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What Experiences Have You Had With Mpm? Have Mpm Programs Helped Increase Your Marketing Budgets?
Posted By: SteveByrneBranding on 6/17/2004 4:16 PM (CST) 1000 Points
I recently came across the CMO Council’s white paper discussing Marketing Performance Measurement MPM. This topic appears to be increasingly near and dear to marketers hearts, albeit usually to date difficult and expensive. The points are for your case studies, stories, anecdotal stuff you marketers have experienced relative to MPM programs. Of particular interest is how MPM can be a tool to get senior management to sign off on more appropriate budgets for marketing. Feel free to discuss whatever thoughts this topic produces for you.

Measures and Metrics: The Marketing Performance Measurement Audit

Posted by: SteveByrneBranding Author Response
6/17/2004 8:25 PM (CST)
note: please don't be intimated by the pdf, it’s non-techno speak, informative and a quick read.
 
Posted by: Nicolas Accepted Answer
6/18/2004 3:26 AM (CST)
Thanks for the link to the report. I just finished reading it and it is indeed informative. Looking forward to the full report due this summer.

I agree with the findings in the report. Quite frankly, we developed in-house tools (excel spreadsheet and similar) to measure and refine easily measurable activities such as direct-mail, seminars, trade-fairs or telemarketing campaign (I won't even talk about branding, advertising, PR impact, etc.).

I believe that although you can measure from one year to the next and kind of set your own benchmarking - or use the industry's best in class - there are several factors that impact a campaign's success. Meaning that results will vary. The analysis of these factors' impact on the campaign is the difficult part. I.e, last year your seminar generated X leads and Y clients for Z sales. This year results were XYZ minus 10! Why? Will scream the CEO. Now go and explain that 'Euro 2004' or any other factor had a negative impact on your campaign. Bear in mind that all factors are not easily identifiable.

Basically, marketing is no precise science and results obtained this year do not guarantee similar results for the next one. The more complex the campaign, the more factors come into play, the more difficult it is to really measure its success. The risk I see is that if you try to apply too strict a measurement model on marketing, then Marketers will have hard time defending their budgets. I see Marketing Performance Measurement as an indicator of your 'area' of performance. It's like the Product life cycle or BCG Matrix or any other model of the sort: it helps you visualise a situation. But the day its results are applied one to one (i.e., -10% score in the MPM model this year = -10% budget for the campaign) performance of marketing activities will decrease significantly.

Accountability and measurement are definitely the way to go, but marketing is more complex than any model could summarize it. MPM should serve and help improve marketing activities, it should not be a tool that eventually hinders its development.

Hope this helps,

N.
 
Posted by: SteveByrneBranding Author Response
6/18/2004 2:30 PM (CST)
Great input Nicolas. I like your point about “too strict a measurement” interfering with budgets for sound marketing and CEO’s turning data around on marketers. It seems important that CEO’s partner with marketing people in the early phases of MPM. After all, usually any measurement is a step in the right direction.

How about others? What are your MPM experiences and thoughts?
 
Posted by: SteveByrneBranding Author Response
6/18/2004 4:36 PM (CST)
Excerpt from paper:

For MPM to be successfully implemented, it requires a commitment from the CMO and CEO, a willingness to make a science out of the art of marketing, involvement of cross functional executives, and department-wide changes in how programs are executed and measured.

For marketing to TRULY TAKE A SEAT at the executive table, forward looking CMO’s must enforce the discipline of measurement – and clearly benchmark and report on marketing programs and activities.

Comments?
 
Posted by: Jett* Member Response
6/22/2004 3:55 PM (CST)
Steve, I will comment later tonight...got buried in projects...

Thanks for the reminder!
 
Posted by: Michele Accepted Answer
6/23/2004 1:02 PM (CST)
Hi Steve
The 'boardroom divide' between finance and marketing is an age old conundrum - and until marketers learn to speak finance, and accountants learn to speak marketing the divide will not close.

One or two points on the methodology - the respondents were self selected - so that chances are the findings are over inflated. Companies that are not considering MPM will not partake in the survey, and respondents will probably over inflate the internal success of their activities.

For me the most important element of this paper is the implied need for universal standards and methods to enable industry benchmarking (like the GRI (www.gri.org) or GAP.)

However, a word of caution: one does not want to get into the position where all a marketer does is report on metrics - resulting in no spare capacity to implement marketing strategies and tactics! Less is more - measure a few metrics well rather than many metrics badly!

Thank you again for that stimulating article!
 
Posted by: SteveByrneBranding Author Response
6/23/2004 1:46 PM (CST)
Thanks Michelle,

I think your comments on the “age old conundrum” speak to the bigger picture. As a marketer, I have to confess having had some resistance to measurement programs – they didn’t work, they didn’t take everything into account, they slowed things down, I didn’t fully understand them, I am occasionally a bit lazy. But I can see CEOs and their boards must employ measurements’ competitive advantage for their businesses to thrive. It seems the core issues are what really works and how proactive must marketers be in driving the kinds of cultural change needed to get everyone on the same page. A truly daunting task.

Other comments!

(The GRI site can be found here: http://www.globalreporting.org/)
 
Posted by: Jett* Accepted Answer
6/26/2004 6:57 AM (CST)
I think it is certainly possible to develop methods of measurement. Extremely difficult, personalized, and expensive, but possible.

Certain areas such as brand equity will be quite a challenge, but I believe the is a way to measure anything and everything. This is always a cause and effect relationship with every action. Given the complex nature of businesses in general, one will most likely have the most success by comparing and evaluating concurrent efforts in other departments whish may or may not have an effect on a particular marketing tactic. plan, or strategy.

Is it a pain to have to finally submit a computation to justify your creative? Sure. Is it necessary? I believe so. Personally, I have not gone beyond the obvious and easy to measure aspects outlined in the article, but I am certainly willing to check it out in more detail. This is something I plan to follow. Can't wait for them to release their results!

Thanks for bringing this up! Very thought provoking!

--Blaine
 
Posted by: bobhogg Accepted Answer
6/27/2004 7:27 AM (CST)
Steve...

Thanks for the link to that paper - interesting!

I'm a UK-based marketer, and the issue of the measurement of marketing effectiveness coupled with marketing's influence at board level, is a "hot topic" here.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (www.cim.co.uk) has been stimulating discussion on these issues recently. As a CIM member (and an examiner on its professional qualifications programme), I thought this link to a paper published by the CIM late last year might be of interest:

http://www.shapetheagenda.com/mediastore/insights_site/Hard_Edged_Marketing...

Hope you find this of value - and that you get a lot more response to this very important issue!

Bob
 
Posted by: kwinters* Accepted Answer
6/28/2004 10:19 AM (CST)
I think that measurement is something that "haunts" all marketing departments, can it be measured? Surely there is a way...I agree with Jett, marketing is a cause effect game...I do something that either gives results or doesn't...I don't know of any universal marketing measurement instruments because of all of the variables...I do think that you will see more of this coming out in the future though...

However, for any marketing measurement to be grasped by the business world it will have to include the cfo, with profitabilty projections, somehow, because that is what marketing is about, the bottom line...
 
Posted by: SteveByrneBranding Author Response
6/28/2004 2:37 PM (CST)
Thanks to all for responding to this post. I thought that Nicolas provided the best response. I’m looking forward to questions from others on the subject we love to hate.

-- Steve
 


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