OMMA Panel: Measuring Success in a Bi-Polar Universe
What does bi-polar mean, anyway? And who writes these panel titles? Nevermind. Another standing room only panel.
Engagement continues to be mysterious, and measuring it even more so. There is data that is reflective and indicative, but it is probably best to let the client determine the success metric for themselves.
Measuring video is more straightforward. There are proxies for success, but still no hard metric. Across multi-channel campaigns, advertisers want to know if the message is attracting users to the brand and providing additional exposure to the brand, according to Matt Cutler. Can we drive better, higher quality experiences. In the end, if an advertiser spends $10, do they get $12 back?
Maria spoke about reach vs. branding campaigns, where optimization engines are turned off. Looking towards audiences, advertisers are looking to develop metrics for measuring attitudinal behavior that is matched to the demo and psychographic data.
Are we able to change perception of the brand? With high variables in performance of campaigns, the industry is still trying to learn what to measure. With video, according to Ken Mallon, the variances between “good campaigns and bad campaigns” is much greater than typical display advertising. Poor targeting makes more of an impact. “When you see a video ad for diapers and you don’t have children, you are turned off by the brand.”
Maria – we need to find more ways to measure more things so we can become better advertisers.
Visible Measures: even if we have data, it may not be understood by the people who have it. For instance, there is a ton of data about financial performance, but how many people truly leverage it when looking at the performance of their investments? Beyond a P/E ratio, how much do people really understand?
There are forward leaning innovators who are taking the risk – but there is much larger reward for those who take the risk.
Online is currently being held to a higher standard than other media. The overall market is responding to those pressures. TV measurement has made major advancements in response to the advances in online. Too many people still buying on impressions without knowing who they reach. It is a TV mentality.
Ken – measurement leads to transparency. Transparency leads to trust.
As media planners and buyers, they are searching for a proxy to replace the CTR as a standard to look at as a key measure. What about all the people who are influenced but aren’t clickers? Albert Kim expresses the need to move away from the “last impression seen” model, and look at the “overall journey” that the user takes beforehand.
There is also a shift away from the old demographic and psychographic measures like age, gender and income and more towards more descriptive monikers for clusters like “humble homes” or “established elite” “eager seekers.”. The audience votes with their mouse. Deeper understanding leads to better experiences and better results of advertisers, publishers and consumers.
Trying to marry all of the different data sources and see what it means. Clients are looking for two key take aways, and not a 50 page powerpoint deck on metrics.