How do most digital advertisers measure success? Through data analysis, of course.
But, not enough advertisers have access to their own digital data in a usable way.
Such a pity.
It’s not about big data, it’s about sourcing usable data.
A recent report about financial advertisers using digital channels has been published. It is worth a read. (Contact details at the bottom of this article.)
The report is based upon data captured through a data management platform across seven brands and five months.
It shows what brands can do, and should do, leveraging their own (and owned) first-party data.
I urge you to have a look at this table and think about it. It sums up success in digital lead generation a.k.a. performance advertising.
As the new year approaches everyone is wondering what will really happen in 2015. And only a few of us really know!
I’ll happily share with you a few points – and I’ll frame it as seven significant changes in our vocabulary because they just won’t need explaining any longer:
CROSS-SCREEN
Second-screening. Imagine if I’d had this app on my phone when at the Dubai Rugby Sevens yesterday. Imagine if the data providers could tell what billboards were near me and play relevant data-targeted ads with reference to the environment, the outdoor billboards, the big TV screens etc…
advertisers will reach a point in May (why May? That’s another story!) where they no longer need to refer to “cross-screen” advertising. Why? Because everything will just work across all screens. ALL screens. And we’ll even be able to track advertising across all screens and all operating systems in a way that only Facebook, Google and Apple can today – albeit only across their operating systems at the time of writing.
DIGITAL FIRST
“digital first” will be an expression of the past. It’ll just be what we all think and do. Instead we’ll remember at the last minute before submitting any advertising proposal “what about TV and billboards?” Okay, maybe TV and billboards won’t be forgotten like that. But still, maybe it’s time for the 2005 prophecy by Joe Jaffe to come to life: Today, some 65 years after it was first used, the 30-second spot is like Sean Connery – still sexy as hell but not much of a long-term prospect.”Continue reading “Six Significant Changes in Advertising for 2015”→
Wow, the last two years have been exciting. But it’s time to say, so long, Singapore.
MBA vs real-world learning
In December 2011, I told some old friends that I was about to do an MBA in Australia – where I lived at the time – at an unheard of business school. They explained to me that it was too little too late: “You’re supposed to be turning 30 not pushing 40; you’re supposed to do it at a famous school with cool people, not a cheap school with average people.” Fair cop. They asked me why I was keen to get a Master’s in Business Administration anyway and I explained I wanted to use it to work out what’s next. “That’s an expensive way to procrastinate,” said one of said friends. Harsh, but fair.
So, three months later, I feigned a family holiday and instead booked a solo trip to Singapore. I met 35 people in seven days. And asked each person to introduce me to one more person, if they could.
Mumbrella, June 2012
One of those ‘one-more-people’ was the guy at WPP’s “other trading desk” the Media Innovation Group. The digital media tech company on the bleeding edge of digital whose tools were used by GroupM. And this bloke decided I was the man for the role to bring his business to life across Asia Pacific.
Soon enough it was announced in the press (thank you, mumbrella) that I would be moving on to embark upon some “real-world learning” to launch WPP’s Media Innovation Group across Asia Pacific.
Data, creativity and real-time bidding
The business at the Media Innovation Group was technical. And naturally, full of three letter abbreviations. The Media Innovation Group (MIG) was a real-time bidding (RTB) media buying shop – sometimes called a trading desk – with a state-of-the-art data management platform (DMP). Since those ‘early days’, everyone has started talking more about “programmatic”. But if anyone uses such language with you, ask them to explain themselves. Most can but many can’t! The tech-heads think media is all about tech. It’s not, it’s about results, of course.
Listening to stories 