To assess the relationship between advertising and word-of-mouth, we constructed a regression model built specifically for the purpose.  The model tapped two syndicated data sources: Keller Fay’s Talk Track for word-of-mouth and TNS’s Media Intelligence for media spend.  We looked at two different advertisers, both of whom are UM clients.  Let’s call them Advertiser A and B.

Both Advertiser A and B are large brands who are household names.  Advertiser A has a distinct yet broad female bias while Advertiser B has a somewhat upscale and stylish appeal.  The two advertisers operate in different market categories and draw on advertising’s ability to help spur their business in markedly dissimilar ways.  Consequently as we might expect, advertising’s potential impact on their word-of-mouth, WOM, was also distinctly different for each marketer.

Extensive data interrogation revealed the most pragmatic way of correlating the two data sources was to create rolling three month averages for each data set, refined by some minor tweaks by channel.

For each marketer, we were able to determine a clear correlation between advertising weight and word-of-mouth.  For Advertiser A, it was 94% and for Advertiser B 89%.

Since the model included media spend, we could also establish advertising’s return on investment in building WOM.  Importantly, the model’s spend inputs were not based on total media spend but on TNS’s reported investment in each media channel.  In other words, not only could we see advertising’s overall effect in helping build WOM, but the model would also tell us which media were more effective.

Advertiser A’s unexpected result: dollar for dollar, women’s magazines out performed television by a factor x25!  Yes, for every $1 spent on women’s magazines, we would have had to have spent $25 to build the same WOM effect on TV.  This compelling finding triggered our curiosity to quiz this further – why were magazines so powerful for this advertiser?

Keller Fay’s Talk Track can trace specific WOM brand mentions down to an individual magazine.  We sought empirical evidence of brand mentions for Advertiser A at the individual title level that might corroborate the model’s findings.  Since the regression analysis was based on rolling three months data, we wouldn’t expect to see an exact match to the advertiser’s magazine schedule.  But by comparing Advertiser A’s brand mentions in over 30 magazines to each magazine’s individual reach of Advertiser A’s regular users, we saw a heartening correlation between the two of 78%.  Not quite proof positive, but good circumstantial evidence nonetheless.

Advertising clearly appeared to help Advertiser A build their WOM, and our model indicated that advertising helped generate up to 70% of the total WOM for that marketer.

Although we investigated many alternatives, we found the same approach also worked best in building a regression model for Advertiser B.  In summary, we were able to see a clear return on investment that differed distinctly by channel and reflected this particular advertiser’s broader based media strategy.   Since this advertiser is the market leader in a high interest category and whose quality products command a price premium, Advertiser B is explicitly less reliant on advertising.  Consequently, in this instance we saw that advertising generated 23% of the brand’s word-of-mouth, but this was wholly consistent with the role of advertising for this marketer.

As the media world has become more complex, consumer word-of-mouth has grown in importance.  Arguably, a key factor in this phenomenon is that each consumer has become their own integrator of what they see, hear and interact with.  Word-of-mouth is the consumer’s own output and interpretations of these aggregations.

Yet most word-of-mouth research studies, with the exception of Keller Fay, have a purely online perspective and focus on online conversations, postings and areas such as consumer video sharing.

While online conversation and social media monitors are invaluable in discerning consumer trends, none of them directly demonstrate the value of other media.  We need to continue to develop word-of-mouth tools which appraise not just digital media but the complete media communications spectrum.  As Lord Kelvin, the great pioneering 19^th century scientist, succinctly put it:  If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.

When we ask US online consumers how “trustworthy” they rate information typically provided by various contacts, a wide ranking emerges. Personal recommendations from family and friends scores highest at 6.7 out of a possible 10. Consumer online recommendations on sites such as Amazon score 5.7 By comparison, TV or magazine advertising merits only 3.7. At least advertising beats email spam, which scores a lowly 3.1.

But if online word of mouth is mushrooming in its online presence, how do we embrace it, particularly its most evocative online form — User Generated Content (UGC) — without falling into the classic traps feared by many. Fortunately, if we really want to incorporate WOM, there are ways to draw on research to ensure we can develop scalable and repeatable strategies.

