The Q Score
The Q Score is a way to measure the familiarity
and appeal of a brand, company, celebrity, cartoon character or television
show. The higher the Q Score, the more well-known and well thought of
the item or person being scored is. Sometimes the term Q score is used
in popular discussions of a person or product’s overall fame, popularity,
or likeability. Other popular synonyms include Q rating, Q factor, or
simply Q.
To calculate someone or something’s Q Score, Marketing Evaluations surveys
a panel of US consumer households about their awareness and opinion
of that person or thing. The Q Score is influenced by both people’s
familiarity with the subject and their favorability toward it.
Q Scores are calculated
for the population as a whole as well as for demographic groups such
as age, sex, income or education level.
Marketing Evaluations claims that the Q Score is more valuable to marketers
than other popularity measurements such as the Nielsen Ratings because
Q Scores indicate not only how many people are aware of or watch a product,
but how those people feel about the product. A well-liked television
show, for example, may be worth more as a commercial venue to an advertiser
than a higher-rated show that people don’t like as much.
Marketing Evaluations regularly
calculates Q Scores in 8 categories:
TVQ rates broadcast television programs
Cable Q rates cable television programs
Performer Q rates celebrities
Dead Q rates the current popularity of dead celebrities
Sports Q rates sports figures
Cartoon Q rates cartoon characters, video games, toys and similar products
Product Q rates brand and company names
Kids Product Q rates children’s responses to brand and company names
TVQ and Cable Q Scores are calculated for all regularly scheduled broadcast
and cable shows.
Other Q Scores are calculated
to order for clients who pay Marketing Evaluations who want to research
public perception of a brand or celebrity. For example, in 2000, IBM
hired Marketing Evaluations to calculate the Q Score for Deep Blue,
the supercomputer that defeated chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov. Deep
Blue’s Q Score was 9, meaning the computer was as familiar and appealing
at the time as Carmen Electra, Howard Stern and Batman. In contrast,
Albert Einstein’s Q Score at the time was 56, while Larry Ellison and
Scott McNealy each received a Q Score of 6.
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