Demystifying Data

In this episode, Chris shares a case study from a ready-to-serve brand that was using experiential sampling to rekindle sales in an ever-expanding competitive market space.

• The Brand Challenge: How to increase sales in a category that was quickly becoming saturated with new, fresh brands.
• The Campaign: Retail sampling across seven markets and 5 chains; 900 event days over four months.
• The Measurement Strategy: Enhanced field staff recap reporting and a brief (4 questions) consumer exit survey. 
• The Results: Month over month improvement in performance and ROI through the identification of best practices. Moved ROI from negative to over 684%.

Links of Interest

• You can get a copy of this whitepaper here

This episode is Part III to our Data 101 series and fits nicely with Episodes 9 and 12 (Parts I and II, respectively).  

In this episode, Chris reviews another technique for reporting called “Ranking and Diagnostic.”  Ranking and Diagnostic Reporting is a method of reporting where the metrics to be collected based on a reporting strategy that will rank order performance on a particular outcome metric based on actionable segments.  And then, a series of diagnostic metrics are used to define what drives outcomes in one direction or another.

• Why: The idea of ranking and diagnostic reporting is a frame of reference to be used when designing a data plan that will ensure the resulting information will be actionable.
• Ranking Metrics: Ranking metrics will always have two components: A) an independent variable that defines different areas of management and B) an outcome measure that defines success with which to rank order the independent variables.
• Diagnostic Metrics: Diagnostic metrics are the key drivers of the outcome you’re measuring.  Key drivers are determined using common sense, management initiatives, or statistical analysis.
• Putting it all into Practice: By using ranking and diagnostic reporting together, you have a robust reporting tool that informs stakeholders when action is needed, where it is needed, and what needs to be done to fix things.

Other Reporting Frameworks

• Event Marketing Performance and How to Report It
• Recap Reporting, Brand Strategy, and Event Marketing Measurement

This podcast serves as a Part II to an earlier episode. In Part I, titled, “Making Better Decisions with Data (Episode 9)” Chris outlined basic thinking around how to develop and execute a data project by keeping cause and effect in mind. 

In this second part, Chris continues along this same vein of logic to describe a dashboard reporting philosophy defined best as a Management by Exception approach to reporting. In situations where your outcomes metrics are a score, rating, or otherwise continuous, there will be normal fluctuation. Knowing when something unique is happening becomes critical to effective reporting in these circumstances.

In this episode, Chris addresses how to develop management by exception approach to your data dashboards by addressing the following key points:

• Variable Type: Not all metrics are created equal. Make sure you understand cause versus effect, inputs versus outcomes; and record the data appropriately.
• More is More: When using a “management by exception” approach to reporting, it’s okay to have a lot of metrics because you’re not going to be trying to react to everything. You’ll only be reporting on metrics that are important and unique.
• Charting Data Over Time: In many cases you’ll be charting metrics over time as either a count or average reading. Connecting these measures over time with a simple line chart will reveal a natural ebb and flow that represents the distribution of the metric.
• Unique Variation: As such, we can use a static called Standard Deviation to identify the likelihood that a given measure of this variation is “normal” or “unique.” The more severe the implications, the less sure we need to be that variation is unique before it warrants our attention
• Management by Exception: A Management by Exception Dashboard is only highlighting those situations where the threshold of tolerance for a metric is reached, and a measure is a “unique occurrences.”

Links of Interest

• More reading on Management by Exception as a business principle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_by_exception

This is Part Two of a two-part interview with Matthew Carle Executive Vice President at rEvolution. 

In this episode, Matt and Chris get right into how they uncovered the statistical link between experiential marketing consumer engagements with sales at a regional level and used these findings to shape and develop a national campaign that lasted years.

The two also get into:

• 6:30 AM Conference Calls: …and why this weekly meeting was no problem because it was for the right reasons.
• Two Types of Clients: There are Clients who just want to data and then there are Clients who expect you to be an analyst. Chris and Matt discuss how important it is to know which one you’re working with.
• Flipping the Script: How Matt uses data and Client status calls to be a celebration of outcomes (and not defense).
• Longtail Brands: What they are; how they’re born; and why know this makes you a better marketer.

The role of data in marketing has evolved. Matt and Chris wrap up this episode talking about how every company needs to be a data company or they’ll quickly watch the innovators pass them by.

Links of Interest

• Matthew Carle on LinkedIn
• rEvolution – Integrated Sports Marketing

This is Part One of a two-part interview with Matthew Carle, Executive Vice President at rEvolution. Matthew shares his insights on the state of the marketing industry based on over 17 years of experience in Client Services, Agency Business Development, and Integrated Marketing. 

In this first part, Matt and Chris cover a range of topics including…

• Career Path: The education and career path that led to the successes Matt enjoys today.
• Competing with Digital: What happened when experiential marketing started to compete with the metrics of digital.
• A/B Split Testing: Treating your data for large marking campaigns the same way you would a small one-off digital A/B Split test.
• Great Clients: On the agency side, what makes a Client great to work with.

