MAP

In Uncertain Times, Measurement is Your Hero

A potential recession, data privacy concerns, and an ever-changing media landscape are just some of the many current issues marketers face when planning media spending.

The industry is rapidly evolving, and marketers must evolve their measurement strategy to keep up. Adopting an analytics platform like Ovative’s unified measurement tool, MAP, allows near real-time performance results so marketers can ensure they are pivoting during uncertain market conditions this year. 

A Looming Economic Crisis: 

At the start of the year, many economists warned consumers about an impending recession. This prediction is now up in the air, with some sources saying that a recession will hit later in the year.1 

Economic downturns can be unexpected, but a brand’s marketing strategy should be prepared regardless. As Ovative CEO Dale Nitschke says: “A good measurement strategy matters the most when budgets are tight.” Why? Because it is more important to ensure that media spend is efficient when the economy is down. An effective marketing measurement tool can identify which media investments are driving bottom-line results and which are costing more money than they are worth. That is what MAP does for brands.  

MAP provides in-depth reporting and analytics so clients can act on findings in real time. If there are sudden changes in the economy, marketers can feel assured that MAP will provide a comprehensive guide to spending their budgets effectively. 

Beyond the Duopoly: 

Meta and Google are no longer the only players in the media game. TikTok and Amazon are continuing to grow and adding new functionality for marketers. However, more ad capabilities mean more questions about their efficacy. New media platforms will not always follow the legacy access to data or tracking.  A nimble measurement strategy is crucial to understanding the impact on marketing budgets.  

When the experts at Ovative set up MAP, they knew they needed to build a technology that had the flexibility to measure different media investments, even media platforms that do not exist today! MAP is not constrained by a certain vendor or publisher list and can provide insights from any media platform. This flexibility will be important to effectively measure new media and to be able to compare performance to other media platforms. MAP measures performance with a unified measurement metric, Enterprise Marketing Return, (EMR), to accurately compare one channel’s performance to the next. With MAP, marketers can contextualize new media performance compared to their previous tactics. 

Data Privacy Concerns: 

Last year, data privacy efforts continued to restrict data flows for one-dimensional marketing measurement technologies, specifically only Multi-Touch Attribution (MTA) tools. MTA continues to have fewer data inputs and is receiving negative sentiment in the marketplace. With the demise of the third-party cookie and the declining effectiveness of MTA, marketers should be hesitant to rely on only one source to understand their marketing performance.  

MAP was built differently. It is a unified MMM + MTA solution created specifically to offset individual tool limitations.  MAP uses both solutions to determine the value of each marketing touchpoint along a consumer’s path to purchase. This includes separating the base business and market influence from incremental marketing impact.  

Campaign Consolidation:

From Meta’s ASC to Google’s Performance Max, many media platforms are developing campaign consolidation tools for marketers to leverage automation to enhance media performance. While these tools are proving to be successful in performance, it is getting harder to pinpoint the true marketing value of each channel when tactics are bundled together.  

To help with this issue, Incrementality Testing is used to correctly attribute performance to the proper channels. However, these results are not useful if they aren’t incorporated quickly for immediate action. Ovative has introduced Integrated Testing through MAP, which allows marketers to update their measurement models with inputs from testing in near real-time. With this testing, marketers have fresh insights at their fingertips for improved decision-making to drive better business outcomes. 

Another approach to understanding media performance in a consolidated world is Geo Mix modeling. MAP’s Geo Mix Model allows marketers to understand channel and subchannel marketing performance in designated market areas (DMA). Marketers can use this type of model to test different tactics in different regions and better understand how consumers are responding to those strategies. 

How To Level-Up Marketing Measurement:  

Using Ovative’s AI-driven measurement tool, MAP, marketers can feel confident that they can weather any economic or marketplace uncertainty. MAP clients see a 15% increase in their marketing return; money that is incredibly useful when budgets are tight. 

Powered by Ovative’s holistic marketing metric, Enterprise Marketing Return, MAP helps marketers understand the true value of their marketing investments across consumer touchpoints with a full team of measurement experts to help clients take meaningful action on the tool’s insights. 

