Global Attributions Analytics Case Study

GLOBAL ATTRIBUTION ANALYTICS CASE STUDY

Supriya Mallaya

New Jersey Institute of Technology

Abstract

Before a customer purchases a product or service, they are exposed to a number of marketing “touchpoints" which include a wide range of interactions, from seeing a television commercial to conducting online price comparisons on a comparison shopping engine (CSE) site. Attribution is the science of assigning credit or allocating dollars from a sale to the marketing touchpoints that a customer was exposed to prior to their purchase. [1] This case study mainly deals with how to efficiently measure the relative effectiveness of advertising expenditures across ten marketing channels which include both online and offline interactions. It describes the methods Peter Danaher and Tracey Dagger used to collect data and run analysis to find a solution for the attribution problem in various marketing channels.

Global Attribution Analytics Case Study Analysis

Introduction

We have now reached the peak of the digital age where internet, new media and technology plays a major role in every aspect of our lives. Most of our actions and interactions are measurable by technology, be it click throughs or visits to a location using GPS data. As a result, there is increasing pressure on marketers to put this additional consumer data to use in measuring the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns. But even through careful collection and usage of data on consumer activities there lies the eminent issue of attribution. Attribution problems could mean making faulty conclusions regarding the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. There has yet to be a complete solution to attribution problems in marketing and therefore, we should keep in mind that the data is not always 100% reliable before coming to conclusions regarding marketing strategies. In this case study, Peter Danaher and Tracey Dagger ran an analysis on data collected from a select group of customers, the loyalty program after a major four week-long sale following an advertising campaign. They sent an invitation to an online survey to 20,000 randomly selected members who fit the target market. The survey measured the exposure to the advertisements across all 10 channels used by the retailer. This sale was accompanied by an advertising campaign of similar duration across ten advertising channels which include mass media channels (television, newspapers, radio, and magazines), electronic media outlets (online display ads, Google search ads, and social media ads), and direct media (catalogs, postal mail, and e-mail). The ads were consistent in their appearance and messaging, stating “massive discounts” on a variety of products or on specific featured items across all 10 channels.