In March 2013, the Harvard Business Review published this article on the ‘next generation” of Advertising Analytics.  It discusses the challenges “Advertising Analytics 1.0”, which relies heavily on last click attribution (which gives credit to the sale to the last action that the consumer took, and discredits / undervalues higher funnel channels that lead to consumer awareness) and lauds the coming of Advertising Analytics 2.0.

Yet while marketers now have access to more data than ever, enabling them to perform more sophisticated measurement and analytics, relatively few are taking full advantage of this data.   Even fewer truly understand how the data powers the results.  Ubiquitous tools have made the task of performing true multi-channel analysis easier, but they still require knowledgable data scientists to understand, validate, and translate the results.  I stress validation because simply blindly accepting the results from a third party solution, that may or may not take into account the nuances of a marketers business, is common and to be blunt simply lazy.  Results must be challenged and tested against future campaigns.  This “wash-rinse-repeat” process of always challenging the results of advertising analysis is arduous, but necessary to ensure that the data is interpreted accurately.

Fortunately, the data assets necessary to perform these sophisticated analysis continue to become more readily available – allowing marketers armed with the proper knowledge and tools to get closer to answering the holy grail question : “which 50% of my marketing is really driving sales”.

Revisiting 2015 and The Year Ahead

Those paying attention in 2015 saw a continuation of the acquisitions and consolidations of major ad tech players, though at a much more tempered pace.

The long term impact of this activity is that advertisers now have fewer choices which offer arguably more complete end-to-end marketing solution encompassing the full cycle of cross channel marketing (planning / modeling / targeting-execution / measurement-attribution).

As advertisers continue to move towards building customized in-house ad tech stacks, their ability to support these built-in-house solutions with services provided in part by third party service provider solutions is diminishing.   Where an advertiser used to be able to “plug and play” numerous solutions into their in-house solution, those choices are now limited.

On the flip side, for advertisers without the means nor desire to build their own solutions, this shift offers a less confusing landscape with single source providers addressing all of their advertising needs.

Agencies face a different challenge, as the growth of options and commoditization of services puts pressure on their role as gatekeepers to media execution.

None of these changes will result in a binary switch from one methodology to another.  They rather point towards a continued slow evolution of the industry in the coming year, as we continue to “figure it out”.

Source: AdExchanger

Well, the FTC has (finally) issued its guidelines on Native Advertising. The FTC defines Native Advertising as “content that bears a similarity to the news, feature articles, product reviews, entertainment, and other material that surrounds it online.”  The popularity of Native Advertising has exploded amongst publishers, in response to plummeting click through rates with traditional advertising (think banner ads).  At least for now, Native Advertising offers publishers a way to recover lost ad revenue.

Though this additional revenue doesn’t come at a price;  the FTC has expressed concern that some Native Advertising is confusing to consumers.

The IAB has also published guidelines for publishers – a playbook of sorts.  Publishers would be wise to read both the FTC’s and the IAB’s guidelines, as they differ in some cases.

The advertising industry is in fast pursuit of what many marketers feel is the holy grail of measuring advertising effectiveness; the ability to develop models, target users, and then measure the effectiveness (at a 1:1 level) – across all media channels.

The technological advances the advertising industry is making towards making this a reality is impressive, even by the fast-paced standards of ad tech.  But they might be happening too quickly, as consumers are just starting to understand the implications of end-to-end campaign management on their privacy.

As the FTC and others weigh in on this issue, expect it to become a more common topic in the months to come.

Source : AdExchanger

As most of you know, for the past month or so I’ve been actively discussing FTC ruling 255.  FTC ruling 255 requires people, including bloggers, to disclose when they receive consideration for promoting products and services.

It is interesting to see that others are picking up on the risks and liabilities related to this ruling.  I received an email from the Zappos team today, reminding me (and the other bloggers) that we need to disclose that we have received consideration (in the form of a free book).

FTC ruling is clearly going to have long term implications on blogging.

