CMOs: 3 Action Items to Manage Metrics

As a CMO, evaluating the effectiveness of a marketing campaign continue to be an on-going discussion and with the rapid emergence of data and analytics, this task  of predicting the unpredictable behaviors is getting even trickier. As a graduate student majoring in Integrated Marketing Communications, I have found these two useful articles which discuss methods of developing key metrics to evaluate a marketing campaigns in a structured and simple manner.

    

In this great article of “Metrics for CMO Performance” by Dimitri Maex in warc.com, Maex argued that in most boardrooms, 90% of the is used to count money and how to spend it while only 10% is being used to discuss where the money came from and why it came in. The latter, an important questions for all marketers out there, should be more of a focus in the future because the existence of data and analytics can help explain how much money the company brings in and how it is being generated. To answer these questions, there are five steps to do it; Jointly plan for measurement with the rest of the C-suite, Balance financial and non-financial metrics, Distribute results in real time, Be clear about expectations, and Measure short- and long-term effects and plan accordingly.

Source: www.marketoonist.com

                                             

In another interesting similar article, also in warc.com by Merry Baskin called “Measuring Effectiveness”, Baskin elaborate on how successes doesn’t come overnight for marketers and the key is in knowing how to predict and measure effectiveness so they can invest appropriately for the longer term. Knowing how to predict & measure involves knowing what kind of measurement should be used in what situations, and most importantly how to use it. Baskin re-introduced the “By, By, By, Technique” as a means for marketers to answer ‘what are we going to achieve?’ and ‘how are we going to achieve it?’ in every stage starting from business strategy down to the creative strategy.

As a graduate student constantly exposed to this discussion at Northwestern University, these two articles led me to these 3 actions item to avoid any marketers from getting overloaded with too many metrics to measure:

1. First, Alignment! - Involve the entire C-Suite including the CFO to prioritize what we should measure and instead of focusing on what we can measure to get prioritization and have a clear idea of how we define the success of our campaign.

2. Use "By-By-By" Formula - Carefully select your metrics, articulate and balance both financial and non-financial objective by simply connecting it with a BY formula; our X business objective will be done by achieving Y marketing objective, which will be done by creating Z communication objective and so on.

3. Established Expectation - It is important to let every stakeholder understand when we expect to see results of each measurement and how soon it will impact the organization, be it a short-term or long-term results.

To sum up, the struggles and fuzziness of measuring people behavior will continue to exist for marketers and it is up to us to know how to best evaluate our campaigns in driving those behaviors. One thing for sure is whenever we’re faced with this challenge is to have a clear idea of what we’re trying to do and what is the best available data and analytics out there that can help us to do what we do.

Olavina Harahap

Olavina Harahap is an MSc candidate in Integrated Marketing Communications at Medill – Northwestern University. Prior to going back to school she was a brand management professional for consumer packaged goods industry for multi-national companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly-Clark and Starcom Mediavest Group for the Indonesian market. She hopes to continue her passion in marketing after completing her graduate degree.

Twitter: @olavina

Linkedin: Olavina Harahap

Thank you for reading my first article on NU Social IMC Blog, I would appreciate any comments and feedback regarding this article.

CMOs: 3 Steps for an Early Holiday Campaign That Customers Actually Like

Most people are just getting used to the onslaught of all things pumpkin flavored, but CMOs and planners know the importance of championing another season that's quickly approaching: holiday shopping season. As a graduate student in Northwestern Medill's IMC program, I'm concerned with focusing in on consumer behavior and needs, and have found two great articles that show the importance of engaging your customers with early holiday campaigns, even as we're just wrapping up Halloween.

A recent Adweek article explored the results of Google’s Holiday Shopper Intentions survey and found that 26 percent of all shoppers start searching for gift deals before Halloween. That’s right, over one-quarter of your customers are already looking for gifts. So the challenge, then, is creating an early holiday campaign that doesn't feel out of place in early November.

Stuart Elliott, advertising columnist at the New York Times, tackled this challenge in a recent article, "Autumn is in the Air, but for Marketers, Christmas Has Already Begun." He cites examples of companies like Kmart and Betabrand that have proven a healthy dose of humor can go a long way in winning over consumers. For example, FCB Chicago recently produced a clever Kmart spot entitled “Not a Christmas Commercial” The ad confirms, “It’s way too early for Christmas, so just to be clear, this is not a Christmas commercial.” But Kmart jokes with the viewer that perhaps they’ll have some sort of event in late December that requires a lot of gifts. “Like maybe your entire family is having a birthday on the same day.” In that case, it’s the perfect time to visit Kmart and put your gifts on layaway.

If a brand is able to poke fun at its early campaign, customers can appreciate the humor instead of getting annoyed. Elliot refers to this as "meta" marketing — a trend in which the brand or company itself makes wry comments about its own campaigns in a self-aware manner.

From my consumer insight work at Northwestern, combined with the findings in these two articles, here are three action items you need to consider in planning your upcoming holiday campaigns:

• Start early – As pointed out in both of these articles, a large portion of consumers are already out there looking for gifts. Make sure your brand doesn’t miss out on the opportunity.

• Use humor – You better believe most people aren’t looking for Christmas music or over-the-top holiday stories in early November. Keep it light. Don’t be afraid to poke fun at your own campaign.

• Utilize extra time – Starting a holiday campaign early gives you the option for a longer campaign that could include multiple parts. It also gives you more time to build up a stronger relationship with consumers before the market is saturated with holiday ads. 

So don’t be late to the holiday party. Consumers are out there and ready to find gifts – it would be silly not to reach out to them. And if you can be silly while reaching out to them, even better.

Lizzie Bartek is pursuing her M.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University, focusing on digital marketing, strategy and content. She is passionate about discovering fresh consumer insights and translating them into awesome strategies and compelling stories. After graduating in December '14, she hopes to work in planning. In her spare time, she runs, writes, explores and manages social media for Vitamin IMC. You can find her on LinkedIn or Twitter.