Contact our team today to learn how MAP can future-proof your marketing. 

Let’s Work Together To Optimize Your Marketing

Sources: 
1AP News | 2023 US recession now expected to start later than predicted 

Lillian Smith

Senior Analyst, Paid Social

About the Author

Lillian is a Senior Analyst on the Paid Social team at Ovative.

Dale Nitschke

Dale Nitschke

CEO & Founder

About the Author

Dale is the Founder and CEO of Ovative. After years of operating a large omni-channel business and leading a customer data initiative, Dale knew there was an opportunity to create a marketing firm that helped clients become more customer centric and drove better performance outcomes. A gap existed between business consultancies and advertising agencies that modern marketing approaches demand. He also believed that a strong, healthy culture could attract and develop smart, talented team members. In 2009, he formed Ovative to bring media, measurement, and consulting together under one roof to enable an enterprise approach that drives more revenue and grows clients’ customer base.

Prior to founding Ovative in 2009, Dale spent 23 years at Target Corporation where he served as President of Target.com and grew the ecommerce business from start-up stage to a $1 billion+ business and established the foundation of Target’s Guest database capabilities. Previously he served as SVP Merchandising at the Department Store Division of Dayton Hudson. Dale has advised retailers and brands globally on business, growth, marketing, and measurement transformation strategies.

Outside of Ovative, Dale is a leader on topics including business strategy, change management, and team leadership. He serves on the board of Allergy Amulet and on the Dean’s Advisory Board of the Wisconsin School of Business at UW-Madison.  He enjoys spending time with his family, up north in northern Wisconsin, playing golf, and cheering on Wisconsin sport teams.

Seth Brand

Senior Manager, Consulting

About the Author

Seth is a Senior Manager on the Consulting team at Ovative.

Amanda McCann

Senior Manager, Consulting

About the Author

Amanda is a Senior Manager on the Consulting team at Ovative, specializing in Retail Media Networks.

Jenny Reinke

Senior Analyst, Measurement Solutions

About the Author

Jenny is a Senior Analyst on the Measurement Solutions team at Ovative.

Annie Zipfel

Executive Vice President, Media

About the Author

Annie is the Executive Vice President of Media at Ovative. She oversees delivery and growth across paid and owned media (digital, traditional, and retail media) and creative services.

Annie has more than 30 years of experience in media, brand management, insights/analytics, marketing, and product. She has also developed large, high-performing teams and built new measurement capabilities. Annie led the marketing team at Andersen Windows & Doors, leading the digital, social, content, customer insights, and creative functions. Prior to that, Annie served in multiple marketing leadership roles at Starbucks, REI, Target, and General Mills, with a keen focus on brand, media, insights, analytics, and measurement.

Annie is an industry leader in brand management, customer insights, e-commerce, social media, and analytics. She enjoys hiking, traveling, cooking, fishing, and spending time with her sweet dog and two sons.

Bonnie Gross

Executive Vice President, Talent Services

About the Author

Bonnie is the Executive Vice President of Talent Services at Ovative. She is responsible for attracting and retaining top talent and creating a culture in which our team thrives personally and professionally. Under Bonnie’s leadership, Ovative has defined an industry leading leadership and development program and transformed our approach to talent recruitment with a focus on diversity, equality and inclusion. Prior to her current role, Bonnie led Ovative’s Client and Business Development team overseeing client satisfaction and new growth opportunities.

Before joining Ovative in 2014, Bonnie spent 13 years at Target Corporate as the VP of digital and Digital Marketing where she led the launch of Cartwheel, an industry-leading social shopping application. Bonnie was the VP of Marketing for Fingerhut for 15 years prior to joining Target.

Leander Cohen

Analyst, Consulting

About the Author

Leander Cohen is an Analyst on the Consulting team at Ovative.

Will Silva

Analyst, Measurement Solutions

About the Author

Will is an Analyst on the Measurement Solutions team at Ovative.

Sarah Chang

Sarah Chang

Analyst, Consulting

About the Author

Sarah Chang is an Analyst on the Consulting team at Ovative.

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