Earlier this month, the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) released a resource for creative testing terms – the Creative Research Terms Glossary. The ARF hopes that the glossary will serve as a tool and guideline for the industry, providing more than 800 terms and definitions.
The idea for the glossary became a priority after a 2019 study by the ARF Creative Council, “How to get better creative from better insights,” highlighted a lack of trust and misalignment on terms, fueling a disconnect between creatives (defined as those who “work in creative roles at agencies and brands, primarily at non-ARF member companies”) and researchers (defined as “those who work in research, insights and data science roles, primarily at ARF member companies”).
“After surveying creatives and researchers, we found that there is often a disconnect between the two when it comes to creative testing terminology,” said Paul Donato, chief research officer at the ARF. “Because there was not an authoritative resource in place to help bridge the gap on often confusing, misunderstood terms, our Creative Council took the lead to prioritize the development of the Creative Glossary as a tool and guideline for the industry.”
The ARF provided the following example from its glossary in a press release:
- Copy testing
- Research used to evaluate a specific advertisement or campaign, typically by asking consumers to rate an ad or campaign.
- Copy testing can be performed with unfinished work, to help inform the final creative execution, or with finished work ("finish-testing"), to help guide decisions about best audience targeting, media placement, and media weight/rotation.
- It is sometimes performed before ads are released ("pre-testing"), and sometimes performed post-release ("in-market testing" or "post-testing"). Also referred to as "Copy Research," "Ad Testing" and "Creative Testing." See also "Concept Test."
The glossary is free to the public and available through the ARF’s website. A members-only, print version will also be made available.