Dave Morgan and the League of Extraordinary Researchers

The group originated about a year and a half ago through the ARF at a two day event on the future of advertising and return on investment amp8220When I first arrived the ARF sparked the conversation around whose measurement is keeping up with the consumer todayquot says ARF CEO and President Gayle Fuguitt amp8220But the key to progress is clearly collaboration Dave Morgan convening leaders and provoking progress improves our odds of success No one person or company will come up with all the solutions in today39s complex media environmentquotMorgan saw an ongoing need for a visionary group of researchers who could meet on a more frequent basis ideally over dinner to continue the conversation and eventually back it up with cooperative action He then launched a Research Luminaries group who would be charged with grappling issues like engagement measurement cross platform metrics and over the top solutions in a collaborative open environmentThe first two dinners were held at the James Beard House in Greenwich Village where about thirty executives amp8220top folks in research who were progressive and passionate about ROI in advertisingamp8221 according to Morgan spent the evening discussing their own companyamp8217s initiatives that could be part of a greater effort to create a better advertising worldThe first meeting resulted in a consensus that the industry is not focused enough on the bottom of the sales funnelThe second meeting focused more specifically on open discussions of specific projects It included presentations by David Poltrack Chief Research Officer CBS Corporation and President of CBS VISION Megan Clarken Executive Vice President Global Watch Product Leadership Nielsen and Bill Harvey CEO of Bill Harvey Consulting Harvey spoke about his new data initiative amp8220We have identified 273 metatags which predict 76 of the variance in Nielsen ratingsamp8221 he said amp8220We are currently using this IP and system to help two top networks improve program content to maximize ratings Other use cases are a new level of consumer recommender and the optimization of advertising placementamp8221Other discussion points that evening included such questions as amp8220Is there an opportunity for broad standardizationamp8221 and amp8220What is the role of the MRCamp8221 Notably there was participation by both Nielsen and Rentrak that evening which led to conversations on how measurement companies could work togetheramp8220It was a TV centric groupamp8221 Morgan says amp8220but we also had Facebook there to see about the ultimate linkage between TV and social and long term ROIamp8221For the next dinner Morgan hopes that amp8220maybe it will become a bit of an institution in a good expansive way and become important to people in the industry A tangible hope is that there will be a focus on the real results of the early projects how they have been received by advertisers what worked and what didnamp8217t workamp8221 Hopefully the group will let down their guard and competitive interests so problems can be solvedThe very nature of the group makes it selective There are only so many seats at a James Beard House table Morgan was faced with the daunting task of choosing who would be invited and sought those who are amp8220mission focused about creating a better advertising worldamp8221 How did he decide the guest list amp8220We tried to pull together people who have had a real involvement in the industry and who are regular contributors We want it to be one that people work at and not just be at We want to get people there who are driving change and making things happenamp8221He also made it a point to include people who are not currently active in the industry as researchers but have years of experience in the field as elder statesmen passing down what was learned a generation before amp8220We are going to find that the problems we are solving have been solved in the 1970s and 1990samp8221 he explains amp8220We donamp8217t need to reinvent the wheel It is an art not just a science There is a real human element about itamp8221Morgan hopes that these dinners amp8220become a forum to sharing The result can be whitepapers and specific initiativesamp8221 he says amp8220It will be a regular opportunity to come together with aligned and passionate peopleamp8221I wish him great success This is a particularly disorienting time for research with companies like General Mills Kraft Heinz and Hershey recently announcing cutbacks in their research departments and several networks creating amp8220data analyticsamp8221 departments that operate parallel to and in separate reporting silos to research departments With traditional research under siege it will be these industry think tanks that help keep research relevant and pivotal to a companyamp8217s ROIThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageMyersBizNet management or associated bloggers

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Dave Morgan and the League of Extraordinary Researchers

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