What is a Q score? Rating explored amid ongoing Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial 

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s Q score became a topic of discussion during the May 23 hearing of their ongoing defamation trial. During the cross-examination, Depp’s lawyer asked entertainment expert Kathryn Arnold if Heard’s “negative Q Score” resulted in a setback in her career.

In response, Arnold told the court that Heard had a low score in the past. She said:

“Q Scores change all the time, Amber’s has been as low as one."

Following the testimony, several media outlets reported that the ongoing legal battle between Depp and Heard also negatively affected the former’s Q score.

According to The Wrap, Depp was at the peak of his career in 2015 when he reportedly had a score of 88. At the time, the actor appeared in Black Mass and Mortdecai as well as in Alice In Wonderland and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Depp’s score reportedly dropped in 2016 after Heard filed for divorce from the actor and issued a restraining order against him.

During the latest court hearing, Depp’s legal team called IP valuation and damage expert Douglas Bania, who previously studied the actor’s score, to testify at the trial.

Bania alleged that Amber Heard’s 2018 Washington Post op-ed affected Johnny Depp’s public image. He mentioned that Depp had a positive score of 35 and a negative score of 11 in 2016. The same score allegedly came down to 31 positives and 16 negatives in 2018. The expert noted that Depp’s score dropped further to 29 positives and 15 negatives in 2019.

The Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard defamation case began after Depp sued the latter for $50 million for calling herself a survivor of domestic abuse in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed.

Depp’s team claimed that the article damaged Depp’s public image and had a negative impact on his career despite his name not being mentioned. Heard countersued Depp for $100 million and alleged in her testimony that that he abused her on several occasions during their relationship.

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Everything to know about Q score

The Q score is an industry-standard measurement technique used for calculating public familiarity with and consumer response to performers, brand ambassadors, influencers, characters, licensed properties, products and brands.

The methodology has reportedly been used for over 50 years and is usually calculated using two sets of questions. Firstly, a respondent is asked if they are familiar with a particular product or performer. The familiarity score is then derived from the number of “yes” answers.

Once a respondent replies “yes” to the first question, they are asked if they would rate it/them as poor, fair, good, very good, or one of their favorites. The popularity score is then measured by calculating the percentage of people who are familiar with the product or performer and also consider the same as their favorite.

The Q score is then calculated by simply dividing the popularity score by the familiarity score and dropping the decimal points. The name of the measurement technique has also been taken from the simple division methodology, as the “Q” in the name stands for “quotient.”

According to Smart Capital, the concept of this measurement technique was developed by a New York marketing agency in 1963 as one of the many attempts to add a scientific approach to branding. By creating hard and fast measurements, one could calculate public response as well as ongoing relationships with other brands more objectively.

The Q Scores website noted that people who are “exposed” to one of their favorite performers or personalities are more likely to be attentive and have a higher recall while retaining a positive image of the performer brand, product, or show in question.