Based on this week's release of phase 2 of the ARF's validation initiative, it's complicated.

The old joke about surveys is that the best thing about them is also the worst: people answer the questions. Meaning, there is inherent mushiness in every survey result.

A new ANA report benchmarks the use of principal media-buying by agencies, but it raises more questions than it answers about the true magnitude of the practice. That said, a significant percentage of ANA members aren't even familiar with how it works.

Mix and attribution models have always been about the input data, and when Horizon Media began ingesting audio, it found a surprising result: better ROI.

Following some criticism that was a step backwards for out-of-home, MRC chief George Ivie explains how it's really just a building block for something much better.

In the case of the headline above, it's Ascential plc's WARC unit, which made that declaration this morning, supplanting search, which still is the biggest ad medium in other forecasters' books.

A big marketing myth is that people don't shop in line with their values. There is no such thing as a consumer value-action gap. The real gap is what marketers know about people's values.

And by "world," I mean media optimization stack as we transition from a bifurcated linear/digital process to a holistic cross-platform one.

That's what my colleague Steve Smith just asked me as we begin finalizing an agenda for our first-ever Planning & Buying Insider Summit. Full disclosure: I'm not an industry insider, I'm just a journalist who writes about them. So I'm asking you.

The biggest challenge brands face is standing out from the crowd. Difference is rare because difference is hard. This challenge will become even harder in the future.