We are trying to keep you updated on all marketing measurement trends, that’s why we prepared an article on the use of measurement tools after the phase-out of cookies and IDFA. Get ready to privacy changes and apply solutions that won’t be affected by the new conditions. See how MMM, MTA, brand studies and other approaches are going to function without third-party cookies. According to EXL Service, retail CMOs and marketing managers invest 8-10% of their sales revenue into marketing. An important thing here is to distribute this budget between different media channels in the most effective way and make sure that all the money spent pays off. What we need is metrics that accurately reflect ROI on a sufficiently granular level; unfortunately for now, media measurement is not keeping pace with business needs in this rapidly changing media landscape, shifting from TV to a multi platform video. On CIMM’s request, the current state of marketing/media ROI analysis was analyzed. The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) is a group of content providers, buyers and sellers promoting innovation for Television, Internet, Mobile and cross platform audience measurement in the USA. Among CIMM members are CBS, Discovery, NBC, P&G and The… Read more »
The debate about the transparency issues in the advertising industry has been gaining momentum recently, and it all started with Jon Mandel’s 2015 speech at the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) annual media conference. The following year, an independent research was conducted by K2 Intelligence LLC (“K2”) which showed that numerous non-transparent business practices, such as rebates and problematic principal transactions, had been taking place on a regular basis across the whole media spectrum. Numerous evidence suggested that some advertising agencies had taken advantage of their position failing to act in the best interests of the advertisers. The incident took an unprecedented turn in 2018 when the FBI had to intervene and ask the ANA and its members for cooperation. At this point, there is nothing conclusive yet, no accusations or charges have been put forward, but the FBI assumes there may be numerous potential financial fraud victims and wants them to assist in such a massive investigation, which might reveal offences far more serious than financial fraud like conspiracy and even racketeering. Such a scandal couldn’t go by unnoticed and very naturally caused some revolutionary changes in advertising industry, so companies started to take action. One of the world’s… Read more »
As we have previously covered here and here, the 2016 “RebateGate” proved to be a wake-up call for the advertising industry enshrouded in non-transparency, and uncovered the disconnect between the advertisers and their agencies in regards to the very nature of their relationship. The Association of National Advertisers, which commissioned the renowned K2 Intelligence Report, was quick to lend a helping hand to advertisers who found themselves at a loss as to how to cut their losses and recuperate. Published in July 2016 and updated to version 2.0 in July 2018, ANA’s template Master Media Buying Services agreement is part of the overall set of ANA’s Guidelines for best practice and is meant to serve as a blueprint for transparent regulation of the Advertiser-Agency relationship, ultimately aimed at rebuilding trust and confidence between the two parties. The advertiser-agency media management practices require full disclosure as their cornerstone principle. Seeing how many agencies have blurred the lines, the contract between the parties has to precisely define the nature of their relationship. Whether it be that the agency acts as the client’s agent or the principal in its own right, there should always be a contractually prescribed ability for the advertiser to… Read more »
The 2016 research on media transparency in the US market by K2 Intelligence and the Association of National Advertisers was fundamental in shedding light on the status quo as pertains to how advertisers and agencies see their respective roles in their relationship. On the advertiser’s part it would seem quite natural to expect the agency to act in their former’s best interests. As outlined in the “Transparency Guiding Principles of Conduct” issued by 4A’s in January 2016, “The default principle in all client/agency relationships where the agency is agent and the client is principal is full disclosure and full transparency in media planning and buying, unless there is an exception that the client has agreed to in advance and is covered by a separate agreement. Further, the client/agency agreement should specify that the client is the principal and the agency is the agent. However, the same Guiding Principles also make mention of the agency’s ability to also act as principal: “The agency should always ensure that the client clearly understands the nature, implications and benefits of any opt-in products and services, including disclosed and non-disclosed models. These should be documented with an opt-in agreement, with a clear explanation of any… Read more »
In 2016 the marketing industry community was shaken by a major event with potentially massive and all-encompassing repercussions. Aptly named “RebateGate”, the cataclysm was caused by an eye-opening report on media transparency in the advertising industry. The independent research behind it was commissioned by the Association of National Advertisers (“ANA”) and conducted by K2 Intelligence LLC (“K2”), leading the fact-finding part of the study. Addressing the study’s results, Ebiquity/FirmDecisions (“Ebiquity”) partnered with K2 to develop specific applicable advice and recommendations to help advertisers adjust to this newfound information and address the potential blind spots. Throughout the process, K2 put out requests for interviews, reaching out to 281 sources, finally conducting 143 interviews with 150 separate sources, which amounted to a cross-section representation of how the United States’ media buying ecosystem operates. Throughout the study, all of the interviewed participants’ identities were kept secret from both the ANA and Ebiquity, including all the individuals and corporate entities named in the sources’ accounts. Additionally K2 held full authority over the methodologies the study team applied, also having editorial control over how the report was eventually presented. What K2 realized was that within that sample they studied, there were pervasive non-transparent business practices. Out of the 117 sources… Read more »