WOM is deeply rooted in our culture: Americans do like giving their opinion both on- and offline. Tracking WOM across 22 product categories, we have found that 80% of Americans “often inform others on what to buy” in at least one of these categories. More intriguingly, we are seeing the emergence of the Super-Influencer – 30% of us inform others on what to buy for five or more categories.

Super-Influencers exhibit clear preferences in the subjects they like to talk about. At the broadest level, our analysis indicates Super-Influencers will tend to focus on one of two macro-topic groups, either: a) technology and entertainment or, b) more personal and household matters such a fashion, cosmetics, personal health and groceries. Similar smaller topic groupings occur throughout people’s WOM repertoires –people often like to talk to others on several related topics such as music and films, or children, homes and families.

The implication of these types of macro-topic groupings is actually quite profound. If we wish to activate a WOM or UGC strategy, we should avoid the pitfall of directly inviting consumers to create a specific response around our product. As Chevy Tahoe found out in 2006 in the USA, consumers rebuffed the marketer’s invitation to create UGC ads for the SUV, and instead they exploited it as a chance to attack the vehicle’s fuel consumption. As a result of this type of experience, the marketing industry is often hesitant to pursue WOM or related UGC consumer creation strategies.

Instead of inviting consumer responses on the brand directly, we should harness this type of customized WOM topic research to determine what other often seemingly-unrelated product areas do actively interest our consumers to talk to others. We could then include these other potential areas in a re-focused WOM or UGC activation strategy to emphasize our product’s proposition without necessarily talking about our product. In turn, this can unexpectedly broaden the interest and appeal of our brand.

An admirable case in point is ING Canada. A year ago, they ran a UGC competition on the theme of savings – but rather than being about bank savings and deposits , the competition was about any form of saving. Consumers’ UGC responses were diverse, humorous and creative. For example, they included a video about someone trying to save money by ordering a pizza where the pizza was free if it was not “delivered to your hands” in 30 minutes. So the diner-to-be deliberately refused to physically accept the pizza when the delivery guy turned up at his door and a very humorous skit ensued.

It is these sorts of surprising approaches where WOM and related UGC strategies will ultimately succeed because they not only arouse consumers’ genuine curiosity and invite an authentic response that isn’t transparently self-serving to the needs of the brand, they also provide a broader-based forum to interact with the brand and other fans.

No doubt having the capability to more accurately develop target insights are tremendously helpful in constructing a media approach.  Incorporating Communications Planners into the overall media team has made a great difference in increasing relevant connections into the plan, be they cultural, entertainment, social, etc. The advances in measurement analytics of these relevant connections has and will continue to improve plans by demonstrating how accurate the strategic direction is as it relates to established goals, sales, brand awareness scores, etc.

As we continue to develop capabilities in these areas there are a few things that warrant consideration.  Proprietary target assessment programs can generate enormous amount of information, all helpful in formulating a media approach,  but much of this information can’t be measured in the actual plan.  This creates an uncomfortable disconnect.  When standard research is considered, it often can’t tie back to much of the proprietary data and without a direct link all the proprietary information must still be evaluated and judgmentally applied to the plan.  Network audience measurement serves as an example.

Data consistently supports a multi-channel media plan, but, can clients afford that…can they actually stake out a position in the market when pressure to increase brand “presence” is so intense.  In fact, many clients seem to be consolidating ad dollars and exerting that “pressure” in fewer media, more defined media, fewer channels – not more channels…to increase presence.

If there is no direct, measurable connection to the actual media plan output, clients are questioning the need to pay for the research.  This data has also outrun the capabilities of the fundamental planning tools.  It seems many clients want a media agency to provide what few other companies can provide…smart, strategically focused media plans that cover the critical areas like target analytics that are linked to an actionable, executable media plan.  Plans that address where and when marketing efforts should be focused and how much money should be spent to effect a desired outcome.

In short, with all the advances in planning tools, we need to make sure that any and all of it can be directly applied to plan development and output…and if it cannot, use it cautiously.   As investment advisors we need to be able to clearly articulate how a client should allocate it’s marketing resources and be able to show it on a media plan and strip away confusing theory not delivered in the actual plan.

-Don Morrison, EVP, Managing Director, UM

 I recently had one of those meetings and wanted to share it.

