Message & Content Testing

Communications Research and Concept Testing

Brandspeak delivers B2C and B2B communications research that evaluates how concepts, messages and different types of information perform across packaging, print, digital and in-store channels, from the first written idea to the finished brochure, web page or set of instructions.

Before you commit design, production or media budget, you find out which concepts to progress, which messages your audience understands and believes, and what to change in any material that people overlook or misread. Every project ends with clear recommendations on what to do next, not just a set of findings.

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Why Brandspeak for Communications Research

Whereas advertising research determines whether a piece of creative persuades, communications research asks whether information is noticed, read, understood, believed and acted upon. That applies equally to ideas still in words, such as a product concept, proposition or name, and to finished material, such as a financial product brochure with performance charts or a set of instructions. Brandspeak carries out communications research in every sector, from FMCG and retail to healthcare and B2B.

This kind of material almost always makes sense to the people who produced it. Problems tend to surface only after it has been designed, printed and distributed, when they are expensive to fix and have already cost the brand enquiries, applications or sales.

Brandspeak puts the audience in the room before that point, testing how people notice, navigate, read and respond. The result is evidence, rather than opinion, on what to progress, what to strengthen and what to cut, together with clear recommendations on how to make each improvement.

Brandspeak has been delivering communications research for over 20 years, and every project is led by a director rather than handed down to a junior team. We are AQR and Market Research Society members, the UK's professional bodies for market research.

The Benefits of Communications Research

Investing in communications research before launch improves the effectiveness of your marketing spend and reduces the risk of costly mistakes.

Budget Goes Behind the Ideas Most Likely to Succeed

Testing an idea while it is still in words costs a fraction of designing, producing or launching it. It tells you which concepts, propositions and messages to progress, which to fix and which to drop, so development money follows the evidence rather than the loudest opinion in the room.

Optimise Content Clarity And Resonance

Communications research identifies where content is unclear or overlooked, and makes sure that text, charts, diagrams and instructions are noticed, easy to follow, quickly understood and more likely to be remembered, before mistakes are printed, published or sent to customers.

Ensure Communications Alignment With Strategic Objectives

Communications research checks whether each execution fulfils its intended role within your wider marketing strategy, so communications reinforce priorities and support the outcomes you are aiming for.

Protect And Reinforce Brand Equity

Communications research assesses how well brand personality, values and cues land, so every execution strengthens credibility and builds recognition rather than diluting it.

Evidence That Settles Internal Debate

Research gives you an objective case to take to senior stakeholders, compliance teams and agencies. Decisions about wording, layout and which concept to back rest on how your audience actually responds, rather than on personal preference.

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Communications Research Methods

The right method depends on the decision you need to make. If you need to know why a concept or document works or fails, and how to fix it, qualitative research gives you the depth. If you need to choose between options with confidence, or prove that a revised version outperforms the current one, a quantitative test gives you the numbers. Most projects use one approach, chosen to fit the question, and Brandspeak will recommend which.

Focus Groups & Depth Interviews

Hear, in your audience's own words, what they take away from a concept or document, what they question and where they stop reading. Depth interviews suit complex or sensitive material, such as financial products, and B2B decision-makers who are hard to bring together in a group.

Workshopping and Co-creation

Bring customers, and where useful your own team, together to rework a concept, message or document in the session itself, so the revised wording and layout have already been tried with the people they are written for.

Eye-Tracking & Visual Attention Testing

Record where people look on a page, pack or screen, in what order and for how long. It shows whether key information is noticed at all, which is something people cannot reliably tell you afterwards.

Implicit Testing

Capture the reactions people have before they stop to think. Respondents complete time-tracked tasks, such as quickly pairing a message, pack or brand with descriptive words, and the speed and pattern of their answers reveal associations that considered survey answers often miss.

Online Surveys

Show each concept or version to a matched sample and measure comprehension, relevance, credibility, distinctiveness and intention to act. The results rank your options and identify a winner with statistical confidence.

Communications Research Services

Brandspeak's communications research services help you evaluate ideas and refine marketing, sales and customer materials with evidence-based insight at key development and optimisation stages. They include:

Concept testing evaluates an idea while it is still expressed in words, before it is designed, produced or launched.

The idea may be a new product or service, a proposition, a name, a price or promotional offer, or the central thought behind a communication.

Testing establishes how clearly the concept is understood, how relevant and credible its claims are, how it compares with what the audience uses today and whether people would buy it, sign up to it or act on it.

Where several concepts are in play, it identifies which to progress and how each could be strengthened, so that design and development budget goes to the ideas most likely to succeed.

In a quantitative concept test, each person sees either one concept (a monadic design, which gives the cleanest read on each idea) or several in turn (a sequential monadic design, which is more economical when there are many to compare). Brandspeak recommends the design that suits the number of concepts and the decision to be made.

