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| Monday, November 17, 2008 The Lens On Measurement: Fish-eyed Or Wide? By Kendall Allen The current economic climate has heightened the tension within any conversation on media, advertising and marketing -- no matter the stakes or the spend. We are asking ourselves rightful and tough questions on media mix, allocation, and budgets, as we dial in our resources to conquer branding and direct response initiatives. Through a few conversations, I was reminded this week of the wisdom of keeping calm and maintaining an expansive point of view in order to keep smart, keep it covered and make your efforts hum. The Sharp Tongue of ROI Misspeak The first experience went something like this. In a pre-call for an interview, an associate asked me if it were not true that in this recession, all marketers were focused increasingly and perhaps only on ROI. She pressed further for specific prescribed percentages across the media mix to batten down for ROI-focused spending. When I responded that, "hold on," we needed to define ROI and elaborate on our terms in order to even have the conversation, it seems I tripped into some kind of fixed mantra from her -- a mantra that just kept repeating and focusing on the mathematics of it all. As I talked about continuums of performance measurement, and knowing where to relax the rigor, she asked me, "Why wouldn't you want ROI?" This just made me smile because, of course, as a self-respecting digital marketer, that's not what I said. But I knew she had a certain dire straits conversation in mind. The View Behind the Smile Personally, professionally, I tend to work with marketers who have both branding imperatives and quantifiable performance objectives. So, yes, they care about return on investment, return on ad spend and all kinds of cost and benefit metrics -- but it's more dynamic than ratcheting down for ROI on performance media and tightening that dial when times get tough. They want their marketing to thrive and deliver and will calibrate for the climate. Even so, many of them are testing new things, albeit with an extra safety net or two -- and they know not everything can be calibrated. Makes great sense to me. This is especially true when it comes to social media and the interplay of consumer demand and influence. Good developmental digital marketing work needs breathing room. This is the Way We Roll Looking at the business and aligning on marketing objectives, we define approaches for both the brand objectives -- reach, visibility, share of voice -- and the more hardcore performance of response metrics, of which there may be many. Then, as we structure the plan and begin looking at media mix, we simply have more to consider today than yesterday, as we put it all together. As I have mentioned, back around 2003, it was a bit more black and white. Search had come to center stage as the lead on performance media. Typically, we were mixing with fewer options on hand: display, search, email. Today, the platforms are more mature, the mix is more diverse and we've learned more about how to leverage it to accomplish things on a brand as well as performance level. We are harnessing consumer demand and influence -- and we are trying all kinds of things when it comes to measurement. Allocations may shift to increase efficiencies, but as an agency or a marketer, this is to be expected at all times. Sure, if you are in media or technology sales, you may feel the pain of a particular shift more than another -- but keeping the mix fluid is critical to mastering leverage and to keeping the road open for learning. The shifting in and of itself is not the stuff of drama. The Importance of Being Earnest In a second scenario, a friend of mine in the agency world was dealing with a classic misfortune: the small campaign that has been run without defining and validating objectives and metrics upfront. Suddenly, without proper context, the "small" campaign is HUGE. A client was now reacting to a silo of data on a campaign that had deployed a singular digital media method with no strategic framework, no reasonable scope on marketplace and expectations, no acknowledgement of other factors related to performance and no articulated goals and metrics. A nightmare and a field day, right? Badly staged, whacked context -- and nowhere to go but all over the place. Well, with a few deep breaths, working behind the scenes, said friend and I worked out a script for resetting the framework, better integrating the media methods, pausing to define context and retool the data and analysis scenario for a more collaborative, grounded assessment. But, truth be told, my friend faces some pain and an uphill pitch this coming week trying to get this re-set. It is imperative to get onto the same wavelength with the client, set the framework and develop the language of meaningful analysis within the relationship. Shared playing field and playbook are critical. So, that's the work that has to be done to get back to a healthy place. Measurement Without The Mania Digital media is highly accountable. So, yes, yes, we should hold it so -- and measure everything we do. But, I would argue that the stringency we apply as we plan, mix, course-correct and extend our efforts should be mitigated by reason and an open mind. Breathing room is important as we measure, if we are to have enough to go on, or if we are ever to realize the value of an educated risk taken here or there. So just as important as the measurement imperative is our own measure of flex when it comes to this consumer marketplace that is more measurable -- but also, more dynamic -- than it has ever been before.
Post your response to the public Online SPIN blog. See what others are saying on the Online SPIN blog. Kendall Allen is senior vice president of Digital Marketing Services at MKTG, headquartered in New York City. Previously she was managing director of Incognito Digital, LLC, an independent digital media agency and creative studio. She also held top posts at iCrossing and Fathom Online. Online Spin for Monday, November 17, 2008: | |
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