Mar-Com Evaluation:How NOT To Do It!

Lately, accountability and transparency have become part of the vocabulary of every newscaster and Wall Street analyst. That should not undermine or reduce their significance and efficacy in business. Entering into the business recovery that is coming, all managers will be expected to instill and utilize smart business fundamentals. Critical elements will include emphasis on budget soundness, metrics, and results tracking.

Marketing Communications practitioners will have to ensure that they have ‘game’ when it comes to evaluation and monitoring. Too often, folks have emphasized the intuitive art of marketing communications at the sake of the marketing science. There must be a place for both, working together can only enhance and improved marketing program effectiveness.

There are no acceptable excuses or rationale EVER, for any marketing program to be launched without a clearly defined, practical and well rounded evaluation and measurement plan.

Below are good examples you should NOT follow. Marketing Leverage LLC has experienced and witnessed well meaning and skilled marketers who committed these very mistakes. They went astray for assorted reasons – lack of time; budget restrictions; misguided assumptions on new products/categories – etc.

1. Don’t Identify Clear Objectives
• All campaigns should have well defined goals and measurable objectives
2. Evaluation Criteria and Approach is Developed After Execution
• Building it in early allows for testing / control measures and helps establish a broader body of data for further analysis
3. Forget about Benchmarks
• Campaign objectives, norms, industry trends and historical data all help the ability analyze and evaluate campaign results.
4. Ignore Historical Data
• Campaigns have to show changes in customer relationship with the brand and how they affected behavior.
• This requires data over time to put results into context. A minimum of 3 years is needed for proper perspective.
5. Ignore Behavioral Outputs
• Many important marketing objectives focus on perceptual changes, awareness, interest and attitudinal shifts
• Ultimately, action is required to translate into business results, so trial, referral, increased usage are even more necessary
6. Results that aren’t projectable
• To be useful, statistical significance is mandatory
• Sample sizes & tests must be vetted by a research pro
7. Results are Not Linked to the Program
• Showing effects is not enough; you must prove the campaign was responsible
• Identify repeated correlations – e.g. - Awareness increases following advertising flights; Volume increases associated with retail promotions
8. Failing to Consider Outside Factors
• Positive results are always believed to be the result of marketing activity
• Good or bad, complete analysis requires consideration of factors unrelated to your program.
i. Other marketing programs by your company – DR, sponsorships, PR, etc.
ii. Channel – increased distribution; retailer promos
iii. Competitor or substitute activity
9. Taking Direct Response Data at Face Value
• DR rates are impacted by any and all other marketing forces at play; you must include some assessment of the factors observed by your analysis
• DR results only measure one perspective of a campaign. Marketing and digital programs can boost awareness and drive retail sales.
• DR doesn’t measure the total contribution. For example, poorly executed programs can drive many unqualified inquiries, increased call handling times or create excess demand; all with additional cost implications
10. Focusing on the short term
• Ideally, a marketing program should be measured on the long term value of contribution to the brand and company
i. Heavy discounting or promotion can undermine a premium position
ii. User of mass or selected retail channels may weaken a luxury brand
11. Silo Analysis
• Looking solely at one channel naïve and self-serving. Effective marketing managers will seek to understand the interaction among channels and how they influence consumers
• Program timing, investment planning and fulfillment all require a holistic view
12. Seeking Volume over Value
• Closely linked to short term thinking, many marketers go for big numbers (responses, share, units); failing to consider the full impacts
• Volume of any sort will have cost implications for a business that must be understood
i. Response handling
ii. Fulfillment
iii. Manufacturing
iv. Customer service

Partnership Marketing – Moving to True Win-Win Relationships

“Strategic partner” is a term used freely and likely too often. Especially when it comes to sports and entertainment marketing. Properties have moved away from the term sponsor, as it has taken on an almost derogatory tonality. Political correctness has called for ‘partner’ as the preferred label.

To be honest, I don’t care what term is used; I just want properties and brands to truly understand and agree upon the nature of the relationship they are entering. The issue - I don’t believe that anyone is aware of the very real distinction, so regrettably they use the words interchangeably.


Looking at Webster’s Dictionary we find the following:

Sponsor: a person or an organization that pays for or plans and carries out a project or activity ; especially : one that pays the cost of a radio or television program usually in return for advertising time during its course; patron, backer; guarantor.

(Emphasis on financial support, exchange for some benefit)

Partnership: a relationship resembling a legal partnership and usually involving close cooperation between parties having specified and joint rights and responsibilities

(Emphasis on collaboration, mutual interests and accountability)

These are quite useful in delineating the relationships. If we can only get folks in the industry to use them correctly and consistently, we would all be better off. Both have valid and useful roles in marketing, based on the objectives, time horizon and level of strategic investment being made.

For a one time promotion or marketing activity (product launch, etc.), the role of sponsor may be most appropriate. It begs a shorter agreement and relationship, lower integration of intellectual property and a more tactical activation approach. Similarly the financial and resources needed would be lower, based largely on a valuation of the tangible assets and projection of intangible values.

There is no reason that a successful sponsor relationship cannot evolve into a partnership. In fact, this might be a preferred approach to reduce risk – allowing a brand to test the property as a vehicle and marketing partner before committing to a long term investment.

Partnership indicates a more meaningful connection and intentional interconnection of brands. This would lead to a relationship that spans multiple years (or assumed to be ongoing) which allows for activation and integration at a much deeper level. Partnerships should involve Honesty, Openness & Trust, none of which can ever be specified in an agreement. You may sense any or all during the pitch phase, but that may fade after the ink is dried. It is unfortunate and a lost opportunity. When a partnership is reached, thoughtfully evaluated and based on well matched brands and properties, embraced with a collaborative and mutual desire to succeed it can be plenty powerful.

