“Without the holistic understanding that only multichannel analytics can deliver, marketers will all too often come to incorrect conclusions regarding the effectiveness of their marketing spend WITHIN each silo,” asserted Anametrix CEO Pelin Thorogood during her talk at the Digital Analytics Assn. (DAA) Symposium in Los Angeles Jan. 31. The event theme, “The Digital Marketing Challenge (and Opportunity): How Mobile, Big Data & Attribution Shape Multichannel Analytics,” had industry leaders and practitioners sharing the connections between big data, attribution and revenue impact within savvy marketing departments.
Pelin’s presentation shared how to “Optimize Marketing Effectiveness Across Paid, Owned and Earned Media With Multichannel Analytics” via several examples from Anametrix customers, such as U-T San Diego [see video case study]. She noted “no single metric can tell you how your business is doing” because customers are truly multi-dimensional, interacting with your brand at multiple touchpoints. We extend special thanks to all the audience members who helped Anametrix take the top spot on the Tweet Board for this year’s event. Also of note, both Anametrix and U-T San Diego’s Joseph Gordon are nominees in this year’s DAA Awards for Excellence.
Pelin’s presentation can be viewed below:
Jim Sterne, DAA chairperson, perennial symposium favorite and on Twitter, fired up the crowd during his opening keynote, “The Digital Marketing Challenge (and Opportunity).” He warned the crowd, “Correlation is not causation,” and explored what big data, analytics and marketing mix attribution truly mean to marketers today. Since correlation is not causation, he said, marketers must stop delivering reports and start telling stories.
And tell stories they did. Attendees heard how Brian West, ABC Television’s senior manager of multiplatform research and on Twitter, forecasts results across multiple media properties and on consumers’ myriad mobile devices. He introduced the audience to ABC’s trademarked term, “videobiquity,” and shared how to organize multiple inputs to drive positive outputs.
Panelists (from left to right): Brent Dykes, Thomas Bolsilevac, Lorenz Verzosa. Image by Anametrix.Next, Tony Lanni, Convertro’s director of corporate marketing, moderated a panel debating whether big data and multichannel marketing analytics conspire to clarify or complicate a marketer’s world. Panelist Brent Dykes, Adobe’s evangelist for customer analytics, responded to a question about how to differentiate models for consistent reporting from those used for optimization and analysis by saying, “It is all about ‘Democratization of Data.’” Other panelists included Thomas Bolsilevac, Digitaria’s director of analytics and Lorenz Verzosa, software engineer at Edmunds.com.
In another popular panel, ABC Television’s Brian West reclaimed the stage with panelists Leah Borgeson Stigile, TOMS’ head of global eIntelligence, and Morgan Vawter, Piston’s director of analytics and optimization for a “Culture of Analytics Meets Company” discussion moderated by Josh Dreller, Visual IQ’s senior director of client and industry solutions. Panelists agreed there are a lot of smart analysts out there, but the real change makers are the ones who know how to communicate. Vawter shared that “if you torture your data long enough, it will confess,” and that the results should be shared in an attractive visual format for best reception throughout the corporation.
The panel was followed with a presentation by Judit Nagy, Fox Broadcasting Co.’s VP of digital analytics, who noted earned media audiences are more engaged; they are three times more likely to share on social media. And, for Fox, a social media share created 15 new earned media impressions on average.
In a dynamic finish, Dr. Arif Ansari, USC Marshall School of Business’ associate professor of clinical information and operations management, delivered an energizing, closing keynote. His presentation on “Super Relevancy: The Future of Client Side Mobile Analytics” covered the current transition from online experiences to mobile experiences and the challenges that arise delivering excellent content in a timely manner while managing latency in these new, fragmented mobile user experiences. “Mobile is the front end of your brain,” he purported, and he stressed the critical need for real-time data because there’s such a limited amount of time to retarget users on mobile devices. His equation – “Marketers + Data + Mobile = Personal Executive Assistant” – was a big hit on Twitter.
The festivities concluded at the Anametrix After Party where Arif Ansari, Brian West and Pelin Thorogood joined dozens of attendees to further the marketing analytics discussion on a balmy Southern California winter night at the Sheraton Delfina Santa Monica Hotel’s pool deck and bar.
Did you attend the DAA Los Angeles Symposium this year? What were your highlights? Post a comment below and let’s continue the discussion! Couldn’t make the event? Connect here, and we’d love to chat more about what you’re doing with multichannel marketing analytics. Or visit us at the DAA Symposium in Austin Feb. 12, eTail West in Palm Desert Feb. 25-28 or the DAA Symposium in Dallas Feb. 28.