1. Forbes.com - Magazine Article Page 1 of 2
Advertising
CMOs: Stake A Claim On A System of Accountability
Michael Brunner, 10.18.10, 4:31 PM ET
The CMO Council since 2007 has noted through various reports that the top service clients want from their agencies is improved
quantification and measurement of results. Its "Marketing Outlook 2010" report shows that senior marketing executives are still
looking to their agencies for robust, real-time, end-to-end solutions to track and measure a campaign's performance. To add a
whole new layer to the challenge, they're also putting more pressure on their agencies to "improve customer economics and
lifetime value" through deeper predictive modeling techniques.
I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir when I say that marketing executives are under more pressure than ever to prove results.
And when the client is under pressure, the agency should expect to share the burden. Working with my own clients, I know that
every dollar spent is being scrutinized, examined and reevaluated. At the same time, every resource being utilized, both internal
and external, is being questioned. There is a lot of uncertainty in most companies right now, and you may have noticed that
insecurity breeds more insecurity. It all comes down to one word--accountability.
But let's face it. The truth of the matter is that, when it comes to ROI, marketers probably got away without having to answer to
the boardroom for way too long. And with today's digital media capabilities, a whole new world has opened up to the industry
that allows us to keep a constant finger on the pulse of how a campaign is performing in real-time and how a brand is performing
across various corporate initiatives.
And, while things like Web traffic, click-thru rates, retweets-even short-term sales spikes-don't define success, they can offer the
opportunity for us to determine whether or not we're moving in the right direction and to adjust our course if there is any
indication that we're going the wrong way. The bottom line is that we are in a better position today than ever before to track,
measure and even predict success. That alone should put a smile on every client's face.
With this said, there are roadblocks to the process that can keep an organization from truly being able to benefit from a system
of accountability. In order to move beyond these roadblocks, there are steps CMOs can take when designing measurement and
analytics programs that will help efforts and truly impact your brand long term:
* Stake your claim. Define your objectives clearly by putting them on a board to hang in both yours and your agency's offices.
Don't leave anyone guessing or anything open to interpretation at any point in time.
* Set measurement markers. Determine what measurements matter most based on your objectives before moving forward.
Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted. It's very easy to get caught up in
wanting to measure everything that we can assign a number, causing us to lose sight of what is truly helping us achieve the
goals and objectives. Consider traffic to an e-commerce site. The amount of time visitors spend browsing the site really doesn't
matter if the majority of them aren't purchasing while there.
* Draw the boundary beyond ROI. Understand that ROI alone is a narrow metric. There are some marketing strategies that
can produce a great return on investment in the short term while having a negative effect on your brand long term. For instance,
price-based promotions can produce short-term sales spikes, but too many too often can train your customers to wait for price
breaks before they purchase. So, you just may be sacrificing margins long-term.
* Define the short and long path. Make sure you're balancing the short term with the long term. Regardless of how much
technology is opening new doors for tracking and measurement, we all know that you can't build a brand overnight. We start by
asking our clients three questions: 1) What do you need to accomplish right now, 2) What do you want to accomplish longer
term, and 3) How can what we do now positively affect the longer term?
* Build a meaningful house of data. A lack of data is bad. Possessing bad data is worse. Bad interpretation of any data is the
http://www.forbes.com/2010/10/18/marketing-data-accountability-cmos-advertising-cam... 10/19/2010

2. Forbes.com - Magazine Article Page 2 of 2
worst. First and foremost, I'd be curious to know why any marketer wouldn't be collecting data today with technology making it
so easy and affordable. Regardless, whatever data you are collecting must be meaningful. Second, bad data is worse than no
data at all, because it can lead you down the wrong path. And finally, when it comes to interpreting the data, you must put it in
context with what's going on in the marketplace to get an accurate picture of how your marketing initiatives are performing. A
good example of "context" today is the current condition of the economy.
* Open the windows and doors. Marketers, and their agencies, must share in the transparency process. No one on either side
of the equation can do what they need to do unless expectations are clearly articulated and information is freely shared.
Otherwise, it's like expecting a quarterback to hit his wide receivers when he's the only one who has seen the playbook. He
might make contact, but the whole process is bound to be a lot more effective when everyone knows the plays.
* Invite finance to the table. There has to be a meeting of the minds, but more important, your finance people can be great
allies. They may not be completely controlling expenditures, but we all know they can have a strong influence on the decisions
being made about them. They tend to be much more open to preserving, and ultimately growing, the marketing budget once
they understand how building a strong brand can help to improve things like market share and share price.
Clearly, accountability is not easy. Otherwise, after three years on the topic, we would already have a systematic formula in
place that all CMOs and their agency partners could benefit from and share. There are too many factors specific to a brand
and/or a campaign that influence the way in which we best measure return on investment. But understanding what your brand
represents and what matters most to your boardroom, combined with specific upfront planning, will guide your team one step
closer to the accountability we desire and our chairpersons demand.
Michael Brunner is CEO of Brunner, a full-service advertising agency with offices in Pittsburgh, D.C. and Atlanta.
http://www.forbes.com/2010/10/18/marketing-data-accountability-cmos-advertising-cam... 10/19/2010