Pushing the envelope of marketing research

In 1982 Kevin J Clancy delivered the first of three presentations at professional conferences on automated versus artificial intelligence which was described in his book The Marketing Revolution: A Radical Manifesto for Dominating the Marketplace (with Robert S. Shulman), New York: HarperBusiness - A Division of Harper Collins Publishing (1991). His work in this field resulted in “Robot Researcher,” software designed to write analyses of tracking study research data.

In 1983, intrigued by the success of the BASES single-measure approach to new product forecasting, Kevin developed and presented at professional conferences a new 14 measure "Behavior Prediction Battery" which captured 3 different attitudinal components: the affective, the cognitive, and the behavioral. This proved to be superior to conventional methodogies because of its predictive power and diagnostic capabilities.

From the mid-eighties through 1992 Kevin Clancy and Professor Joseph Blackburn developed and published a validated simulated test marketing model that married sophisticated marketing mix modeling (The BBDO NEWS model) with laboratory simulation research (The Yankelovich Laboratory Test Market). This model, called LITMUS, was designed to forecast the monthly performance of a new product or new service in terms of awareness, consideration, trial, repeat usage, revenues, market share and profitability before any investments are made in the real world. The evolving model was employed by many firms over a 15 year period. One of its most unique features was its ability to optimize marketing plans. Using mathematical programming algorithms, the model had the capability to explore literally billions of alternative plans in order to find those forecast to be the most profitable. From the mid-eighties through 1992, LITMUS was presented at numerous academic and professional conferences and published in academic papers and in the book, Simulated Test Marketing: Technology for Launching Successful New Products (with Robert S. Shulman and Marianne Wolf), New York: Lexington Books – A Division of Macmillan, Inc.,(1994)

In the mid-eighties Kevin Clancy developed a “3-Dimensional Model of Motivations” which eclipsed attribute/benefit importance ratings and derived importance ratings as a superior method for determining what motivates people to buy. At the same time, Clancy introduced “Strategic Cube Analysis” (later rebranded as “The Brand Strategy Matrix”) as a means to simultaneously display “motivating power” scores and brand perceptions. This technology was first published in The Marketing Revolution (with Robert S. Shulman), New York, Harper Business, A Division of Harper Collins Publishing, (1991) p.109-115.

In the late eighties, working with Professor Melanie Lenard and Dr. Steve Tipps, Kevin Clancy developed and employed the first individual-level, non-linear optimization model to identify and describe a financially optimal media plan for reaching designated market targets: a model which, with evolving modifications, is used today. This model is based on survey research measures of consumer exposure to a constellation of media vehicles, measures to assess the potential profitability of every respondent in the survey and, finally, measures of responsiveness for up to 20 different positioning strategies

Also in the late 80’s Clancy developed highly efficient algorithms for retailers to send totally customized letters and offers to customers instead of the generic letters and catalogues which were commonly used at that time and still used today This approach is described in the direct marketing chapter in Clancy & Shulman’s The Marketing Revolution: A Radical Manifesto for Dominating the Marketplace (with Robert S. Shulman), New York: Harper Business - A Division of Harper Collins Publishing (1991).