The 'So What' test

The 'So What' test is a marketing test that I picked up in business school. Interestingly enough, it did not strike me as anything special at the time, however I find that I use it more and more. In a similar way to using the words 'only if' in order to focus your excuses for not doing something in to a single object that you can knock over, the 'So What' test focuses your thoughts on the relevance of a topic.

In marketing, quite often you come up with ideas about distribution or a branding concept, or something that defines a moment in time for the thing you are marketing. The 'So What' test in meant to be the recalcitrant person in the back of the room that literally says, "Yeah that is great and all, but So What !!!"

If you cannot answer why your idea is relevant to this imaginary guy, then there is probably something wrong with your idea. Now obviously, anyone can be unhelpful, and the idea is not to make the standard of the 'So What' test to be so high that you will never pass it. However lets have a look at some simple ideas with the 'So What' test.

Starbucks coffee: 'Lets increase the size of the coffee, to 5 times the size, and give it a grandiose name, sell the coffee in nice takeaway cups with lids that don't come off'

So here comes the 'So What' test, Is it:

• People want more than a single coffee in the morning, and when we really oversize the drinks, people will pay a lot more for the coffee, it is easy to do and we can sell lots of it. - sort of.
• We can put branding on the enormous cups and people will be walking around with advertisements -sort of
• Selling 5 times the coffee, means we can charge over 5 times the price, although the cost only went up by a couple of cents. We just made the coffee shop 5 times more profitable - probably the best out of this list from my perspective.

So you should get the idea, that it is not really about the actual answer, but the fact that you at least ask yourself, does your idea have any relevance, or merit.

So what how does the So What test have relevance outside of marketing - well if you apply it to anything you do, it makes you consider if what you are doing it worthwhile, relevant, or has any merit.