Latest news with #JayPattisall
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Beyond Vanity Metrics: Why Media Transparency is Now Non-Negotiable for Business Growth
In today's fast-moving, AI-powered media world, businesses can no longer afford to fly blind. Transparency and performance visibility aren't just 'nice to have' anymore — they're critical for survival and growth. That was the clear message from a recent expert panel featuring moderator Linda Cronin, EVP, Global Head of Media at Monks, Jay Pattisall, VP of Principal Analyst at Forrester, Millie Chu, Sr. Director of Media Analytics at T-Mobile, and Meredith Zhang, Measurement Partner at TikTok. Together, they called for a bold new vision: a 'Bloomberg Terminal for brand content' — a world where marketers can see, measure, and act on data with the clarity and speed of Wall Street. Despite the technology we have, achieving end-to-end media visibility is hard because of several key hurdles. Many brands are still using basic metrics instead of advanced tools like Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) that give us deeper insights. The evolving, non-linear customer journey, often serendipitous discovery, makes traditional tracking useless. Siloed teams across brands, agencies and publishers, and lack of common language and standardized naming conventions make data analysis impossible. Measuring until after campaigns are done and misinterpreting real-time data makes it hard to get a clear picture of performance. To get to a clearer media future we need to take practical steps to unify metrics and integrate measurement into the planning process. Businesses should prioritize business outcomes like sales and revenue, align KPIs to boardroom priorities not fragmented metrics. Measurement must be part of the planning process so we can make faster, smarter decisions. Causal inference over vanity metrics and speed up MMM to get insights in weeks not months is also crucial. Understanding off-platform impact and driving organizational change from the top down is key to success. Ultimately the future of marketing is about radical transparency, real-time insights and full-funnel accountability. This means we need to unify data, integrate measurement practices and focus on tangible business outcomes. It's hard but the path forward is strong leadership support, rethinking how brand value is perceived and organizational agility. If we do this we'll not only have better marketing but also more resilient data-driven businesses.
New York Times
16-04-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Tariff Confusion Leaves Advertisers ‘Paralyzed' and ‘Somber'
Persuading people to spend money in a time of unpredictable tariffs is proving to be a complicated calculation for the $380 billion American advertising industry. Should a retailer commit to holiday television commercials for toys manufactured by newly vulnerable trading partners? How do social media companies account for the potential disappearance of Chinese companies that have spent billions of dollars promoting their wares? How does an automaker pitch vehicles that may cost consumers thousands of dollars more than they did a year ago? 'You're going to introduce uncertainty about how they make stuff, let alone what's going to happen to consumers in terms of their propensity to buy?' said Brian Wieser, a veteran industry executive who runs Madison and Wall, a consulting firm. 'That's going to cause advertisers to really curtail their ad spending.' Major companies were left in the lurch this month as the administration declared new tariffs, soon imposed them, reversed course a few days later and then doubled down on targeting China. Now, those advertisers feel 'paralyzed,' said Jay Pattisall, a principal analyst at Forrester, a research firm. Several companies declined to elaborate on their marketing strategies for the coming months or said they were in 'wait and see' mode. 'We are as in the dark about this as I think everybody else is,' Mr. Pattisall said. 'It is such a volatile situation because the decision-making is quite volatile.' Companies' willingness to invest in marketing and promotion is often viewed as a proxy for the health of the global economy, a sort of indicator of whether gross domestic product might grow or contract. The tariffs could potentially trigger an economic domino effect, causing consumers to close their wallets, corporations to streamline their spending and marketing to take a back seat, several advertising experts said. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