What a brand means to say and what an audience takes away are not always the same. Messaging research tests how people interpret your communications, from headlines, claims and taglines to value propositions and sales messages, whether the message is relevant to them and where wording causes confusion or lacks impact.

By comparing alternative versions, it shows which copy works best, so decisions rest on evidence rather than preference.

Visual communication analysis evaluates how layout, hierarchy and design affect what people notice, read and understand.

It is particularly valuable for detailed material, such as a financial product brochure with performance graphs, a flowchart or a set of step-by-step instructions, where the audience has to find, interpret and act on information rather than simply absorb a message.

Eye-tracking shows exactly which elements are seen and which are passed over, pinpointing anything that slows scanning, distracts or obscures key information.

The findings guide decisions on structure and visual emphasis across packaging, websites, emails, social content and marketing materials.

In packaging research, the same approach establishes whether a pack conveys its intended message and stands out on shelf.

Brand communications evaluation explores how well tone, character, values and brand cues come through in content. It can take the form of a communications audit of existing materials, or a test of new executions with relevant audiences. Either way it identifies alignment gaps and shows which elements strengthen brand expression across channels and touchpoints.

Statements, key facts documents, terms and conditions, renewal letters and account-opening journeys have to be understood, not just read. For financial services firms, the FCA's Consumer Duty requires communications that support customer understanding, and the FCA's 2026 review of consumer understanding highlighted testing communications with real customers, before and after changes, as good practice.

Brandspeak tests comprehension, navigation and recall with the customers who will actually receive the material, identifies where understanding breaks down, and recommends specific changes. You end with evidence you can act on and retain, which matters as much in other regulated sectors as it does in financial services.

How to Get Your Insights

As a full service market research agency we support research in 40+ global markets, working with native-speaking moderators and trusted in-market partners to ensure cultural accuracy and insight quality. Wherever your audience is, we can reach them and deliver insight that drives better decisions.

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Step Two

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Step Three

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Frequently Asked Questions

Communications research, sometimes called communications testing or message testing, evaluates whether a communication does its job: whether its audience notices it, reads it, understands it, believes it and acts on it. The communication might be a concept, a headline, a pack, a web page, an email or, to take one example, a financial product brochure with performance charts and account-opening instructions; the same principles apply in every sector.

It is used before design and production budget is committed, or before existing material is reissued, so that unclear content, overlooked information and off-brand executions are identified while they are still inexpensive to change.

Concept testing evaluates an idea while it is still expressed in words, before it is designed or built. The idea may be a new product or service, a proposition, a name, a price or promotional offer, or the central thought behind a communication. It measures how clearly the concept is understood, how relevant and credible it is, and whether it generates intent to buy or take it up, and it shows which of several concepts to progress and how to strengthen them.

Advertising research follows a piece of advertising creative through its development, from creative routes and animatics to finished film and in-market tracking and asks whether it persuades.

Communications research asks whether a communication works as information: whether a concept is understood, whether a brochure's charts and instructions are read and followed, whether a pack says what it is meant to. It covers concepts, messages, packaging, web pages, sales materials and customer communications. The two are complementary, and a concept or message tested here is often the starting point for the advertising that follows.

Written concepts, propositions and names; packaging; print, brochures and direct mail, including material that carries performance data, graphs, flowcharts and instructions; customer letters, statements, key facts documents and terms and conditions; web and product pages; emails; sales and B2B collateral; social content; and point-of-sale, in-store and on-screen messaging. The approach adapts to the audience, whether the communication is aimed at consumers or at business decision-makers.

Both have a role, and the question being asked usually decides which. Qualitative methods, such as focus groups, depth interviews and workshops explain how an idea or a piece of material is read, where it is misunderstood and how it could be strengthened.

Quantitative and behavioural methods, such as online surveys, implicit testing and eye-tracking, measure clarity, appeal and impact at scale. They show which elements are noticed and which are missed, and allow concepts or messages to be ranked with statistical confidence.

Allow two weeks or more for a qualitative test of concepts, messages or materials and three weeks or more for a quantitative test. Timings depend on the number of concepts or executions, markets and audiences involved, so it is worth involving the research team while the development schedule is still being set.

Communications research evaluates a specific concept, message or asset before or shortly after it launches. Brand tracking measures how brand perceptions and buyer behaviour move over time. The two work together: communications research shapes what goes out, and tracking shows the cumulative effect once it has.

Brandspeak brings over 20 years of communications and concept testing experience, senior director-level involvement on every project, and a focus on whether a communication will be noticed, understood, believed and acted upon rather than simply whether it is liked. We are AQR and Market Research Society members.