I would like to put forward a few suggestions that would enhance and elevate the art of partnership marketing:


Property –
• Understand, to your core, the business, markets, goals and issues partners are facing.
• Seek to add value anywhere possible; accept your obligation to help your partner truly maximize their investment with you – activation ideas; internal sell-in support; connection to other partners and potential customers
• Look out for our partners interests – even if it means restructuring a deal to better match the assets with the opportunities.
• Avoid the temptation to only look at the $. Sometimes the biggest deal is not the best one if the partners are not compatible in some way. Don’t renew deals with partners who do not activate adequately or enhance the overall property brand.

Brand –
• Accept that part of your obligation is to help the property grow, expand and improve.
• Properties depend on their partners help in building their value and appeal. Many do not have the sophisticated marketing resources you do and are depending on partners to help achieve their goals, while you achieve theirs.
• Pursue and push, adamantly for integrated and strategic activation programs. Logoed advertising and retail promotion is not worthy of a partnership investment.
• If something is not working, talk to the property. They can’t help if they aren’t informed.

Property & Brand both share the burden of only doing deals that make sense and have mutually beneficial outcomes. Due diligence and investigation will determine the strategic fit and time together will help surface the mutual chemistry and style issues. Accountability is expected here on out, so both must be willing to participate in data collection and sharing.

It is my sincere hope that the recent times will help shape and formulate a marketing environment where strong long term relationships are evolved from great work. Business results on both sides will reward those who are able to invest in and leverage mutually beneficial opportunities.

And by the way, well founded highly integrated partner deals will enhance the fan and consumer experience too!

Extending the CMO Influence

The CMO craze hit companies pretty quickly in the late ‘90s. They were falling all over themselves to give the ‘top’ marketing person a fancy new title and keep pace with their competitors and peers. I don’t perceive that much really changed as a result of this trend, other than a few thousand folks now being paid more for C-Level roles, yet performing essentially the same functions.

It has been my observation that the quality, role and value of marketing were not dramatically advanced by this wave of activity. Don’t get me wrong, I fully support the idea of marketing being at the very core of planning and operations for a business; equal to that of finance, logistics, HR & legal. If companies are expected to fulfill customer needs and wants, how can it not be?

The problem is that many CMOs still go no further than those areas they have been comfortable with and are typically part of their domain: advertising, brand & identity, direct marketing and maybe PR. So, after they are elevated or hired the CMO announces new marketing objectives, launches an agency search and rolls out a new ad campaign. Voila! Case closed, done deal.

Not so fast…in my view the CMO has the potential of much farther reaching and important roles that can add real value to the business. Most fall far short of their potential. The CMO should be the keeper of the BE (brand essence & brand experience) flame and the biggest advocate – externally and internally. They have to ensure that all touch points that shape the BE are doing so in the desired manner. This makes an already big job, huge and truly deserving of C-Level accountability and reward.

If we think broadly and with a blank sheet, many of the customer interactions with a company are not defined as ‘marketing’ (and under the CMO control). None the less, each and everyone has the potential to build, reinforce or hurt the BE, especially since many have deep and far reaching impact.

The CMO already has responsibility and input to many of them – advertising, digital/web, Mar-com, PR, store promotion, etc. What we commonly think of as the outbound communication. But what about all the other brand interactions that do occur as your customer buys, uses and services your product or service, most of which are far removed from the CMO? – billing statements, accounts receivable/payable staff, product packaging, sales, sales channel partners, customer service, technical service, company vehicles, product documentation, employee communication & training, HR Recruiting, etc.

How often does the CMO or staff interact with and input on these, other than on logo or brand identity? Not very often. Going further, what about the communications or interactions that don’t directly involve your customer, but still shape the BE – corporate aviation, investor relations, industry analysts, manufacturing, procurement, philanthropy and real estate.

I think it is fair to assign the CMO with ownership of the BE company-wide, regardless of who and how it is delivered and to what audience. This sets up some interesting organization design and reporting issues that will challenge traditional thinking, but must be addressed. The CMO will have to be involved in areas and ways that they never dreamed or desired previously, to maximize BE and shareholder value.

Don’t think manufacturing can impact your BE? Suppose you’re a new CMO who has embraced Green as a central theme. You develop a product that is environmentally sensitive, ensure all marketing materials are recyclable; you develop an environmental cause component. A week after your launch it is reported that your contract manufacturer in Asia has been illegally dumping toxic materials for years. You got it, you are dead!

The core of my argument is that the CMO should NOT be satisfied to be the uber ad director and should not be involved on a daily basis with hands on tactical activity.

They have to lead the charge to understand, embrace and evangelize the BE. This will require a very different orientation; spending much more time with customers, channel partners and employees – helping to discern the BE and ensuring that ALL employees (not just marketing) deeply understands and internalizes it. Every employee has to be part of the BE delivery mechanism, for some groups it will take many repeated discussions before they can be brand advocates.

I don’t expect this is something a majority of CMOs will want to take on. It will be hard work, scary as they probe deep murky areas of the business, all while trying to not step on toes. But the role of change agent has always been a lonely one. How many companies have started down a path, only to discover how difficult it is, only to abandon it, leaving the anointed one under the bus?

For those companies shrewd enough to adopt this broadest view of BE and manage the organization and structural challenges, the upside is great. The CMO (or CBO - Chief Brand Officer) who accept this opportunity have the potential to shape the brand and impact customers in the greatest way possible. They truly can become marketing superstars.

How many are willing to step up?