 I have spent a good bit of time over the last few years working in an industry capacity, trying to make the “business of doing business” in the digital space more efficient.  As Chair of the AAAA Interactive Marketing Committee and co-chair of “Project Reinvention” we have been working to identify the greatest areas of friction in the business and tackling the greatest areas of contention (revising the industry Terms & Conditions as an example).

 After 15 years in the digital media business I can safely say that our industry is overly complicated.  In order for us to truly scale our business it is critical that we make it easier to plan, buy and steward digital campaigns.

 We certainly don’t need any more Wall Street Journal articles on “Invisible Ads” or trade publications exposing the dangers of ad networks, click fraud, below the fold placements, etc.  So, you can understand my dilemma after I met with RealVu last week.  Part of me wanted to forget that the meeting ever happened.  The other part of me thought that this little known Salt Lake City startup could change everything.

 It would appear that (among other things) RealVu has developed a technology that allows them to identify when an online ad is “within the viewable area” of a users screen, and for what duration.  So, for ads that are run on a particular website that require a user to scroll “below the fold”, their ad never gets requested until the user has scrolled to that part of the page.  Makes sense, right?  Pretty innocuous you say?

 On average, across all placements that they have tracked – fully 50% of online ads are never viewed because they are outside of the user’s viewable area.  Say what?

 Now, keep in mind this is a combination of all properties.  Some long tail sites are poorly constructed and they may indeed have questionable motives, but this does include Top 100 properties as well.  The number of ads that we are paying for that go unseen floored me.

 In addition to making sure that an advertiser is only charged for an ad that is viewed by a user, they are able to see how long the ad is viewed before it leaves the viewable area (another tab is opened in the browser, user scrolls down the page, etc.). 

 It is not inconceivable that this kind of data will drive the industry towards an entirely new buying mechanic.  Only paying for the amount of time that an ad is viewed, and obviously not paying for ads that are not viewed at all.  This may very well translate into a decrease in efficiency (or an increase in CPM), but it will be a far more accurate representation of true ad delivery.  We are supposed to be the most measurable and accountable medium, right?

 RealVu has reportedly signed a deal with MSNBC.com to start working with them to provide their service to advertisers.  They also have been working with some of the leading industry bodies like the IAB and the Media Rating Council (MRC) to revisit some of the very foundations of our industry, like what qualifies as an ad impression.

 I have no doubt that this will not be the last time we hear about this company nor the last time we discuss the potential to revise the currency of Internet display advertising.  Might this be the catalyst the industry needs to galvanize around a new standard metric?  Engagement, iGRPs, Brand minutes, involvement score – take your pick.  The possibilities are as varied as they are exciting.

 At the end of the day, if this new potential standard makes the business of doing business easier and more transparent, I believe it will be a giant step forward for the industry.  It will set a new bar for accountability – one that will influence all communications channels, including the 800 lb. gorilla in your living room.

 Remember folks, you heard it here first.

 This could change everything.

If you’re reading this, it’s probably because you’re one of us marketing types—the blind optimists who spend our days thinking about where to find consumers, how to capture their interest and, ultimately, win them over. But, the reality we never fully accept is this: the consumer (who is actually a real person with a whole life of his or her own that doesn’t involve us) is not sitting at home all day, forlorn for lack of attention from brands, waiting to be found. It’s a sad love story gone wrong.

So what’s my point? Well, as a fellow blind optimist, I think there is still hope. I think creative media thinking can win the proverbial girl’s heart, ride off into the sunset and have brands and consumers living happily ever after. We all know that it’s harder to push someone into your camp than it is to give him a little pull when he’s already leaning your way. Well, for any category there are particular moments—beyond the obvious ones—when consumers are leaning your way and are just waiting for that little invitation to come in. I like to think of these as “magnetic moments.” Yes, we all know that the days of interruption marketing are over and right now it’s about right time, right place (blah, blah, blah), but, in my interpretation, magnetic moments are more than that. They are a mood, a context, a state of mind (and, yes, a time and a place, too) where your category has become more emotionally charged for consumers. Either consciously or subconsciously, by choice or by circumstance, their energy (and attention) has temporarily been directed your way.

