Depending on Digital.

One of the common refrains among digital media loyalists is that “digital is more accountable than all other media.” While this is the original promise of digital, it seems we should be careful not to spout platitudes. For, there are two big issues with this darling proclamation.

First, effusing digital, as we have lured them here, marketers and clients everywhere are inclined to hold digital to a drastically different standard than other media. This is a monster of our own making. And, occasionally quite severe, the application of this standard can slow down adoption, as doubters aim to pre-qualify the supreme accountability and measurability of any digital media considered. However, even if the superlative view is too extreme, digital does have more accountability in its right arm than does the whole of media. This is an asset, as long as we don’t get complacent.

Second, as our cross-channel tableau gets more intricate and platforms advance, options flourish, and media constantly fragments, this purported accountability supremacy gets less true. As things get more complex, shortcomings become more veiled and costly all at once. As we head into 2010, if we don’t get serious traction, then this accountability riff is simply something we tell ourselves to shine our industry on.

Ultimately, this accountability mythology is not one that we as an industry want to get trapped inside of. So, let’s look at the promise this way: let’s hold digital media as accountable as it wants to be. It’s fine to be aspirational. But, it’s time to catch reality up to aspiration. The good news is that — a new decade of advance upon us — the areas needing traction are clearly driving forward.

The Coming of Cross-media Analysis

Assuming we as an industry finally standardize metrics — dealing with everything from the stubborn GRP to defining engagement — we’d expect to get to a higher state of cross-media analysis. There’s a lot of debate about who should lead the charge on standardization: the IAB, comScore, Quantcast or others. But considering some of the really cool engineering and product development that’s surfaced in the past three to four years — such standardization might kick-start and pave the way to progress on the tools set that would enable such analysis. As an industry, we are tired of cross-referencing and cobbling lenses, but we’ll continue to do so until the metrics reconcile and the tools are as dexterous and robust as we implore them to be.

Will the Last-click Rule go POOF?

For those of us who’ve spent time running performance based programs – contemplating all steps on a path to conversion is normal. But, sometimes all we’ve had is that contemplation, our hunches. We know that a consumer may start with a search and end with a search, but he may take 10 to 60 steps in between and absorb numerous exposures across all media types. Attribution is a bear. We intuitively know that the last-click rule is unfair. But, without sound attribution models and tracking mechanisms, how can we turn our uneasiness into decisive campaign optimization and analysis? Companies like ClearSaleing, Incisive Media and Forrester are putting a lot of heat behind education, and adoptable solutions may follow. Imagine if not only your portfolio had fewer blind spots, but so did the 411 on the day-in-the-life of your consumer.

Verification Hallelujah

Starting with one of the noisiest sub-segments around — networks and ad exchanges — the breaking onto the scene of Verification is one I find most exciting. We’ve been collectively blinder than we would like to acknowledge for years. Talking with certain networks and publishers about content adjacency, proximity to the fold and the premium stature of inventory always has been an awkward dance of faith.

Companies like AdSafe Media, Media Trust, and certainly DoubleVerify are making an important run on changing that. It’s a filter on integrity, as partners — networks, publishers and media companies alike — step up and join them at the table to do these deals. And, when companies stand back, we have to wonder. Above and beyond certifying location, targeting specifications, the extensive scope of verification is something to behold. Verification is the boon to that so-called accountability we’ve lauded for so long.

Like integrity, accountability is one of those things you have or you don’t. When it comes to people, there are those who do what they say they are going to do — and those who do not. As you spend your time on earth, which kind of person do you want to be? Same deal with our aspirations of accountability for digital. We say it’s inherent. But, we can degrade and hinder that accountability, as we grow. Or, we can shine a light on what will make the original promise real. And transport the industry to a better version of itself.

By Kendall Allen
Courtesy of http://www.mediapost.com