Wake up call

Some new-ish Comscore data feels like a rather big wake-up call.  If 8% of internet users account for 85% of clicks, why do we ignore the vast majority of web users in our metrics for display ads?  We are still, far too often, applying old DR methodology to non-DR communication.  We really need to begin to build better metrics, not just in terms of 'brand effect' but also in what people do offline not simply online.  It's something CMOs are looking for - a recent survey by the CMO Club shows that nearly 2/3 of CMOs say their most significant challenge with digital is understanding how online marketing programs impact people offline.  Yet we still treat 'online' as it's own discrete world far too often.  Yes, online is fantastic in part because it is measurable, but just because we can measure something doesn't mean it's always the right thing to measure.

Comments

[Andrew]

Great take on an interesting problem. More and more I think people are waking up to the idea that online ads often serve more as a brand awareness tool than anything else but I think it's hard to not want to measure something that can actually be measured.

[Brett T. T. Macfarlane]

I get scared when in response to declining click measure relevance digital media co's start talking about simple reach. Again, they're staying in the digi-sphere. Plus generating dumber stats taking them down a slippery slope.

On one hand I'm trying to develop multipliers linking online/offline experiences & actions or wondering if I need a math whiz to develop a genius algorithm. Then again, as the financial markets demonstrated, the more sophisticated the math measuring something the less related to reality it is.

Until someone develops some magic metric interpretation reigns. Then again, even once that metric is developed it too will require interpretation...

[erin]

Here here. Out with the old "metrics" and in with the new, or rather, combine old metrics with new hypotheses in terms of new engagement tactics. I'm more and more convinced that the metrics established to measure effectiveness of advertising as a "display medium" will not work when new marketing tactics have enhanced "advertising" to be a dialogue/conversation. How will we measure engagement? How will we measure conversations? Both online and off. New media require new systems to be evaluated by. what have you found so far to your liking?