Think about your own experience with the personal finance category, for example. Of the 24 hours in your day and the 168 in your week, you’re probably spending almost none of them thinking about your credit card or checking account. All the while, financial services marketers are making plaintive overtures about how their products can fulfill some bigger promise to you as a “money management tool.” But, then comes the time you take out of each week or month to go through your bill-paying routine. Or perhaps it’s the moment just after or when the mortgage bill comes due. Whatever it is and whenever it is, these are the points where all of a sudden you’re transported into your money frame of mind—you’re feeling the pain of your financial ways and resolving to improve them. At that one point, you might finally allow yourself to listen to how one of these “money management tools” could play a bigger role in your repertoire. That’s a “money moment” for you–a.k.a. a magnetic moment any financial services marketer crafty enough to catch you in that frame of mind.

In the age of interactive, conversational media and utilities, I think there is an opportunity for a brand to help, inform, edify and uplift through its media experiences in “money moments” like these. When the possibilities of media (and what can be turned into media) are boundless, the only limit on our ability to engage consumers is the bounds of our imagination. If we can find these magnetic moments, surely we can find a way to put media there. There’s proof that a lot of brands are thinking this way and are doing better for it. A few examples I’ve really come to like are these:

• Zappos: Yes, shoes can be a highly involved category, so maybe their job is easier, but that doesn’t stop them from thinking really hard about the shoe moments in peoples’ lives. Whether you are a shoe lover or would just as soon go barefoot all day, there is one moment for all of us that is now forever associated with shoes. Yes, the airport security line. A subconscious shoe moment, but Zappos is there with ads in the security bins. Pretty brilliant, I think.
• Charmin: Doesn’t get more low involvement than toilet paper, right? If you didn’t think very hard, it would be easy to conclude there are no magnetic moments here. Well, think again. Maybe there is one…the dreaded, grimy public restroom – an experience that really helps you reflect on the importance of nice fluffy, soft toilet paper. Charmin is there. They’ve sponsored the iPhone app that helps people find survivable public restrooms wherever they might be.
• Max New York Life Insurance: Halfway across the world, an insurance company in India is showing us how to stretch the concept of magnetic moments even further. Insurance is often thought to be a “necessary evil”; but in truth, one could consider it welcome protection against the fragility of life. That said, we rarely think of it this way. So Max New York Life found a creative way to get that very point across. They found Indian consumers when they were tending to other fragile their lives– their eggs. They advertized on egg cartons. A pretty elegant way to remind people of the fragility of life. Nice work.

All of these are pretty simple one-off tactics. But what they say to consumers is pretty powerful. What they say is: “I’ve thought about you. I get you. I understand you more than any of those other brands. And I know you don’t think of me often, but when you do. I’m there.”  If you think hard enough, there are probably magnetic moments you’ve never considered that give you an opportunity to show consumers you’re armed with a little more insight and media creativity than the average brand. Simple tactics, but they are clearly the product of some insightful thinking from people that started by stepping back from solving the marketing problem and first walked a mile in their consumer’s shoes to find those precious few moments when consumers’ energy—for better or worse—is tuned into their category.

At UM, we remind ourselves to truly get to know our consumer before we put our media/marketing goggles on this. We do this through research, talking to consumers and listening to the story that the data tells. With this insight in hand, we use creative media planning tools such as consumer archetypes and consumer journeys to truly understand our consumer and our category within their broader context of consumers real life. Simple, tried and true tools…but what they do is help us be a consumer first, recognize that we only have a small fraction of their attention and find those magnetic moments where we can form a more charged connection. Our hypothesis is that the more your media experiences are around those magnetic moments, the more curiosity and interest your brand will provoke, and the more surprising your results will be.

-By Will Wiseman, SVP, Global Strategy Director

OK, so how does it work?  Cliffs Notes version: A client trades unwanted goods, say, 750,000 pairs of last-season’s sea foam green pumps with the orange heels that never did quite catch on, for barter credits which are equal to the full value of those pumps (better than writing them off at 10 cents on the dollar).  These barter credits are like a coupon, say “20% off all Media.”  The client then buys media (typically TV) through the barter company, and pay 80% of that bill with cash, the remainder of the bill they pay via their barter credits.  Client does better on the sales of the pumps, and saves money on their media buy.  What happened to the pumps?  The barter company and the client agreed up front as to what venues the barter company can sell them to (e.g., “Any retailer outside of the U.S.”).

