The company was founded in 1990 in Chicago, Illinois by Charles E. Young. Ameritest, d.b.a. CY Research, uses highly visual or non-verbal approaches to measuring advertising in a variety of media, including television, print, direct response, packaging, internet and branded entertainment.
Heuristic Models
The primary tools used by the company to illustrate how advertising works are heuristic models created by Young. The purpose of these models is to focus attention on learning how and why an ad is, or is not, working with the goal of improving or optimizing ad performance. The models are organized into a hierarchy that attempts to bridge the divide between report card systems and diagnostic systems.
As a pre-testing, or copy testing system, Ameritest’s television model is intended to explain how the audience perceives motion media including television, online, film, and other forms of branded entertainment. The print model is meant to address print media including newspaper, magazines, Direct Response, catalog, and outdoor advertising.
Awards
Ameritest is the winner of six David Ogilvy Research Awards including the Grand Award for its work with IBM’s “Blue Letterbox” ad campaign.
Related Research Articles
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References
Articles written about Ameritest
Delivering the Message, (American Chamber of Commerce Journal) ACCJ Journal, November 2004, 35 PDF[permanent dead link]
Admap magazine, Does Day-After Recall Produce Vanilla Ads? June 2004, Issue 451, pp 40–42.
Editorials regarding Ameritest
Advertising Age, May 9, 2005, page 32, Viewpoint section, Letters to the Editor, "Agencies should be more involved with research" article, written by Charles E. Young, CEO and founder of Ameritest. Advertising Age Archives
Advertising Age, June 9, 2003, page 24, Viewpoint section, “The danger in ad recall tests”, by John Kastenholz and Charles Young. Advertising Age Archives
Advertising Age, June 9, 2003, page 6, “Copy tests under fire from new set of critics”, mentions us through a quote by Kastenholz. Advertising Age Archives
Advertising Age, Viewpoint section, Editorial, July 14, 2003, page 15. “Effective ads work in more than one way”, by Chuck. A rebuttal to the original article “copy tests under fire”
“ReThink” the 51st annual ARF conference & expo, 2005. Monday, April 18, Forum 3, 10:15—11:45, Semantic Network Analysis of Brand Ratings: A beverage case study, Charles E. Young. Conference was held at the Embassy Suites Hotel, New York City April 17–19, 2005.
“Consumer Engagement Conference: How to turn on a mind”, September 28–29, 2006 (The ARF) “Measuring the Turn On” a panel discussion with Amy Shea Hall of Ameritest. PDF
Awards
David Ogilvy Research Award, Grand Ogilvy Award, "IBM Infrastructure Campaign", 2003
David Ogilvy Research Award, Gold Medallion, Best In "Considered Purchase" Category, 2003.
David Ogilvy Research Award, Silver Medallion, E-Business Campaign, 2000, Pre-testing.
David Ogilvy Research Award, Silver Medallion, "Shaping Strategy", Unilever HRC, USA, Helene Curtis Business Unit, Degree/Competitive Research, 1998.
David Ogilvy Research Award, Silver Medallion, 1997, Personal Products: Just My Size/ "Talking Fit" campaign, Pre-testing.
David Ogilvy Research Award, Silver Medallion, 1996, "L'eggs "Smooth Silhouettes" Pre-testing.
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