Meters or Feet: You’re The Same Height

There’s an interesting dynamic in measurement called “gauge invariance,” which is when analysts discover substantially different results, dependent on the measurement methodology. As a colleague put it, “Whether you use meters or feet, you shouldn’t suddenly find yourself taller.”

We recommend bucketing your media measurement into 4 categories:

1) Response effects – short-term marketing effects from lift studies and UTM codes. This measurement is directionally helpful in understanding how consumers are responding to ad stimulus. This gauge can speak to strength of offer or creative as well. But don’t mistake this for potential long-term effects.

2) Brand effects – long-term, brand-building metrics gleaned from brand tracking studies. Brand lifts speak to mental availability. As one colleague said, “If they don’t know you, they can’t buy you.”

3) Business effects – measured using media mix modeling. MMM is an algorithmic approach to measuring incremental business impact from advertising stimulus. These effects are often measured in context of other variables, like weather or economy or brand awareness.

4) Campaign delivery effects – reach, frequency and impressions, metrics that are important in understanding the pool of potentials.

Once the marketing team has identified which metrics/methodologies belong to which buckets, it will be easier to map marketing strategies and align on optimizations.

When there is disproportionate focus on one bucket or misalignment on how the measurement maps to strategic goals, then friction occurs. Methodologies designed to measure response effects won’t provide business effects. And if you’re managing your business, determining channel allocation and marketing budgets dependent on short-term effects, you may just miss the forest for the trees