Folks barter all sorts of things: Jets.  Beer.  Honey-glazed hams.  Mini-vans.  Buildings.  You name it.   And as a result, they get rid of unwanted goods…and save money on their media buys in the process.

So if all this is true, then why does barter still own a reputation that falls somewhere between a cheap used car salesman in a polyester suit and a snake oil salesman?  I think most of it is due to the purveyors of barter in years past who, on occasion, were known to sometimes gild the lily a bit…and that’s a nice way of putting it, since “barter deals gone wild” could typically cause fear and loathing among those connected to the deal (not for the barter companies themselves of course, they made out just fine, but the agencies and clients were left to pull their hair out).

What’s a barter deal gone wild?  A marketing client who never informed their financial folks what they were up to, the sea-foam green pumps have been undervalued by the barter agency and the deal seems wrong, the media agency never ensured the barter agency was on the hook to deliver a specific media buy, so now the client’s ads are running in overnights, the barter agency is not clearing the desired weight, the CMO is screaming and the finger-pointing is rampant. Oh, and the pumps just showed up for sale in a big box store – degrading that designer’s brand value and by the way, he is on line four and wants to talk.  Oh yeah….

That fictional nightmare aside, I believe that barter can be a very effective tool for not only reducing media costs for clients but also in terms of aiding top-line areas where assets are on the verge of being liquidated at cut rates.  Pay less for your media + get more for goods you needed to get rid of anyway.  What’s not to like?

The key is to have the right people involved in the deal from the beginning, and to ensure that the parameters of the deal are clearly stated – ambiguity in barter deals, as in life, can be the root of many problems.

The right people – Means client finance people to evaluate the financial side of things.  This also means client marketing people, their media team and the agency media folks as well.  And depending on the situation, even more people may be required to participate in the discussion.  Each situation is different, but be sure to err on the side of keeping more people than less “in the loop.”  A good barter agency can help here.

Deal parameters – The barter company and the media agency should work closely together so that the barter agency knows very clearly what they are expected to deliver in terms of media inventory – they should be fully briefed as to the specific details on everything so that there are no issues with “burning credits” or poor inventory.  FYI – A good barter agency will simply walk away from a deal they cannot deliver on for the client.

I work at UM in New York and I’ve done several deals with our sister barter shop–Orion Trading.  Those deals have been simple, straightforward and resulted in significant benefits to the clients.  “You do barter the way it should be done,” I like to tell Orion’s President and CEO, Brian McMahon.  Now, I should tell you that Brian is partial to plaid sport coats… but they are not polyester…

Barter.  It’s not a scary thing anymore.  Know the deal.  Communicate fully.  Then go for it.

First, the good news: Research and intelligence firm Mintel has found that “optimism is steadily balancing out stress and hardship as people around the world discover ways to transform their lifestyles, regain control and lighten the mood.”

People are demonstrating that they still want to enjoy themselves. In the US, three in five have traveled domestically in the past year, but to save money, more travelers are opting to visit family and friends. The result has been a boost to the trend towards playfulness and simple fun—behooving marketers to build these values into their brands.  In fact, many marketers are already off and running, releasing quirky, light-hearted new products that offer consumers a way to escape by engaging with their brands.

Now, the harder news: While a more playful attitude may be on the rise, upon reviewing its 2009 trend predictions, Mintel observed that trust remains a paramount concern. At a time when consumers feel particularly distrustful of the financial industry and food purveyors among other companies, brands who want people’s trust must not only display the values consumers care about, but also interact with people about these values on an incredibly intimate, almost human level.

Nine out of 10 consumers recently surveyed by Faith Popcorn’s BrainReserve agreed they are “opting for a simpler life.” Per a September 23 NYT article, “Americans seem to be again entering a period of social change where we’re recalibrating our sense of what it means to be a citizen—not just through voting or volunteering, but also through our purchases.” The idea that we can serve by spending more responsibly has gained steam. “Americans,” the article says, “are starting to put their money where their ideals are.”