Smart executives keep learning, always expanding their knowledge and understanding of business best practices. But just applying these best practices to your business without considering the implications on your business model can have dramatic negative effects.

Let’s say, for example, that you read Good To Great – which advocates heated debates when developing business strategy.  Now a small business owner might think of this as a great method for uncovering the best that their company has to offer.  But this method also creates tremendous turmoil within an organization.  Turmoil that can disrupt the normal day to day operations of the rank and file.

In smaller organizations, this discourse only works if it is kept within finite parameters.  Ideally discussions are held off site, and then after serious debate a single vision is brought to the company as a whole.   Specific roles and tasks in line with that single vision are assigned to key individuals.

Yes, you read correctly.  The US Government is podcasting.  Specifically, the IRS has recently launched a YouTube video site and an iTunes podcast site “to better serve taxpayers and help them take full advantage of 2009 tax provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act”.

The videos focus on credits and deductions related to home and car purchases, as well expanded credits for education and energy conservation.

My only question is if Uncle Sam is podcasting … why aren’t you ?

http://www.youtube.com/irsvideos

Startups face many challenges.  Here are some tips to help you avoid the common pitfalls of starting a company.

Serve Your Customers
Customers are the lifeblood of any business.  Serve your customers, and the rest will fall into line easily.

Time Is Your Enemy
Your cash is running out.  Your competition is getting stronger.  Your customers are growing impatient.  There is only one way to handle these problems … get to market quickly.

Think Small
Far too often we want to dominate the world.  Better to focus on dominating main street first.  Don’t worry – the world will be waiting for you to take it over.

Forget Perfection
Being a perfectionist is fine, unless it gets in the way of getting your product / service to market.

Sell What You Can
Is your product or service not ready for market.  Sell something else!  Nothing motivates a team (and investors) like a steady stream of revenues.

Use Flex Teams
Labor and rent are two of the largest expenses your startup will face.  Conserve your cash by using flex teams.  Properly managed, contractors can serve a specific need, then be transitioned out until their skills are needed again, saving you labor costs.  This method reduces the amount of space you’ll need, and your rental costs.

I recently saw this ad for Yoplaits “Save Lids to Save Lives” Campaign.   A throwback to the box-top drives of the 70’s, Yoplait donates 10 cents for every pink lid you mail in by December 31st.

The key to developing a successful campaign is to make it easy for the end user.  It you make them jump through too many hoops, well … they won’t.   People are creatures of habit.  We don’t like to be pushed outside of our comfort zones, especially by marketers.

As marketers, we need to align our campaigns with the behaviors of our target market.   Think incremental tweeks that deliver the desired results, not full blown changes in behavior.

In the example above, Yoplait (in an online ad) wants me to collect tops and mail them in.  Let’s break this down:

I have to:

• Go to the store
• Purchase Yoplait.  Not just any Yoplait, the one with the pink lid.
• Eat the Yoplait.
• Save the lid
• Clean the lid
• Buy a stamp ($0.44 USD)
• Get an envelope ($0.05 USD)
• Fill out the envelope
• Mail the lid back to Yoplait, and trust that they get it

In exchange, Yoplait will:

• donate $0.10 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation

The value of my time and the Yoplait aside, wouldn’t it be cheaper for me to just donate $0.49  (the estimated cost of the envelope and the stamp) to the Susan G. Komen Foundation ?

A better idea would be to just print a unique code on the inside top of ALL Yoplait lids (why limit it to just the pink ones?), and allow me to enter that code in the Yoplait website.  Yoplait could then provide me with tools that would allow me to support the cause in other ways (aside from purchasing Yoplait).  Just off the top of my head, they could offer social networking tools, email templates, fund raising kits, awareness literature, etc.  All the while delivering targeted advertising for Yoplait.

That would be much easier than the campaign they’ve launched, not to mention much more likely to succeed.

One quick note – let me say that I like the creativity of the featured tips of this campaign.  Yoplait is doing the thinking  – giving the reader ideas on how they can easily contribute, and achieve the goal.  The easier the action, the more likely it is that they’ll do it!