Creative Concept and message Testing for Phase II of the Tax Relief Measures Ad Campaign (2008-2009)

Prepared for the:
Public Affairs Branch
Canada Revenue Agency
FINAL REPORT
March 2009
POR# 029-08
Contract #46558-097275/001/CY

Prepared by:
SAGE Research Corporation

Le rapport complet en français sera fourni sur demande.

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Media Enquiries:
Media Relations
Canada Revenue Agency
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media.relations@cra-arc.gc.ca

Executive Summary

SAGE Research Corporation
Contract Number: 46558-097275/001/CY
Date: 2009-03-01

Phase I of the Tax Relief Measures advertising campaign was produced in February 2008 (print, radio, Internet). The campaign was intended to remind Canadians of the tax relief measures introduced by the Government of Canada in 2006 and 2007, and to increase the number of Canadians who filed and who received all the benefits and credits that may be available to them.

Phase II of the ad campaign will focus on the same objectives and the same benefits and credits as in Phase I. It will include television, print, radio and Internet ads and will take place starting in February 2009.

A two-stage research project was conducted for the Phase II advertising campaign:

• Stage 1 -- Advertising Campaign Concept Research: Three alternative advertising campaign concepts were developed -- Word Cloud, Click, and Work Hard. For each campaign concept, mock-ups were created for the television ad (video animatic rendered as a series of black-and-white drawings together with the announcer sound track), the Internet ad (video consisting of a series of still images of the different segments of the ad), and the print ad (the radio ad concepts were not tested in Stage 1). The objectives of the research were to assess the communication effectiveness of the different concepts, identify potential revisions, and assist in selecting the strongest concept overall.
  
  Eight focus groups were conducted December 8-11, 2008, in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Participants were drawn from the general public, with quotas to ensure a cross-section on gender, age, parents with children under the age of 16, and household income.
  
  
• Stage 2 -- Rough-Cut Advertising Research: Focus groups were conducted to assess reactions to rough-cut versions of all four media types (TV, radio, Internet, print) for the selected campaign concept, Word Cloud. The objectives of the research were to assess the communication effectiveness of the rough-cut ads and to identify any potential modifications when producing the finished ads.
  
  Four focus groups were conducted January 29, 2009 in Toronto and Montréal, with the same target group as in the Stage 1 research.

STAGE 1 -- ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN CONCEPT RESEARCH

Overall, the Word Cloud concept was the strongest of the three campaign concepts on several criteria:

• Communication of the primary intended message about the availability of a variety of tax relief measures; as well it communicated the secondary message about going online to get information and file a return, albeit not as strongly as the other two concepts
  
  
• Visual impact in terms of getting attention and interest
  
  
• Encouraging action -- specifically, seeking more information about tax relief measures, probably by going online to the CRA website

The one notable issue with Word Cloud was the readability of the labels in the “cloud”: while some participants were comfortable with the cloud as presented, some were frustrated with the difficulty of reading the labels and suggested steps be taken to enhance readability.

It should be noted, though, that it is also important to retain the “cloud” design concept, and to avoid enhancing readability to the extent that viewers are left with the impression the ad shows an exhaustive list of the available tax relief measures. Part of the strong motivational impact of the Word Cloud concept was the sense of “possibility” created by the cloud even among those who did not immediately see any specific tax relief measure of obvious personal relevance. As well, the cloud was important as an attention-getting device for the ads.

With regard to the Work Hard concept, this did relatively well in terms of communicating the availability of a variety of tax relief measures, and some participants quite liked this concept. However, because of the following issues, it was not quite as strong overall as the Word Cloud concept:

• The Hard/Easy boxes on the print and Internet ads led some participants to perceive messages that were not intended -- for example, that the primary message of the campaign is to encourage people to file online, or that it is now easier to fill in a tax return.
  
  
• Some participants felt the TV visuals would be “boring”, and would be unlikely to get their attention.
  
  
• The Work Hard concept was not as effective as the Word Cloud concept in motivating subsequent action.

Most participants reacted less positively to the Click concept than to the other two concepts. Importantly, the concept was not perceived to communicate the primary intended message pertaining to tax relief measures. Rather, the majority perceived the primary message of Click as being to “file online.” This impression was driven by the extensive use of computer-related imagery in all three media.

Key copy-related results include:

• There was mainly positive reaction to the line, You’ve earned it. Claim it.
  
  
• The reference in the copy to measures that benefit those facing unique challenges tended to create confusion about the intended target group for the campaign, and some suggested it be dropped.
  
  
• In the Word Cloud copy, there was specific reference to skilled trades and apprenticeships. Notably, most participants did not voice any spontaneous reaction to this reference, nor did it appear to have any impact on how they perceived the target group for the ad campaign -- essentially because most appeared to pay little attention to the phrase. However, when attention was drawn to the phrase, some became confused over the intended target group for the campaign, and suggested this reference be dropped.
  
  
• In the Work Hard concept the copy contained a reference to provide help we could all use during economic times like these (the other two campaign concepts used a similar line, although the word economic was not used). Almost none of the participants made any spontaneous comment on use of this phrase, and overall it appeared this copy element had little impact one way or another on how participants reacted to or interpreted the ad. When participants’ attention was specifically directed to the phrase, there was a mix of reactions ranging from positive to neutral to negative.

STAGE 2 -- RESEARCH ON ROUGH-CUT WORD CLOUD ADS

Overall reaction to the rough-cut Word Cloud ads was positive, and the strong communication performance of the campaign concept was confirmed.

As was the case in the Stage 1 research on Word Cloud, the primary message was widely perceived by participants to be that there are a variety of tax relief measures, and that there are tax relief measures available for many types of people. As well, many participants perceived the ads as encouraging people to go online for income tax matters. Usually participants perceived the ads as encouraging people to go online to look for tax information, and some participants perceived the ads as also encouraging filing online.

Also as was the case in the Stage 1 research on Word Cloud, the campaign was strong in terms of perceived impact on behaviour: the majority of participants said if they saw this campaign they would be more likely to seek information about tax relief measures, and often by going online.

Overall, the results indicated that no major changes to the ads are required in final production. However, the research did identify some factors to consider when finalizing each of the ads, and these factors are noted in the body of the report.