• by Jim Kite , October 1, 2007

For years, the advertising industry has tracked exposure as a measure of effectiveness. We operated under the premise that awareness leads to purchase. Today, we know that exposure alone does not lead to sales. And while it's never going to completely go away as a measure of media effectiveness, it is fast losing relevancy. In reality, exposure doesn't directly link to a business result. Other marketing factors, not just communication investments influence purchase.

So, if not exposure, what should we be measuring to validate media effectiveness? The answer is captivation.

Captivation is essential to media effectiveness as it leads to changes in behaviors, both emotional and physical, and elicits intent, the important missing link that escalates awareness to sales. I call this link "The Intent Continuum," since it keeps the momentum going from the moment of exposure to the completion of a sale. After all, it's the purchase that's the goal, not the most eyes or ears exposed to our advertising.

Let me take you on a quick journey through a sample Intent Continuum.

A consumer captivated by -- rather than passively exposed to -- an ad and seeks more information about the brand. He then talks to others about the brand. He requests a trial offer or visits the place where the brand is being sold. He purchases the brand. By captivating the consumer, we've prompted them to take action and progress along The Intent Continuum. Most importantly, we've delivered a tangible business result: a sale.

The digital world provides further proof that people don't jump from exposure to purchase and offers the much-needed mechanisms that help marketers track and measure intention. Online, we can track consumers' Intent Continuum, from search behavior to site visitation patterns, depth of site penetration and proximity to purchase, as well as other factors that indicate consumer intent though purchase.

MediaVest has developed a number of ways to measure captivation and intent - and their impact on our clients' bottom line.

We developed a proprietary Captivation Prediction Index (CPI), a proven, predictive indicator of a program's ability to deliver captivated viewers most likely to recall advertising -- and send them down the road of intent. Further, CPI allows us to shift from price-based media negotiations to value-based evaluations that deliver superior media effectiveness outcomes for clients.

Most recently, we've also begun working with proprietary tracking data that delivers diagnostics of how sales link to intent behaviors -- and the media contacts that best drive these actions. This initiative is a huge investment. However, it is only by committing to such longitudinal tracking that we can accurately judge and predict how communications captivate consumers all the way to purchase.

Our clients aren't the only ones increasingly looking for this level of accountability. The Effie Awards have always required proof of marketing effectiveness, recognizing that a brilliant campaign is only brilliant if it delivers results for the client. As a past Effie judge and member of the Effie Steering Committee, I've witnessed how challenging it can be to link business results and a campaign's success.

We must all focus less on outputs like exposure and awareness, and more on outcomes, like captivation and intent that drive business results.