Building brands while improving marketing ROI

Today's mass marketing model needs to evolve or marketeers will erode their ability to build brands, which is critical to avoid commodization. Today's media measurement systems needs to evolve to facilitate the marketer building brands while improving the marketing ROI.

Improving the marketing ROI starts with understanding how to improve the personal relevance at receptive key touch points with the consumer; at the moments that most influence their decisions.
(Source: Future of Advertising Project, Y. Wind)
Which moments most influence purchase decisions?
Digital technology is fundamentally transforming (1) consumer purchase behaviour and (2) media consumption habits. Gaining superior insights on media consumption behaviour - from a better understanding of the relationship between changing shopping and media usage - is necessary to improve the marketing ROI.

New technologies are changing consumer purchase behavior
Consumers are increasingly adopting new behaviours when it comes to researching and buying products. Traditionally, marketers' view of the purchase process has been based on a "funnel" with five successive stages:

1. awareness
2. familiarity
3. consideration
4. purchase
5. loyalty
   

This model is becoming increasingly outdated, as consumers much more activily reach out to the recommendations of their (online) peers to understand their options. "The real new medium is the voice of the consumer"(Peter ter Kulve, CEO Unilever Benelux).

New technologies are changing media consumption habits
Truly understanding the increasingly complex media consumption behavior of consumers allows marketers to more accurately anticipate on the impact and synergistic effects of media; to reach (or better, touch) their target consumers more effectively and efficiently at receptive moments, via relevant content that serves consumers' interests.



Media & Marketing measurement systems must leave their single media silo approaches and accomodate multi-media measurement. Unduplicated reach across different media will become a necessity, engagement and relevance will need to be researched too....to make the next step in improving the marketing ROI.



David de Boer, Manager Marketing Intelligence Sales, Sanoma