Making media measurement actionable

Will measurement give you everything you want? 

Probably not. Good measurement will only give you what the data set supports; statistical methods are beholden to the theory behind those statistical methods. Methods/systems that appear to answer all questions are too often smoke and mirrors – they either fill in the gaps with hard coded prior beliefs, or they employ some form of “fair share”- neither of which are actual measurements. The best way to get as close to what you want is to draft out your measurement system in reverse:    

• Start with the planning view, then let the experts tell you the models required to support that planning 
• Set data requirements based on the required models 
• If you can’t get reliable data, go back to the beginning and change expectations for planning, which, in turn, will change the models, and in turn, the data requirements  
• Remember, over time most organizations can improve the data that is generated and/or made available and the larger process can then be revised and improved and can get closer and closer to meeting your ultimate goals (i.e., your wish list) 

One might be surprised by how common it is for this to work in the reverse order. The first question we get is sometimes, “What data do we need?” with the expectation that once we have the data, we will build the models and then inform planning. Designing measurement processes in this order risks final output that is hard for the team to use and limits the actionable outcomes. 

Consider what this means in practice  

Is the goal to inform budget allocation?  

• Between brands or between markets? 
• Between spends designed to drive different levels of the marketing funnel? 
• Between tactics, campaigns or individual creative spots?  

Is the goal to understand drivers of revenue growth?  

• Growth drivers will be broader than just paid media and will differ based on the industry, including, price, distribution, macro-economic factors, etc. 
• Will the Marketing Mix Model be driving a forecast of total sales?  A true forecast is very different than a budget allocation recommendation. 

At what cadence do you build and change these plans? 

• Annual or multi-year strategic planning? 
• Monthly forecast updates? 
• Daily or weekly execution / budget optimization? 

At ScanmarQED, we help our clients to work through these questions. We offer: 

• Multiple media measurement platforms that support different sorts of planning needs  
• A modern approach to data management  
• A team of true experts to design and support the entire process 
• Our tech is scalable, reliable, and affordable but our recommendations are based on meeting your needs, not pushing our agenda or insisting on “only 1 correct way”    
• We’ve guided both large and small organizations through this journey, from multi-brand global giants with $100M+ in working media to single brand-market entities with as little as $1M in annual media spend.