Why measurement is critical to managing global brands

The biggest innovation in global marketing in the last twenty years is not what you may think. In fact, true innovation in marketing happens infrequently. For example, the focus group was invented back in 1941. The iconic 4 P’s of marketing (product, price, promotion, and place) was developed by E. Jerome McCarthy in 1960. And, despite what you may think, social marketing was not invented in the last 5 years (just ask Apple). No, the biggest change in marketing over the last two decades comes down to one word: measurement.

Despite companies flaunting their proprietary processes and methodologies, marketing is an inexact science. There is no magic formula you can follow or special algorithm you can develop. Yes, there are best practices, but even those do not guarantee success. An effective marketing campaign is a continuous cycle of research, trial, measurement and then starting again. And it’s the ability to easily and comprehensively measure your marketing executions –even in real time – that has changed the marketing landscape forever.

Data that used to take weeks or months to compile now takes literally minutes. There are many services out there that will help you track your metrics; Google Analytics being the most well known. But services such as Radian6, Twitter Grader and Facebook Insights (to name just a few) can also provide you with detailed, real-time data about how your target audience is accessing, engaging and responding to your marketing. This is allowing marketers to refine their campaigns and make them more effective, faster.

Show. Don’t Tell.

Examples of measurement dashboards The Duffy Agency creates for clients.The data you can aggregate today can be a blessing and a curse. The level of detail is incredible, but the amount of data can be overwhelming. We have found that most of our clients would rather see a clear visual than wade through pages of data in Excel spreadsheets. That’s why we develop customized visual dashboards that reveal – at a glance – exactly where the marketing campaign, or individual segments of the campaign, stand in relation to marketing objectives. The take away here is to make the data you measure as visual and concise as possible, so all the stakeholders can make quick, informed decisions.

Today’s measurement techniques hold the promise of more accurate and more relevant marketing messages. And that’s good for both the marketer and consumer. If you would like to learn more about measurement and metrics and how it can help make your marketing more focused, give us a call at The Duffy Agency. We’ll be glad to talk about your challenges and how we can help.

Kevin Duffy is the Creative Director for The Duffy Agency's Boston office.