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 Relevancy and Search Key Drivers of Growth

Relevancy and a shift to performance and effectiveness will be the key drivers of growth for the marketing industry.  In a keynote presentation at the recent ad:tech Chicago conference, Kevin Kells, Industry Development Director, CPG at Google, Inc., stressed that “Growth will come from being more relevant to the marketplace. Gathering and using better insights about customers in your markets and telling more stories more frequently will drive growth in the near future.”

Other key drivers include technological breakthroughs, search as the next big idea and a transition to the effectiveness decade. In searching for consumer connections, Kells suggests that marketers will need to focus on providing community, self-expression and entertainment which all lead to customer engagement.

Increased relevancy to the consumer is tied directly to advancements in search.  “Only 6% of all sales are executed on the Web but 50% of all sales are affected by Web research,” Kells said.  “The real first moment of truth is search.”

In order to make results more relevant to consumers, search functionality will need to become more customized and localized.  Whatever the brand, relevance and effectiveness are key.  “There’s no such thing as a low-level brand category, just low-level brand marketers,” Kells suggested.

Additionally, as phones continue to outstrip laptops as the device of choice for consumers, better marketing and search strategies will need to be created for this medium. “If you build it they will come is a great tag line for a movie but a real crappy digital strategy,” Kells noted.  “Marketers need to wrap their heads around the need for a distribution strategy.”

Kells also acknowledged that an important element of growth in the future will be tied to brand-building performance measurements. 

In a state of the industry presentation, Andrew Kasprzycki, Senior VP, Managing Director, Proximity BBDO Chicago, agreed that metrics are an important issue for the industry.  “Clients are having a really hard time understanding how metrics correlate with sales.  Metric platforms have not yet caught up on the client side.  It’s important to customize measurements for clients as one size does not fit all.”

He added, “Clients just have to start and know that metrics may be flawed for awhile.  Measuring perceived value of a brand is the key place to start.”

Fred Lebolt, president and publisher of  Fox Valley Publications and New Media Integration, Sun-Times News Group, argued that the industry has yet to ask the correct questions when it comes to metrics.  “What is the holy grail of metrics?  The question is upside down,” Lebolt said.  “We need to identify those metrics clients need in order to have success in the markets they’re trying to reach.  It starts by finding out what clients need and in what platforms.”

William Leake, President and CEO of Apogee Search, suggested that the goal should be to entice consumers into and through the sales funnel with a revenue event.  Metrics must move through the funnel and be integrated across all channels. 

Leake noted that “The problem with a down economy is that CFOs get really powerful.  Numbers are a great way to get their attention.”

Other insights from industry leaders on the new media economy include:

On advertising and engagement:

●Marketers need to benchmark their own engagement measurements and build a proxy for future media buys.  Marketers are having trouble comparing the value of different types of engagement metrics, suggested Emily Riley, Senior Analyst, JupiterResearch.  “Engagement is simply brand marketing fit for online behavior.  Define your own goals and step back from the hype.”

Riley also indicated marketers will need to pay closer attention to attribution.  She noted that while search gets a lot of credit, branded media buys tend to get the short stick when it comes to attribution.  “Many inputs cause one action and marketers need to attribute credit to all forms in the marketplace,” she said.

●Marketers will see an explosion of data in the very near future including behavioral, attitudinal and data associated with the new voice of the customer.  David Carrel, Vice President and Group Director of Digitas, noted that “Advertising is changing.  It’s no longer just cracks between content.  It will be important to set aside an innovation budget and find more money to do more marketing innovations.”

● Wendy Aldrich, Director, Global Media & Technology, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, suggested that it will be critical for marketers to learn how to use the internet to target consumers based on their mindset rather than just demographics.  “There will be an opportunity for a brand to be `always on.’  It will be important to distribute content experiences to consumers and anchor placements strategically.”

On the impending death of banner ads:

●Proximity BBDO’s Kasprzycki argued that banner ads are not dead at all.  “There’s a place for banners but they’ve got to evolve.  We have to be more creative in delivering an engaging experience to the consumer in this medium.  It’s all about the consumer experience of the brand.  You need to be authentic in this space.”

●Relevancy is key to successful contextual advertising, suggested Tom Zawacki, CEO, Lemonade.  “Beyond relevance is empathy and empathy always trumps relevance.  We need to connect with online users on an empathetic basis.  As a brand, you’ve got to know how to use the online experience to make consumers happier, more satisfied, entertained and productive.”  He added, “It’s really hard to do well.  We get a lot of data today but what do we do with it?”

On the state of mobile marketing:

●Despite all the ink devoted to mobile marketing, a number of factors are holding back explosive growth of this medium.  John Puterbaugh, Founder and Chief Strategist, Nellymoser, suggests that a wide variety of network configurations, media formats and device models, a lack of true broadband on a massive scale, and a highly-regulated telecommunications industry are all contributing to slow mobile marketing adoption.

Until some of these issues are resolved, Rozen suggests that marketers “Focus on the basics.  There is tremendous value in simple stuff like simple text messages driven to WAP pages or downloadable APPs.”

Rozen also suggests that marketers invest in education when it comes to mobile marketing.  He noted that his company is launching a mobile certification program whereby different modules will be offered to different levels of marketers.  “There needs to be more thought leadership and knowledge transfer around the subject of mobile marketing.”

●Mobile marketing cannot be performed as a silo of marketing, suggests Patrick Moorhead, Director of Emerging Media, Avenue A I Razorfish.  “Mobile marketing has to be in support of online, TV, print and other mediums.   There needs to be integration of mobile with all other channels.”  He added, “We need to look at how media affects consumer behavior.  Does a banner ad on a phone create an affinity, recalled later by a consumer that leads to a purchase?”

On industry consolidaton:

●”Our industry will not mature in standard fashion,” predicted Drew Ianni, Advisory Board Chairman, Programming, ad:tech expositions.  “We will see waves of consolidation and micro business cycles.  But we will see a consolidation of ad networks from 300 to a few dozen by 2010.”  He added that wit $84B in play, as budgets tighten during this recession, the battleground for markets has already been established with various mediums including newspaper, radio, yellow pages and online advertising.

Submit feedback on this article or suggestions for newsletter articles to Nancy Pekala, Marketing Matters Editor, npekala@ama.org.