Smart Insights, from the Wrong Side of the Table

In this Ad Age interview with Sue Davidson at Atmosphere BBDO, we get several good best practices on setting up online media for success and then measuring results on the back end. These include starting with a business objective, rather than a media tactic: “I want increase brand awareness 90%” versus “I want to do an online promotion”. Another example is moving beyond such necessary but ultimately soulless measures as time-on-site, and move to tracking changing consumer attitudes and beliefs through surveys.

All good stuff, but as someone who has worked on the client side for a long time, I wonder how healthy it is to have both your creative team and the analytic team that reports on how well the creative team did, both on the same side of the table. I’m sure at some level objectivity rules, however I think I know which way the report will lean if the data isn’t so black and white. This is not to fault BBDO: if their clients don’t bring their own digital insights and analytic power to the table, then they are providing an invaluable service. However, the marketing teams that have their own marketing research group minding their digital ROI will always have a their own advantage, this time on their side of the table.