Jim Miller:

Basically, trade-off analysis shows us how real consumers are likely to behave when presented with specific marketing content. It uncovers subconscious decision-making — giving us insights that aren’t just accurate, but competitively actionable.

And again, this happens faster and more affordably than traditional A/B testing.

Here’s a real-world example: Back in 2000, Porsche faced serious financial challenges. They had to broaden their appeal beyond sports car enthusiasts without alienating that core audience.

So they turned to trade-off analysis. The result? The Porsche Cayenne SUV. It became their top-selling vehicle and arguably saved the company — without losing the loyalty of their base.

And to bring it closer to home, we worked with a Fortune 100 insurance company that had been rotating three control packages in the mail to avoid fatigue. They were seasoned pros — testing often, sophisticated in approach — but none of the controls had been beaten in years.

They came to us to see if virtual pre-market testing could help them uncover a new control. The catch? No latest content. No fresh copy. No new imagery. The challenge was purely structural.

So basically, we took the three existing packages and mixed and matched their content any way we wanted — but couldn’t add any new material. The goal was to see if we could uncover a fourth package that would perform as well as the current three. Then, they wanted to add that fourth option into the rotation to extend the life of the whole campaign.

After running our pre-test study, we recommended a new control package using only their existing copy, imagery and offers. We projected about a 17.3% lift in market performance. The client was skeptical, but they followed through — and the results came back with a 19% lift over all previous versions. They were ecstatic.

Ultimately, they replaced all previous controls with this pre-market tested version and kept building from there. This shows that when you look beyond simple A/B testing and embrace broader pre-test methods, you can achieve better results faster.