• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, July 30, 2009

At a time of great industrywide uncertainty, publishers are taking it upon themselves to instill greater confidence in the minds of marketers. In that vein, Forbes Media has tapped marketing analytics firm MarketShare Partners to help its advertisers better evaluate their total media spend.

"It's never been more important for marketers to understand exactly how their marketing efforts translate to the bottom line," said Kevin Gentzel, president and group publisher at Forbes Media. Working in conjunction with Forbes' Brand Intelligence Group, MarketShare's Compass software will advise advertisers on the best use of their dollars.

The Forbes Brand Intelligence Group will work with advertisers to answer questions about their business, including specific industry trends, markets of operation, current marketing allocation and more than 30 other variables to help determine the recommendations. Based on this input, Compass's algorithms make recommendations to the advertiser on how best to allocate their marketing resources across all touchpoints, including television, radio, print and search, display, social media and other forms of advertising.

Forbes Media is under intense pressure to reshape itself amid new market realities. Upon completing the merger of its online and print editorial operations in January, it laid off 19 staffers, shuttered its auto site and severely cut the staff at Forbes Traveler. In March, Forbes announced plans to lay off another 50 employees.

In May, Roger McNamee, who helped spearhead Elevation Partners' decision to buy a 40% stake in Forbes Media about three years ago, resigned from the Forbes board. Elevation's Bret Pearlman -- known as an aggressive cost-cutter -- was tapped to replace McNamee.

Earlier this month, meanwhile, Forbes.com president and CEO Jim Spanfeller announced his resignation, and a replacement has yet to be named.