Too many ideas, not enough time? How to rapidly screen innovation ideas using real consumer feedback

Reduce launch risk by pressure-testing product or marketing concepts with real people before committing big spend. Here, I take a closer look at: 

• The big risk of poor alignment in concept and audience

• How measuring the strength of a concept mitigates risk before launch 

• How to narrow a list of 2-3 great ideas down to the best one

• Why fast feedback is critical 

• How to move from instinct and guesses to data-driven decisions drives success

In 2025, the average marketing budget is 7.7% of overall company revenue. For bigger brands, that translates to millions of dollars. For smaller companies, it’s an amount that can make or break profitability, or even viability. The stakes are high for every campaign. 

Without testing an idea with the audience it’s intended for, even the greatest idea can fall flat. A failed concept equals lost revenue, wasted creative and loss of internal (and even consumer) trust. This is why concept testing is an essential step at every stage. 

In this article, I’ll show you how to use fast consumer feedback to make smarter decisions on new products or campaigns. 

We need to know if our concept is strong enough to launch

“Creative concepts are more than just ideas—they help capture an audience's attention and leave a lasting impression, making it hard for customers to forget your brand” - Katie Walsh, Content Marketing Manager, Brandfolder

One problem marketers face is aligning a creative concept with what internal stakeholders need and what the intended audience wants. Even if there’s great momentum behind a new idea, without testing, there’s no guarantee that it will resonate with customers. 

Examples of concepts that fell flat are unfortunately numerous. One example of misalignment is in the way that Ford introduced the Mustang Mach-E in 2020. 

The Mustang Mach-E is an all-electric SUV, and the brand hoped to take advantage of the long, storied history of the Mustang. Historically, Mustang was associated with power, performance and speed and was one of the original muscle cars. Ford hoped that those associations would carry over to the Mach-E. 

However, fans of muscle cars haven’t embraced electric vehicles. The disconnect between an audience of so-called gearheads and an audience of people who valued tech and environmentalism became a glaring problem almost immediately. 

“The advertising surrounding the Mach-E failed to effectively communicate to potential customers that the Mach-E was more than just an “eco-friendly Mustang”—it was an entirely different kind of vehicle, designed for a new generation of car buyers. In particular the Mustang Mach-E’s advertising campaign leaned heavily on performance aspects of the vehicle, hoping to draw on the Mustang’s legacy of power and speed. But for environmentally conscious buyer, especially those considering EVs for sustainability reasons, this emphasis felt out of touch with their values. The tone of the ads wasn’t entirely aligned with the market the Mach-E was trying to capture.” - Agility PR Solutions

The result was apparent quickly. Long-time Mustang fans were unhappy, and those who may have been interested in the cutting edge tech bypassed the Mach-E in favor of the more well-known Tesla Model Y. 

This is why stakeholders (should) want proof that a concept resonates before investing in production or media in order to avoid such audience misalignment issues. The losses are serious when a campaign goes wrong. 

For big, well-established brands the cost can total in the billions of dollars, and for smaller, less-well-known brands a poorly received concept can equal downfall. Look at some of these numbers:

These examples are just a few of the many campaigns that have missed the mark and cost brands sales, consumer trust and brand reputation. Taking a concept live without the right testing and reliable consumer insights is a serious risk. 

💡 Zappi in action: Run concept tests that measure clarity, uniqueness, relevance and purchase intent—so you launch with confidence.

Reducing the risk associated with launching a new concept is one way to align both stakeholder concerns and audience needs. With Zappi you can test your concepts early on to make sure they work for the people you’re trying to reach. Some of the biggest mistakes in advertising or product history could have been avoided with the modern research Zappi provides because it offers you clear audience feedback from the start.  

We have multiple versions of a product or campaign—how do we choose the best one? 

Creative teams are often prolific, and come up with multiple ideas that are viable. It’s an old problem, and not limited to the world of advertising. In fact, researchers have developed numerous methods of narrowing down a long list of good ideas with names like the Now Wow How Matrix, the Four Categories Method and many others. 

In the consumer packaged goods (CPG) and quick serve restaurant (QSR) categories, choosing the right product or menu strategy is essential. Sometimes it means getting on board with a trend, but others it means forging a whole new path. 

