Download the show directly here.
Topics: (Brogan’s day rate isn’t really a topic.) But, other stuff is! Why Hulu will die, why Oscatisers should die, why CBS underwear haters should die, and why metrics that kill creativity should die. That last one being the most debated topic of the show, and where I go off on metrics as being the enemy of creativity. To clarify my rant: It’s not that I see little value in metrics as applied to the creative process, I do.
Specifically, demo-pyscho-graphic whatever that reveals certain behaviors in the context of a creative brief to execute against, or looking through company history for little factoids that become the basis for entire campaigns. Info such as “The audience is males 22-30 who drink beer and watch ESPN” could be for any brand, which sure ain’t the deepest of dives. (I mention the breakdown of Subservient Chicken by its creatives as an example where data meets freak.)
The problem becomes when clients discussing metrics lump everything together under the banner of impressions, as if that’s the only thing that matters to them. The media agency then comes in and uses as broad a range as possible to describe males 18-54 in almost all their decks regardless of product, then sells the brand on the idea of delivering millions of eyeballs and says “Oh, by the way, we’ll throw the creative in for free.” Creative which ends up being little more than an average banner campaign.
(I also mentioned the new social cause called Hello Rewind.)
Also on the panel: Joe Jaffe, Scott Henderson, Jim Louderback. Follow the crew on Twitter: TheBeanCast, mtlb, Jaffe, Jim and Scott.
Tags: The Beancast
4 comments:
Perhaps.
There is another way to look at metrics, of course. The average consumer is exposed to 4,000+ messages a day, and she either notices those messages or not, and then decides to pursue a purchase or not. So one could make an argument that "creative" is either a yes-or-no decision point -- either it works, or it does not work in:
1. Getting notice
2. Getting a response
Thus creative is pass or fail. A or F. There is no middle ground.
Now, let's talk about the media. I've had clients who run the SAME ad in the same media, and by tracking "metrics" of response we've seen a 20-to-1 skew in cost per inquiry (the cost to make the phone ring). If we didn't measure, we'd never know. By measuring, we can toy with the media plan to more than double responses to the SAME ad.
Of course, media measurement + creative = success. But Bill, man, tossing out metrics as an obstacle really misses the point on how much variance there is in making the media side of the equation work.
My test to you is this: Would you invest $1 million in the stock market without metrics on which aspects are working better than others?
Advertising is no less important an investment, and metrics are thus just as vital.
Yours long-windedly,
Ben
That’s not the point though. Metrics as it applies specifically to the creation of ideas themselves and their undo influence on the left side of your equation is.
When “reach and frequency” become more important than what’s actually being said, that’s a problem.
I just wanted to be a topic. Rats.
But I love Ben's comment.
Ben is cute when he's angry. He keeps things honest around here.
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