Take, for example, this summer’s wildly successful “Cash for Clunkers” program. “It was a potent concept mixing financial incentives with the emotional appeal of unloading a burdensome possession and getting something new in return”—all while helping the environment.

Now, an array of smart home furnishing retailers and manufacturers are hoping to “capitalize on similar motivations by introducing trade-in programs for everything from outdated entertainment centers to used mattresses.”

Ruby & Quiri, a family-run home furnishings center in New York, offers consumers a $25 gift card for every piece of used furniture turned in, or $50 for upgrading to an energy-efficient appliance. The “clunker” is picked up and donated or recycled when the new item is delivered, providing consumers with a headache-free means of “doing good.” Similar programs have sprung up across the US, with variations from 1-800-Mattress and even a “Cash for Teakettles” program from Chantal Cookware Corp.

While “genuineness” may seem to come easily to a family-run outfit such as Ruby & Quiri, it is not completely elusive for companies which operate on a larger scale. As brands take on personas, astute media agencies (such as UM) can bring those personas—and their intrinsic values—to life through interaction with individuals.

Brands need to start opening up the way consumers already have in the online world. After years of one-way conversations, brands may first have to deal with some pent-up anger, but over time, engaging consumers will lead to more balanced relationships focused on cooperation and co-creation. Part of a brand’s newfound appeal might just be the humanity and vulnerability that is demonstrated through a willingness to reveal themselves and be open to feedback from the masses.

“Foreverism” (the concept that conversations, relationships and products that are never done and born of a “beta” mindset) means operating in a more humble, transparent and perpetual beta mode, both as an organizational mindset and as a product development and customer experience philosophy. But consumers will not want everything to last forever. Brands will need to think hard—understanding which offerings should be primarily transient vs. other experiences consumers prefer to be more lasting.

At UM, the role of technology is enablement.  Enablement simply means we are using emerging technologies to modify current human capabilities; think of what the PC, the Internet, iTunes, and Facebook have enabled society to create. We also see enablement as maximizing each person’s latent potential, which helps our clients maximize the impact of their marketing investment to deliver explosive business results. How does this approach come together from a practical perspective?  Does a technology silver bullet exist?  No.  I only wish it were that easy.

The capability to develop a technology enablement strategy is a discipline that has become increasingly important at media agencies.  We believe that technology can provide a growing number of benefits: lower agency costs, provide on-demand information that includes investment and performance metrics, faster speed to market, better value for clients and improved return on investment.  Innovation in this area does not imply that the team that adopts the greatest number of “cutting edge” gadgets and applications wins the race.  Rather, the strategy of selecting the appropriate new tools and blending these with current applications and business processes to drive business value is the key to success.

A certain type of culture needs to be present for successful innovation in the technology enablement arena.  There is saying in the digital music business:“You know how to recognize the pioneers–they are the ones with the arrows sticking out of their backs.”  Driving innovation requires a team to be comfortable that they will occasionally stub their toes and use the learnings from the experience as a catalyst to improve future developments.  This collaborative culture is an important element to consider when choosing your media agency partners.  Understand that there are varying degrees of success when collaboration is not a key part of the fabric that weaves together interactions between the agency and client.

It is an exciting time to lead technology strategy in the media and entertainment, just make sure that you are wearing your seat belt as the industry hits a bit of turbulence as new technologies enter the marketplace.

There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Across a number of dimensions, we are working towards a greater understanding of exactly which elements of our marketing mix are delivering value and which aren’t.  For starters, we have the granddaddy answer to Wanamaker, which takes the form of an econometric model.  Econometric models look backwards in time and factor in a wide array of variables, which are then used to determine cause and effect (with all other things constant, when I run online advertising, my sales go up).  With a tight historical model, one can begin to predict future behavior.  The problem arises when the future landscape looks markedly different from the past, and it becomes hard to predict with accuracy.  Nevertheless, this is strike one for Wanamaker.

Next up, we have a number of remarkable developments in the measurement of digital marketing’s effect on brick and mortar sales.  We have been reasonably good at gauging impact on online sales, but when the channel is offline we have been left scratching our heads.  In the consumer packaged goods space, we have Nielsen Homescan data that can get tied back to online users and can prove online advertising translates into offline sales.  All the major online publishers have a product offering in this regard.  Good stuff, but only if you are selling toothpaste or laundry detergent (or any products that are primarily sold in the supermarket channel).