As a trending example, Chipotle recently demonstrated well-received social media savvy by posting some “propaganda I’m not falling for” content—namely that chips aren’t utensils and that there’s such a thing as “too much sour cream.”

Forging a new path, Halo Top, an ice cream brand, has upended competition in their market with their low calorie product. You may not immediately associate ice cream with healthy choices, and that’s exactly how the brand forged this new path in an existing category. 

The big question, of course, is whether the best bet is hopping on board with an existing trend or developing a concept that could become a trend itself. Which brings us back to the question: How do you decide which version of an idea is the best? 

 The stakes are high, with larger organizations putting money, trust and reputation on the line and smaller brands often facing make or break decisions. With so much to lose, simply taking a gamble is unthinkable—especially when tools are available that can help mitigate the risks. 

💡 Zappi in action: Test side-by-side to compare concepts and identify which one is most likely to succeed in-market.

Whether you need to decide between two overall concepts, or you need to understand differences between audience segments, Zappi provides insights fast. In as little as four hours, you can assess audience response. 

We need fast feedback before a big campaign goes live

Getting your brand message aligned with what your customers want and need is the golden ticket, but it requires a balance between creative, product and media teams, and most importantly, speed. Making adjustments in real time limits potential missteps and expands your opportunities for success. 

The problem is that the different teams within your organization don’t always have the same priorities. For example, the analytics team may prioritize results over time, while the finance team is usually looking for justification of ad spend in a much shorter time span. 

Most brands simply cannot afford weeks of delay for traditional concept testing. Historically, missed deadlines and advertising go together like peanut butter and jelly, but that doesn’t have to be the case. In fact, speeding up timelines and hitting deadlines is quickly becoming essential for success. 

Some of the consequences of delays include: 

• Customers not knowing what to expect or when

• Increased costs

• Audience over- or under-exposure to ads

• Loss of credibility

• Unexpected impacts across channels 

💡 Zappi in action: Zappi Concept Testing delivers real consumer data in hours or days, not weeks—helping teams pivot, polish or launch without second-guessing.

Providing crucial data, fast, Zappi offers numerous tools that make concept testing smoother and understanding your data easier so that you can get everyone in your organization the information they need, when they need it.

We’re relying too much on gut feel to greenlight ideas

Your creative team is great at what they do, but what makes an ad “good” is subjective. Ad testing can help provide real data to back up, or counter, the gut instinct of your team. 

For instance, in 2015, Bloomingdale’s published their holiday catalog, containing an ad that, perhaps, should have undergone some concept testing:

The ad obviously went through some kind of internal process in order to be included in a print catalog, but you have to wonder if any customer feedback was considered. Bloomingdale’s apologized but the damage was done—and a print ad can’t easily be changed or deleted. 

These kinds of mistakes are costly, and not just to a brand’s reputation. Dove, a brand that invested years in building the Real Beauty campaign, made two serious missteps in 2017. 

In a Facebook ad, a Black woman removed her dark colored T-shirt, used Dove body lotion, and morphed into a white woman wearing a lighter colored T-shirt. The ad was removed after an outcry from social media users who saw it, and Dove apologized. But the ad received press attention, further amplifying it.

The second problematic Dove campaign that year involved packaging. Dove UK shipped a collection of body wash bottles that were supposed to be shaped like various body types. Their website said, “From curvaceous to slender, tall to petite, and whatever your skin color, shoe size or hair type, beauty comes in a million different shapes and sizes. Our six exclusive bottle designs represent this diversity: just like women, we wanted to show that our iconic bottle can come in all shapes and sizes, too.”

The campaign was a flop, and the two campaigns resulted in an 8% decline in sales that year. 

💡 Zappi in action: Turn stakeholder opinions into data-driven decisions by testing concepts with your real target audience.

Zappi gives you the tools you need to move away from guesses and internal opinions to data-driven decisions based on feedback from real people in your target audience so that you can avoid expensive mistakes. 

Each of the campaigns we’ve highlighted came from brands with a wealth of knowledge and a history of success. Yet, they’ve all stumbled. Modern marketing tools can prevent these kinds of unnecessary mistakes that lead to real-world consequences such as reputational damage and financial losses. 

With concept and ad testing, you can turn your concepts into confident launches. Don’t leave performance to chance—back your ideas with real consumer insight!