An Adcept is a tool used in

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to empha ...

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

development to test creative ideas or brand positionings. The term is an

amalgamation Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal ** Pan am ...

of the words 'advertising' and '

concept Concepts are defined as abstract ideas. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of the concept behind principles, thoughts and beliefs. They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by s ...

', indicating its role as a halfway stage between a concept idea and an advertising execution. Traditionally, adcepts have been used to check early creative work, typically with advertising agency clients or in market research

focus groups A focus group is a group interview involving a small number of demographically similar people or participants who have other common traits/experiences. Their reactions to specific researcher/evaluator-posed questions are studied. Focus groups are ...

An alternative to concept statements

Traditionally, qualitative market research has used concept statements and mood boards to test ideas with target consumers. However, Richard Woods (Journal of

Consumer Behaviour Consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services. Consumer behaviour consists of how the consumer's emotions, attitudes, and ...

, Vol.3, 4 388-403) argues that concept boards are unfamiliar and lack emotional appeal. They also attempt to pull apart the rational and the emotional, which goes against how the human mind evaluates ideas. Because advertising is the popular language of brands, he claims, adcepts are easier for consumers to relate to, and to evaluate.

Formats

Adcepts can be highly finished and closely resemble final

or they can be made to be deliberately conceptual. When used as research stimulus, Richard Woods argues that this rougher, conceptual format is needed. Showing very polished adcepts to focus group participants leads them to pass judgment on the specific execution rather than examining the core idea being explored.

Applications

At their most basic level, adcepts are useful for testing advertising ideas that are works in progress. However, when used in place of concept boards, they are ideally suited to isolating what a brand could stand for, and exploring the areas it could expand into in the future.

References

*Woods, Richard (2006) Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Vol.3, 4 388-403 *{{cite web, url=http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095350355, title=adcept, publisher=oxfordindex.oup.com, accessdate=2014-02-10 Advertising