Too much data not enough intelligence, differing opinions at MAP2011

So last week after attending the WARC MAP2011 conference I blogged about McDonald’s and their love of data. On day 1 I listened to Alastair Fairgrieve (VP and Chief Insight Officer) on how MCD’s are harnessing their data and measuring their various marketing channels (80% on TV). They then use this data to optimise future campaigns.

Other companies use data in different ways. Les Binet of DDB Matrix showed us the power of creative advertising. According to 30 years worth of data, the more creative the advert the more effective. We also learned from Les that just measuring your click through rate is not good enough in terms of measuring ROI, ignoring spend on offline activity means that the equation is floored. He went on to say that “Brand Response Analysis is massively underestimated” and stressed the need to take a “long term view”. Les insisted that to get even close to measuring ROMI properly you need to have a mix of methods which includes Direct Response measurement, Brand Measurement and Econometric Modelling.

So if Les is a true ‘data man’ then Dr Jeffrey Graham of Initiative might not be. Dr Graham had a very different outlook on data and ROMI measurement. He argued that you can never really measure mixed campaigns because the data isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. He also questioned the thinking behind analysing historical data and results. “Measuring what you have done just to inform you of what to do, inherently has its’ own problems”, he added that “It is a barrier to innovation”.

Dr Graham went on to say that a new accountability model should look very different. “We should shift focus against selling the brand rather than against the response or analytics”. 

So the Research guy says one thing and the Ad Agency says something quite different. Both had valid arguments that were well presented, but to an advertiser new to marketing analytics this could present the question of who to believe? 

However this was the tone of the conference, looking at different ways to do things, listening to different strategies, different opinions, different ideas and methods.

All fascinating stuff but is their too much data? Is it that hard to measure ROI from marketing spend? Do you really need expensive econometric modelling? It is only data after all.  With so much technology available to us it would be foolish to not even look at what the data can tell us. Is it not about harnessing it in the right way and using it properly?

If its good enough for one of the biggest brands in the world who must sell more burgers than anyone else on the planet then its good enough for me.