Testing Creative for Higher Response

At Crutchfield, an home and car electronics catalog, we test our covers by showing them to panels of different customer segments before we test them in the mail. By doing this, Crutchfield gets timely “winner”/”loser” information on the best cover for each segment, thereby maximizing sales.

To recruit the panel, we send invitations to a random sample of customers who purchased at least $100 during the past year. We ask if they want to be part of a group that would help us answer questions from time to time. If they agree, we send them a $10 merchandise credit each time they participate. To keep opinions fresh, we limit participation by each panelist to one year.