Inadequate Data Cited For Marketing Campaigns

by John Gaffney, Aug 30, 2002, 12:00 AM

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A new survey of more than 200 marketing executives by the online magazine Reveries claims that they are unable to measure marketing results, regardless of product or service category. The survey's respondents reported difficulty measuring marketing investments across a range of categories, with financial services (19 %), entertainment (18 %) and packaged goods (14 %) cited as the most challenging categories. Pharmaceuticals and apparel trailed at 9% each, with durables, automotive and consumer electronics rounding out the list.

The survey also found that more than one-third of those polled (34 %) ranked advertising the most difficult marketing discipline to measure, followed by public relations (26 %) and outdoor advertising (19 %).

Randy Stone, CEO of Marketing Management Analytics says a key hurdle to marketing analytics is a perceived lack of adequate data. A vast majority of the survey's respondents (72 %) said they lack the necessary data to assess the return on their marketing investments accurately. Other challenges mentioned by survey respondents included long sales cycles, and a lack of funding or management support.

Many of the survey's participants meanwhile acknowledged a shortage of adequate measurement tools and techniques. When asked about the process they use to measure return on marketing investments, about 7 % simply responded "none," while 16 % said they relied on sales data alone. Twenty-two percent said they use some form of research, such as focus groups, syndicated data analysis, brand awareness studies or competitive benchmarking.

However, Stone reports that only a handful of marketers said they were using more sophisticated measurement approaches, such as marketing metrics modeling. Stone said that data fusion -- bringing together the full range of sales and marketing data -- is essential to the process, as is the application of multiple variable regression modeling that allows the marketer to cull out individual effects from among the various overlapping marketing activities.

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