Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal • February 16, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com Focus Advertising, MediA & MArketing Ad agencies adjust to demand for data, analytics By Matthew Broderick Special to the Hartford Business Journal W ith nearly 25 years of experience in market- ing and advertising, Adams & Knight CEO Jill Adams is no stranger to data. In fact, she says data has been an important part of advertising since the Mad Men era of the 1960s. What's changed dramatically in the past 10 years, Adams says, has been both the volume of data and the diversity of what can be mea- sured, forcing marketing and advertising firms to re-think how they do business. "There's more emphasis today on mea- suring engagement versus just impressions," Adams said. "It's not enough to say how many people viewed your TV spot or saw your digi- tal ad; we want to know who interacted with a brand with a download, click, follow, like, post or hashtag." The explosion of social media and online content has revolutionized how consum- ers research, interact with and recommend brands. It has also put the onus on advertis- ing and marketing firms to track the effec- tiveness of social media campaigns through data-driven research. The need for better and more "real-time" analytics has not only changed the landscape of the advertising industry in general, but has also shifted the way agencies operate. No longer is it good enough for firms just to be creative; they need to know, understand and interpret numbers too. "We've been bringing new people on board with a focus on social media strategists and data-driven marketers," said Tony Cashman, president & CEO of Glastonbury-based Cash- man + Katz. "Today's creative, media and public relations practitioners must be able to better understand the intricacies and nuances of digital and social media while being able to effectively analyze data to explain results, see opportunities and address client's challenges." Metrics, Cashman said, have become a much bigger part of client needs and expectations. "Up front, clients want to be able to quantify what ele- ments of a campaign worked," Cashman explained, not- ing his firm works across a broad spectrum of numbers- driven industries including health care, financial services and consumer products. Some industries, such as retail, place a greater emphasis on data, Cashman said, and the technology to track metrics has evolved as a result. "We now can access campaign data and results in real time and can provide it to clients, hourly if necessary," he said. While it might seem like increased focus on data and analytics in advertising places less emphasis on creativ- ity, Sara-Beth Donovan, senior vice president of media for Avon-based Mintz + Hoke, thinks it helps clients push creative boundaries. "Having [more detailed] metrics gets cli- ents comfortable with testing new ideas," Donovan explained. "That allows us to cre- ate campaigns that are more unique and can differentiate our clients." That's because real-time data analytics allow agencies to adjust a campaign on the fly, if messaging is not resonating with a target audience, said Andrew Wood, Mintz + Hoke's senior vice president of strategy. "Data allows us to be more nimble and flexible with our clients," Wood said. "It's about insight and refinement." Insight, said Adams, is ultimately what clients want data to provide. "They don't just want 'big data'" she said. "They want someone to tell them what all that data means and how it affects their marketing spend." Adams & Knight created an insight group to focus on primary research and data analytics to provide better data- based advice about marketing methods most likely to create lead generation, sales or greater brand awareness, Adams said. And as social and digital channels — from Facebook to Twitter — become more crowded with users and messages, brands will face greater challenges building aware- ness and engagement. That, Cashman said, will lead to the next generation of marketing and data analytics: increased micro-target- ing. "There will be an even greater focus on customized messages at the individual or household level," he said. Some of that granular targeting is already happening, according to Donovan. "In certain larger media markets, cable allows clients to send targeted messages by household," she said. "And mobile targeting will become bigger over the next year." That, in turn, will create even more nuanced data for ad agencies and clients to digest. "We have to be able to evaluate how various commu- nication vehicles are working together to influence behav- iors," said Adams. "That's the only way we'll be able to effectively optimize the total marketing spend." n experts Corner The death of integrated communications By Bill Field F or close to 20 years, integrat- ed communications was "it." Everyone wanted it and every communications firm pitched it. If you weren't integrating your com- munications, you were lost or plain out of touch. Advertising programs looked like matching pieces of luggage with a dizzying sea of sameness to them. The basic premise was that all com- munications needed to have the same brand look and feel and exude the same personality. That strategy worked for years with ad agency firms and companies alike extolling the virtues of being inte- grated. But what was once the go-to strategy has fallen by the wayside in today's digital com- munications world. A number of disturb points caused a major disruption to the integrated com- munications mantra and sent it down the path of communications irrelevancy. Being integrated meant being a generalist, proficient in all areas of communications — from advertising and collateral to public relations and strategy. Everything housed under one roof was the order of the day. When network TV, radio, news- papers and magazines ruled the world, integrated communications made great sense. Ad campaigns ran for years with the integrated communications firms responsible for producing them having their contracts renewed year after year. The explosion of digital com- munications ultimately proved to be the game changer. Social media closely followed behind. Increas- ingly, the communications business moved from an "integrated" gener- alist world to one of specialization. Expert firms that specialized in digital niches exploded — inbound marketing, search marketing and even pure code development. Many integrated ad agencies and firms were slow to embrace the shifting trend away from an integrated model, or lacked the financial resources to invest in digital talent to fuel penetration in the new media. Young talent, the lifeblood of the communica- tions business, turned away from integrated shops in favor of new world digital operations. It proved to be a perfect storm. Pitching integrated com- munications capabilities was falling on deaf ears. It was no longer relevant or compelling and relegated to the advertising and communications graveyard. The advent of chief marketing officers further exacerbated the decline of integrated communica- tions. Where companies were once content to have one agency being awarded "agency of record" sta- tus and tasked with developing all their advertising and communica- tions work, CMOs took the oppo- site tack. They assumed the role of orchestrating the brand and the resulting communica- tions work. Being part of the C-suite elevated the importance of metrics return, some- thing that was diffi- cult to measure with an integrated com- munications promise. The common oper- ating approach that is employed by CMOs and many marketing and communications executives today is to work with multiple com- munications firms that are subject- level experts in their specific disci- plines. It is readily clear that their desire is for specialists, rendering generalist agencies irrelevant. The goal that CMOs are seeking is demonstrative results through ideas that work. In essence, the quest for break- through ideas has replaced inte- grated communications. Great ideas are at a premium and can come from many different cor- ners. Brands that once were all in with the deployment of integrated strategies now employ multiple campaigns across a variety of dif- ferent media platforms. It is more about connection and engagement than it is about drilling home the same message through repetition that was the model for integrated communications. Creating an idea is far more com- plex today. It has to be delivered in many different ways in new and old communications mediums. Instead of one idea, it needs to be a series of ideas delivered in lots of impactful ways that are relevant to all audi- ences. It's another death blow to integrated communications. It is still paramount to ensure that a brand positioning and per- sonality are correctly rendered in all communications. The downside risk with a multiple-idea communi- cations strategy is losing the brand voice. Consumers still need a compel- ling reason to believe and reason to belong to a brand. Brands are what you think and feel about them, the emotional connection that's often hard to describe. It may be that integrated communications is being cast in a new light through the prism of new ideas and media. n Bill Field is the founder of FieldActivate, a Connecticut- based marketing firm. Bill Field Jill Adams, CEO, Adams & Knight Tony Cashman, president & CEO, Cashman + Katz Sara-Beth Donovan, senior vice president of media, Mintz + Hoke I l l u s t r a t I o n | a r c h M a n ; s h u t t e r s t o c k . c o M

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