?
- Does the creative concept spark an interest in the target audience to learn more? Why or why not?
Research objectives included:
- Obtain directional feedback on a single concept with two treatments with health plan administrators.
- Understand specific pitfalls or red flags for the audience that needs to be removed/revised from concept/treatments before market launch.
- Gain informed confidence of what is working/not working on the concept and which treatment resonates most.
- Does this work beyond just advertisement?
- Does the concept show differentiation in the marketplace?
💡 The Key Takeaway: Concept testing for a new healthcare product or service is beneficial. The results can be used to inform the organization and marketing team on what could be improved to increase interest. Ultimately, this helps support a successful launch of the new product/service.
The Solution
To address the goals and objectives of the new healthcare marketing concept test, an online survey was used.
It allowed the team to gather feedback from their target audience quickly and was able to include detailed question types like heatmaps and text highlighting.
The scope of work and screening criteria included:
- Sample Size: n50
- National market
- B2B target audiences of VP and C-suite health plan administrators/decision-makers
- Job titles targeted:
- Chief Administrative Officer
- Chief Executive Officer
- Chief Financial Officer
- Chief Information Officer
- Chief Medical Officer
- Chief Operations Officer
- Chief Technology Officer
- Managing Partner
- Owner
- President
- Vice President
- VP or head of Finance
- VP or head of Information/Systems
- VP or head of Operations
- VP or head of Technology
- VP or head of Member Experience
- VP or head of Pharmacy Management
- VP or head of Claims Management
- Type of insurance: Commercial and government
- Best efforts mix of company size, gender, and target job titles
Learn more about the benefits of concept testing with surveys in this short video.
💡 The Key Takeaway: The target audience and questions used in a healthcare concept test are uniquely customized to the goals and objectives of the end client. Three quick tips for ad concept testing include 1) not making digital marketing an afterthought, 2) leveraging agile principles in ad testing, and 3) knowing the importance of user testing.
The Approach
No matter the project, nearly all market research follows a similar process.
Learn more about the process for concept testing medical marketing and improving healthcare branding below.
- Kickoff meeting: Here is where the market research team and client team will meet to confirm the goals, objectives, scope of work, deliverables, and timeline. These meetings typically last 45 to 60 minutes.
- Survey design: After the kickoff meeting is complete, the survey is created! This process may include one draft or several to fine-tune the perfect survey.
- Survey programming and testing: After the survey is finalized, the research team will program and test the survey. This process usually takes 3 to 4 days to complete.
- Fieldwork: After the survey is programmed and tested, fieldwork begins! This survey used a vendor to source and invited the VP and C-suite level health plan administrators/decision-makers.
- Reporting: Once fieldwork is wrapped up, our team cleans the survey data and begins reporting on the results. Our findings are put into a comprehensive market research report to be delivered to the client.
Sample healthcare ad concept testing questions
- Are you currently employed by a health insurance company or health plan? Select one.
- Which of the following types of memberships does your organization support? Select one.
- Which of the following best describes your job title? Select one.
- Which of the following best describes your job role/responsibilities? Select one.
- Please review the text below and share what you like and/or dislike most about it.
- How interested are you in learning more about the concept discussed below? Select a rating.
- Thinking about all of the text/ads/images previously shown, how much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements? Select a rating for each.
- Thinking about all of the text/ads/images previously shown, what would you like to learn/know more about the concept? Enter your response below.
💡 The Key Takeaway: While the market research process stays the same, the rest of the project is unique! The types of questions and results are always customized to each client's unique needs.
The Results
While results always remain confidential with the client, high-level key findings from the research provided the following insights:
- Detailed feedback on each ad
- Measuring which ad resonated the most with the target audience
- Measuring how well the ads performed on several different attributes of interest
- Measuring which tagline for the brand resonated the most with the target audience
- Measuring the appeal of the concept and reasoning behind the target audience’s level of interest
💡 The Key Takeaway: The report answered each of the learning and research objectives outlined. It included a breakdown of the background and methodology, key findings, main takeaways, detailed findings, an animated infographic, and an appendix.
Contact Our Healthcare Market Research Company
Drive Research is a national market research company located in Upstate New York. Our team has the knowledge and tools to design a robust healthcare concept test, should it be the right fit for your organization.
Interested in learning more about our market research services? Reach out through any of the four ways below.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
Emily Taylor
As a Senior Research Analyst, Emily is approaching a decade of experience in the market research industry and loves to challenge the status quo. She is a certified VoC professional with a passion for storytelling.
Learn more about Emily, here.
