Design of experiments (DOE) is a term familiar to most quality professionals. Some use it on a regular basis and others try their best to avoid it. Most of those who employ this problem-solving tool have done so mainly on behalf of quality improvement projects. Limiting DOE to just these areas or types of initiatives results in huge lost opportunities for these organizations, not even considering more personal missed opportunities such as the failure to expand the professionals’ own skill sets.

Consider that organizations spend a fair amount of labor and financial resources on advertising, specifically as it relates to its timing, media usage, channel selection, and so forth. The assumptions that go into the rationale for many of these decisions can be costly and significantly inhibit their effectiveness. Why not apply this experiment-based methodology to understand these relationships? It would illuminate not only their complexity and counter-intuitiveness, but also help determine the effect that advertising, timing, product pricing, and more might have on sales.

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