- Attendees unanimously agreed that direct-response metrics are a poor proxy for consumer opinion, and that the industry needs to shift to using true brand metrics for measuring and optimizing brand advertising.
- Attendees also noted how critical it is to make statistically sound decisions, and the resulting importance of focusing analytics around the primary marketing objective of campaigns.
- Several presentations highlighted that the best possible outcomes for brand ad campaigns cannot be achieved when media buyers and media sellers are working in silos, referencing disparate data, or optimizing to different metrics
- Case studies reviewed during the meeting showed material gains can be achieved when everyone is looking at the same data, in the same system, in real time, and jointly making decisions to improve campaign performance
- Attendees agreed that direct collaboration between media sellers and media buyers to optimize online brand advertising campaigns is key to maximizing advertisers' return on their brand investment
Video Is HOT!!
- Advertisers in attendance shared their opinion that video is exploding because of a number of factors coming into alignment, including ongoing standardization of video serving technologies, a growing diversity of video ad formats, brand-appropriate metrics to determine performance, and increased reach
- Advertisers also agreed that, as a result of these trends and the continued movement of consumers online, brands are beginning to shift TV dollars to online video, and that this trend will likely continue in 2012
- Case studies reviewed during the meeting showed another reason for the growth in video advertising. Unlike standard ad units which require higher exposure rates to achieve the desired outcome, video is often a single-exposure performer, making it an overall better return on investment
