Friday, November 12, 2010

Does marketing really work?

One big question on every business owner’s mind: “Is the money I am spending on marketing and or advertising really working?” As part of my job, I spend lots of time trying to help optimize the marketing and advertising for companies. The problem is that it is not always easy to track and quantify with numbers if all their work and money is truly paying off in the end. Today I came across this quick survey that I found very interesting by CramerSweeney - http://www.cramersweeney.com/smiq.html. It tests the recognition of brands using 4 main areas:

1. Icon Identification
2. Tagline Memorization
3. Mascot Identification
4. Audible Recognition

While most of the brands used here are fairly mainstream brands, I think many people would be surprised at the amount of marketing and advertising they actually absorb unconsciously. I identified 17 out of the 20 brands, some of which I actually use and some of which I have never used but unconsciously knew the tagline or mascot.

So my point is this, while it is not always easy to quantify how well marketing works and allot a number of customers to the dollars you are spending, marketing and the messages you send to customers get absorbed in many ways (and that list is ever expanding with social media). This has implications for how ROI is calculated and how “standard” market research to develop and measure marketing effectiveness is done. Sentient is currently exploring new ways to do this. Let us know if you have any great ideas to share.

Last, but not least, we think the actual survey format and tool CramerSweeney uses is pretty cool, interactive and engaging. Let us know your thoughts on any other survey tools you find interesting.