Digital out-of-home advertising (DOOH) has long since become a part of the urban infrastructure. Having gone a long way from their humble beginnings as lightboxes to today’s interactive media, DOOH screens are now superstable. The owner of a network of shopping malls in Croatia wanted to expand his offer and strengthen the power and value of its coverage. To that end, it was essential to set up high-quality and low-end outdoor displays with the options of purchase cost estimation, comprehensive remote health status supervision and tech support. On the initial stage it was crucial to establish a critical-mass network of 23 large-format all-weather outdoor digital screens. Most of the units are double-face totems, while the rest are wall-mounted 75” screens. All of units were placed at the most frequent passerby areas all across the country, covering all major Croatian city centers. This was important to access ATL (Above the line) advertising budgets and attract big brand advertisers. Three different types of units were chosen to cover all the districts and satisfy the local municipalities — primarily double-side screens with ultra-high-brightness 2,500-nit LCD panels. These unique HVAC driven units were expected to deliver many years of high-quality performance and minimal downtime…. Read more »
Advertising is what drives commerce, prompting even the widely established companies to think about how better to communicate their new products to the audience. Good advertising is not necessarily expensive — even the simplest media can often have a strong impact. One of such is the poster. Universal Studios, also known as Universal Pictures, is a film-producing subsidiary of the NBC Universal media group and one of the largest and oldest US film studios. In 2013 and 2015, Universal Pictures promoted numerous feature films through a variety of channels. In order to establish the impact media has on film audiences, the media agency Mindshare compiled a comprehensive econometric modeling. The goal was to evaluate the influence of different media formats (poster, TV, online, print, infoscreen + public video, radio, ambient) on the number of viewers of the advertised Universal feature films, establish the efficiency of these ad formats and determine the return on investment (ROI). Advertising posters and billboards were placed on public streets, main passenger stations, motorways, the subway and its vicinity. The analysis was based on the following modeling approach: 1. Elaborate models for each specific film: verification of the dependency between Google's search index of various UPI films and media use. 2. Visitor count:… Read more »
Thanks to Out-of-Home advertising, fashion and beauty brands are able to plan their campaigns using increasingly smart methods for reaching target audiences. Below are the select few of such methods. 1. Use data In 2016, Timberland launched a data-based digital OOH campaign that was targeted across the entire United Kingdom. The digital campaign, which employed screens installed in public transportation and high-traffic retail outlets, displayed how dynamically renewable creatives deliver relevant targeted content. The campaign not only helped define the most suitable locations for advertisements, but also estimated the distance in steps and meters, the supposed travel time and even the number of burnt calories. Timberland used the data cleverly to communicate the OOH message to the consumers at the locations where the former can and will be reached. 2. Use dynamic targeting New technology and digitization of data in OOH bring forth plenty of opportunity for innovative campaigns. Last year the skin care manufacturer Elizabeth Arden held a campaign at Oxford Circus, a London tube station. A digital panel that was installed there, displayed real-time local air pollution data. This information, supported by the displayed evidence, motivated the pedestrians to use Elizabeth Arden products to "cheat the city". 3. Keep… Read more »
Nowadays, traditional advertising is being more and more often combined with online promotion, which is growing increasingly popular due to the mass use of the Internet. How are these two types of advertising related, and do they impact each other? Ford Motor Company is one of the world's largest automobile manufacturers. In Germany Ford enjoys substantial popularity: in 2015, 225 thousand new Ford cars were registered, placing the brand at place 6 in the top 10 best-selling cars in the country. In 2013-2014 Ford advertised its most successful Fiesta and Focus models using various ad media. Since a significant share of new car registrations was attributed to site traffic, this caused an interest in researching the impact of Out-of-Home advertising and other media channels on the number of hits at the two models' web sites. A media agency conducted an efficiency assessment of various media types, namely OOH, TV, radio, film and daily press. Regression analysis of the Jan 2012 – Oct 2015 visiting statistics at Ford.de was used to gather the necessary data. The researchers have concluded that in 2014, OOH advertising caused 52,553 visits at the Ford Focus web site. Meanwhile, the same resulted in 14,538 hits at the… Read more »
Most TIER-1 companies, whose ad inventory includes over 10 000 media units, face certain difficulties with media buying, ad planning, auditing and analyzing, as well as media biddings. In this case study we take a look at how AdoptoMedia’s CheckMedia Solution V1.0 helps a telecom company with media bidding and media planning automation. In order to cover all of the company’s marketing processes the solution was integrated with a Marketing Resource Management (MRM) system. 1. Planning and launching an ad campaign: the key elements In a telecom company, one of the CMO’s key goals is to manage regional marketing activities, which includes ad campaigns: production of creatives, media planning, media buying and ad placement monitoring. In our case, the telecom company uses the following media channels in ad campaigns: TV; Radio; OOH; Digital. Here are the key elements of the company’s media buying process: campaigns take place in over 500 cities, meanwhile media buying and placement are managed by all 59 regional offices and the central marketing department; the regional offices are responsible for local ad suppliers and provide daily support for the ad planning and buying processes. The central marketing department controls and coordinates all regional office activities,… Read more »
