In this week’s On Audience Targeting and Measurement column, Scott Knoll, Senior Vice President for Datran Media and GM of Aperture interviews Lance Neuhauser, EVP-US Digital Director for PHD.

Scott Knoll: Audience measurement is a nebulous term. What is your definition of audience measurement, and how does it correspond to your definition of digital media measurement??

Lance Neuhauser: Audience measurement is a nebulous term, especially in digital media
where we have both linear and non-linear communication with our audience, and the ability for
that audience to receive and reciprocate communication through multiple channel lines at once. As a result, there are a variety of dimensions that can be measured as it pertains to the audience; composition, awareness, engagement, social influence, and path preference to name a few. But regardless of the definition, what we measure needs to provide the opportunity for insight while furthering our quest to understand the value we deliver for both the consumer and the marketer.

SK: Advertisers and marketers have long searched, with mixed results, for proof that their campaigns are effective, how do you measure:

• The composition of your audience?

• The effectiveness of your campaigns?

• What metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs) matter most to you when measuring campaigns?

LN: As mentioned, measurement systems are nebulous unless they provide insight into delivered value. Therefore, advertisers and marketers alike have to define the value they seek to create before determining effectiveness.

We assess value within a quadrant system. On one axis advertising/marketing distribution positioned in opposition to advertising/marketing resonance. On the second axis, investment efficiency positioned in opposition to investment volume.

Albeit most quadrant systems result in a desire to move to the upper right, this system demonstrates a need to focus all four areas to deliver a balanced value equation. However, within any given situation or any given campaign the goals may shift and we may target a specific quadrant. Each quadrant enables us to easily agree on direction and KPI’s.

For example, a new brand without hefty dollars or historical success initially wants to play within the intersection of investment efficiency and advertising/marketing distribution, all the while measuring against the likes of unique reach, brand lift and a cost per (action, impression, sale, etc.). In the process we overlay audience composition (various consumer graphics) using 3^rd party systems and determine future target segments. Phase 2…a shift to the intersection of resonance with volume and/or efficiency depending on the confidence level of our target. We once again layer in audience composition, but this time with an eye toward performance comparison against the previously defined profitable consumer segment.

Logically it makes sense.  Until we know what works we have to be broad. Once we know what works we want to be effective and measurement follows; more volume, the same volume for less, better contextual relevance, and/or the effectiveness of direct response motivation.

SK:  Please describe an audience measurement case in which you discovered something unique and/or strategic for your client.

LN: Recently, we worked with 3 separate clients, all of whom have separate marketing objectives, and despite the goal variance we were able to deliver a similar measurement solution that added unique value to each of the marketers (which indicates an opportunity for repeatable and scalable solutions while maintaining relevance).

The solution, a digital behavior assessment (search activity, chatter, up/down stream mapping, etc.) overlaid on a 3^rd party data set to define customized ‘living segments’ for each respective brand and product set. We call it a living segment because it is in market, real time consumer preference, social influence, and language usage (how they speak about the product/brand) all by segment against an index. The understanding of media consumption alone allows for efficiency, but it is the communication layer that really enhances effectiveness and provides the chance for social amplification.

SK: What are you doing differently today than you were doing 1-2 years ago in terms of digital media measurement?

LN: Within the past two years we have made significant progress in helping our clients see digital as not just an activation channel, but see it as a fuel for business intelligent marketing.  Digital interactions are and can be consumer preference exemplified. Through technology advancements in behavioral measurement and data mapping, we now have the opportunity to identify high value profile segments, apply schemes against these segments to uncover look-a-like clusters, and unearth patterns and trends never associated with an individual brand before.

These insights can improve creative messaging, advance contextual relevance, and ultimately lift brand perception.  Real-time segmentation proliferation tied directly to variant testing has never been so accessible and we have now just begun to scratch the surface as to what is possible.

SK: What would you like to be doing in the next 1-2 years?

LN: As for the future… I plan on writing a screenplay loosely based on Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. However, instead of the main character being driven to insanity by attempting to define ‘quality’, this protagonist loses his mind while attempting to predict the future of digital and digital media measurement.