Politics in Measurement

Heamp8217s right amp8211 and it is disturbingThe job of any advisor must be first and foremost to do the best for his or her client amp8216The bestamp8217 doesnamp8217t mean simply telling the client what he or she wants to hear nor is it ignoring the harder road in favour of the shortcutAnd yet this happens increasingly often even within what was the hermetically sealed world of audience measurementDelivering amp8216the bestamp8217 involves honesty and integrityTake the issues over the years of the social media platforms I donamp8217t believe anyone seriously believes some of the audience measurement claims made by the largest players Noone really thinks that a 1 or 2 second commercial message can do anything beyond the most basic reminder job Noone believes that campaigns using social media channels arenamp8217t influenced for good or ill by brand messages appearing outside the magic SM circleNoone believes these things because of experience amp8211 all the evidence weamp8217ve accumulated over the yearsSo why do we seriously even consider that these things might be trueItamp8217s a combination of FOMO fear of missing out and the attraction of big numbers which are neither properly explained nor fully understood by so many of those doing the buyingItamp8217s an updated version of what used to be known as amp8216Chairmanamp8217s Wife Syndromeamp8217 As in amp8216The Chairmanamp8217s wife reads the Daily Mail religiously we need to advertise there I donamp8217t give a fig for targeting numbers cost effect amp8211 just do what I askamp8217Now we have amp8216CFO Syndromeamp8217 As in amp8216Donamp8217t give me all that fluffy research theory just look at the humungous numbers those nice people at the platforms have given me and place the orderamp8217Take an initiative like ISBAamp8217s Origin of which Iamp8217m known to be a fanForget the politics for a moment and consider what the industry needsIn an increasingly complicated world a missing piece is for a crossmedia crossmedia not crossvideo or crossplatform measurement framework to help in decision makingAudience measurement has always been paid for by the sellerNo seller can be expected to fund a measurement system over which he does not exercise controlThe major beneficiary from a crossmedia system is the advertiserThus the advertiser should fund any crossmedia systemPut all of these factors together and what you have is OriginSo why is it so controversial such an issue for existential debate and discussion Is it because of concerns over how best to undertake the project I donamp8217t think it isThe reason is politics and an ideology that hates anything that cannot be controlled and is thus perceived to be a riskWhether itamp8217s right or wrong longterm the feeling exists that we canamp8217t support any innovation in case the shortterm results might not suit usThis is narrow thinking undertaken by those who have the answer before the question has been askedThe last Cog Blog was about lessons from the Post Office scandal One is the danger of believing what you want to be true regardless of expert advice amp8216The computer system in which we invested millions is robust now whatamp8217s the questionamp8217The best experts stand up to generalists the best generalists know they need and can benefit from expertsIf the people who largely fund the paidfor ad industry decide that however hard it might be to deliver whatamp8217s needed is a system to help them and their advisors to decide between different channels including in due course nonadvertising channels then itamp8217s the expertamp8217s job to make sure that such a thing is delivered brilliantlyItamp8217s the difference between amp8216we shouldnamp8217t do this because weamp8217re concerned with the immediate commercial implicationsamp8217 and amp8216we need to do this itamp8217s the right longterm thing to do the only question is how to do it as well as possibleamp8217We should support research that helps us do a better job building brandsWhatever the politicsPosted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership selfpublishing platformClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

Politics in Measurement

Author

Publish date

Channel

Archived in

Brian Jacobs

Breaking Barriers: Nada Bradbury’s AD-ID Strategy for Advertising Effectiveness and Women in Tech - By E.B. Moss

More Videos:

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

Politics in Measurement

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Brian Jacobs

TAGS:

Breaking Barriers: Nada Bradbury’s AD-ID Strategy for Advertising Effectiveness and Women in Tech - By E.B. Moss

Cookies