Have you ever been in a Focus Test before?

[themistermanguy]

Focus tests are strategic pre-release marketing practices employed by companies, that help them give a rough idea of how their product will be received by the market, by demonstrating/screening it with people in their target audience. We know focus tests have a history of both helping and hurting the final release product, but has anyone ever participated in one of these things? I remember being in a focus test once, and it was for a Horror movie. I was around 13-14 at the time, at the mall with some of my family, and a guy came up to me and asked if I was interested in giving my thoughts on an upcoming Movie in exchange for some money. I was unsure at first, but my folks gave me the go-ahead if I wanted.

So I watched the trailer, and it was about a girl and her new friend. Everything was happy and lighthearted at first, but then a mother mentioned something about the girl taking her meds, and then it sinks into horror movie madness as the girl's new friend goes insane. I don't remember the name of the film, nor do I remember what I specifically said when I was asked about my thoughts, but I remember it being along the lines of being a bit predictable and generic. After I gave feedback, I was paid for my participation, and just left. I had no idea whether my feedback, or the feedback of other kids my age affected the final movie once it actually released in theaters a year or two later. But who cared, I got money out of it, so that was all my teenage self wanted at the time.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I was lined up for a focus test for a pop drink or something like that but couldn't get away from work that day. What a story.

 

[Nuuu]

Apparently I was part of a "Child-proof lighter" focus-test when I was a toddler or so. I guess it wasn't very good because my tiny baby hands managed to discover fire fairly quickly.

My brother was part of a few focus tests as well, though at an adolescent age. There was some place he used to go to where you could walk in and get paid to be focus test participants for various things, usually food. The only thing I remember him testing were a new type of goldfish cracker though.

 

[EvilRoy]

I got to try a type of pop that didn't end up being released in Canada. It was something by pepsi, but they didn't tell me the name of it, just "try this fizzy fluid, ignore the color because it may change, and tell us what you think." They gave me a little survey sheet to fill out asking what I thought of it, and I got a gift card for The Keg that I never used.

As near as I understand it, they profile people wandering through a mall or area, approach you and confirm what they think (do you fit into the right cultural group, right age, blahdeblah), and they use you to perform a targeted survey. They don't bother with mass surveys because they want to know how a specific group feels, rather than everyone at large which presumably costs out the balls to do properly. Its like those stupid internet polls where people insist you have to add a "I don't care" option. If you don't care they don't want to waste money and time on you.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I was polled about a trailer for "Big Momma's House 2" when I was at the movies in high school. Got some free movie tickets out of it.

I can't remember what exact words I used to describe it (the word "insipid" was probably used, it was a word I quite favored in my vocabulary at the time), but I basically told them it was a pile of dog shit, just in more polite terms.

I don't think my opinion got any changes made to the movie, and I guess it did well enough that there is also a Big Momma's House 3. I really don't think I was the target demographic for the movie anyway.