Comscore has also developed a few exciting measurement services that allow marketers to measure other retail channels.  By cross-referencing online behavior with third party databases and/or scraping online credit card statements (with permission of course) they can create the same linkage between online ad exposure and offline sales.  Strike two for Mr. Wanamaker.

The final area is a particularly exciting one these days.  Unlike television, which is transacted on a demographic basis (Adults 25-49 impressions), online advertising is transacted on a total impressions basis.  That sure is curious, isn’t it?  It doesn’t make much sense, especially as digital marketing is purported to be the most accountable, targeted communications channel ever created.

My guess is that eventually we will evolve into an entirely new currency with which to transact business in the digital space.  A currency that acknowledges attentiveness and engagement.  In the interim, we are pushing the industry to get far more accountable.  This accountability takes two forms: running campaigns as ordered (go figure!) and ensuring that we only pay for impressions that reach our target.  This is the ultimate Wanamaker solution.  No waste, just verified meaningful impressions against a particular target group.

There are a few companies that have sprouted up in the past year or so that are designed to provide an automated solution for validating campaigns.  They make sure that if we are looking to reach a US audience only, that is what we get.  If we are paying for a 100% share of voice in a section, we are getting it.  And, they are ensuring that our Brands are not appearing in content that is unsavory or unsuitable.  It would make Wanamaker proud.  Three companies dominate this space: Double Verify (which we are working closely with), The Media Trust and Ad Safe Media.

Finally we have tools that are arming us with the intelligence to hold partners accountable for explicitly delivering our target audience.  Cookie and third party database solutions from Comscore, Nielsen, Quantcast, and Datran media to name a few, are invaluable in allowing us to conduct commerce on a demographic basis.   No longer will we buy total impressions.  Video inventory online will be transacted much the same way that traditional video (i.e. television commercials) is transacted.  Most importantly, there will be no waste.

We are still in the early days of having high quality third party demographic data that can be projected against the total web population, but we are rapidly getting there.

Take that Wanamaker.

Strike three.  You’re out.

In this fast-paced world of technology, each new advancement enables me (the consumer) to talk louder, and carry and even bigger stick. Social media has become our stage on which brands can be championed or vilified and clients have found they are hard pressed to police all this chatter.

In this age of social media the only thing you really own is the ability to embrace or alienate the crowd.  So, which is it?  Live the life of Mad Men and keep pushing the 30 sec spots, or embrace the fan and start setting up blank canvases everywhere for the crowd to paint for us?

I recently sat with Frank Rose, of WIRED magazine who is currently writing a new book entitled “Welcome to the Hyperdome.”  Frank outlines how the internet is changing storytelling by saying, “we are moving into a hyperdome, into an all-encompassing info-maze where everyone and everything are connected.  Boundaries that once seemed clear—between storyteller and audience, content and marketing, illusion and reality—are starting to blur.”

We have already seen the signs of this with your basic restaurant review.  Would you prefer to read one review from Time Out magazine or the posts of 50 consumers like yourself on Yelp?  Sorry TONY, your reservation was canceled.

The result of this world social order power struggle is that it’s time to think of your brands as clubs—they can be health clubs, night clubs, private clubs or social clubs.  As with any club the members make up the most important element of the club, for without them the club is just another empty space.  Every club member is an advocate, ambassador, spokesperson and mascot. It’s our job to give them the tools to do their jobs and smother them with praise when they work for us.

As for the detractors—the nasty Nellies—the ones that never have anything nice to say: If we do our jobs right, the advocates should drown out the dissenters.

Why don’t I have a membership to Club Kitchen Basics?  I don’t know, but I should.  They know I’m here.  I’ve sent them love letters.  Turns out, they don’t have a club.

So if you’re a brand manager (at Kitchen Basics) remember that every positive email from a customer about your product, work, and customer service is a brand new club member.  You should add my name to the list of brand advocates, friend ME on Facebook.  Send ME a birthday card, put MY name in lights.

As Winston Churchill once said… “There is no such thing as public opinion. There is only published opinion.”

….And I talk a lot.