“The mavericks who are willing to evaluate something new and give it a try from a well-informed point of view… those are the Clients who advance brands.”

Links of Interest

• Matthew Carle on LinkedIn
• rEvolution – Integrated Sports Marketing

Mathematics is one thing, but almost more important to the practice of any data work is having the conceptual framework from which to approach any data project. In this episode, Chris provides an overview of three ideas that provide just such a framework:

• Crafting a data plan for better decision making
• How to apply the idea of “Management by Exception” to your reporting
• Developing reports/ dashboards with “Ranking and Diagnostics” in mind

After this brief introduction, Chris dives deep into the idea of using data for better decision making. In this podcast you’ll get the information you need to start out on a data project with the confidence it will yield value when complete.

You’ll learn about… 

• How to apply the three rules for causality to your project to assure actionable results
• The metrics that matter the most and why. (Hint: It has everything to do with the decisions we need to make in business every day.)
• What “cause” and “effect” variables look like, and which ones we have total control over (and which ones we don’t)
• The basics of analysis and how to analyze multiple variables at once for actionable insights
• How many cases or data points you need to feel confident your findings are statistically relevant.

Links of Interest

• PortMA: These practices are at the core of the work done by the team at PortMA for Experiential Marketers and Advertising Professionals looking for stronger marketing research.
• Chris tweets here: @portma
• Follow Chris on LinkedIn

In this second part of the two-part interview, Brad shares his thinking around old school PR and earned media, how to make sure your designing marketing that excites consumers, and the trade-off between “mega” and “micro” influencers.

• Old School PR and Earned Media
• Balancing What a Brand Wants with What People Will Get Excited About
• The Cannabis Industry and Where it Might Be Going
• How Encore is Approaching Social Media Services and Why the Decision to Partner with Micro vs Mega Influencers Can Be One of the Most Important Decisions You Make.

Links of Interest

• Encore Worldwide
• How Encore Approaches ROI Tracking and Measurement
• Brad Wirz on LinkedIn
• Chris Clegg on LinkedIn

In this first of the two-part interview, Chris and Brad talk about how one goes about developing a marketing strategy in the first place. The conversation continues into a discussion around how marketing accountability has changed over the years and the role Social Media is playing today.

• Developing Experiential Campaign Strategy
• How stakeholder expectations around marketing strategy and accountability have changed over the past 30 year 
• The Role of Social Media in Experiential and how it’s changing Experiential Marketing (if at all)

Links of Interest

• Encore Worldwide
• How Encore Approaches ROI Tracking and Measurement
• Brad Wirz on LinkedIn
• Chris Clegg on LInkedIn

In this episode, Chris Clegg discusses the reasons you might want to invest in a benchmarking database.

The decision for an agency or brand to invest in developing a benchmarking database isn’t easy. It requires a resource and talent commitment that can easily run into the hundreds of thousands.

Regardless of how you get there, the value of a benchmarking database is more than with the investment for several reasons. We cover two of those reason in the episode of the Demystifying Data Podcast:

• Designing a Winning Campaign: The best predictor of the future is the past. And when you can plan based on a well-organized set of data that benchmarks this history, you can create a campaign that will get it right more often from the start. You’re moving your marketing down river faster. A benchmarking database is an excellent tool to design a campaign that will meet or exceed stakeholder expectations. In this episode, Chris talks about this with a focus on finding the right consumers and dealing with the “Event Size” vs “Event Frequency” trade-off.
• Selling to Stakeholders: We’re all always selling. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Brand Manager talking to your VP or if you’re an Agency Director talking to your Brand Client. You need to demonstrate that your reasoning is sound, and your plan is positioned to be a success. This episode continues the discussion by addressing how the right benchmarking database can help you differentiate your idea from whoever you’re competing against for resources. And furthermore, how to use benchmarks to demonstrate value before money is spent.

Related Reading

• Granularity in Benchmarks for Event Marketing
• Event Marketing ROI Measurement Model and Benchmarks (1 of 2)
• How to use Event Marketing Benchmarks to Predict Experiential ROI

In this episode, Chris outlines the three business questions to ask when measuring the value of experiential marketing. Experiential marketing is a revenue-generating tool for the brands we serve. The problem is proving it. Since 2010 PortMA has been focused on solving this problem for marketing agencies and brands.

The goal has always been one singular focus: How to measure the value of experiential marketing?  By applying simple marketing research principles, we cracked the code and have an approach that has worked for literally hundreds of experiential marketing campaigns. 

Three Core Questions

Chris postulates that the answer to “how to measure Experiential Marketing” has everything to do with understanding “Reach,” “Impact,” and “Value or ROI.” Chris suggests this is about focusing your marketing analysis around three key questions:

1.    How efficiently am I reaching the right consumers?

2.    Am I creating intent where it didn’t previously exist?

3.    Am I doing this in a way that is generating a positive ROI for the brand and under what circumstances is the ROI strongest?

Chris argues that you can measure, track, and react to your performance against these three questions you are working in a value-centric manner and are thus true stewards of the brands you serve.