NIQ Adds 'Cultural Resonance' Testing Module

Consumer intelligence provider NIQ has partnered with burger giant McDonald's USA to develop a new module called Cultural Resonance, part of its BASES ad testing portfolio.

BASES Cultural Resonance is a quant module built from extensive explicit and implicit human insight, validated with neuroscience metrics, and delivers a composite measure benchmarked to a database, enabling businesses to gauge their performance against industry standards. With the aim of helping clients develop more impactful advertising, the new module assesses the role of cultural factors in ads, specifically how they impact consumers' comprehension of content and their ability to relate to it. The tool flags up when content isn't making the impression intended and offers insight into the type of cultural signals that can set this right.

The firm says key benefits of the module include identifying red flags - moments within content that contain implicit bias or 'perpetuate damaging stereotypes' - and helping advertisers to avoid them. It also promises to assess content through a cultural lens, including how an ad is telling a story; and provides actionable insights via neuroscience methodology, linking survey-based metrics to EEG Emotion, Memory, and Attention measures for nuanced interpretation and guidance.

Megan Belden (pictured), NIQ BASES' VP, Global Advertising Lead comments: 'In a rapidly evolving landscape where diversity and inclusion are paramount, the BASES Cultural Resonance module, developed in collaboration with McDonald's, equips advertisers with the tools they need to create content that authentically connects. By focusing the conversation on cultural factors, the insights from this module are set to change the conversation around representation and relatability in advertising'.

Jen Larkin, Director of US Consumer Insights at McDonald's, says the chain is 'intentional about the role culture plays in the stories we tell, and excited to be collaborating with NIQ and other valued partners to improve the capabilities in building authentic cultural connections with our fans through our advertising'. She ads: 'With processes like second-by-second feedback, this tool allows us to make real-time optimizations - making us smarter creative reviewers'.

Web sites: www.niq.com and www.mcdonalds.com .