ZenithOptimedia’s Harrison Suggests New Research Tool
In an industry where reach used to be the priority (now that is only the case in less mature markets such as Africa, India, Pakistan and China), connection strategies are now key, according to Frank Harrison, strategic resources director at ZenithOptimedia Worldwide.
In an important, extensive presentation at the MRG Madrid Conference, (that would certainly have won the longest paper award!) Harrison applauded the IPA’s Touchpoints initiative as “spot on” and re-affirmed that industry research data are essential “as trading currencies.” However he felt industry research was “almost irrelevant to planners, OTS is no longer a good surrogate for advertising effect (on sales).”
Harrison went on to suggest a new currency – BEPs or Brand Experience Points, derived from the output of an ROI tracking tool, the Market Contact Audit (MCA).
MCA is a consumer research method owned by Integration of Beirut and now in use in a number of agencies and management consultants, and championed by Procter & Gamble. The tool is “tried and tested”, works with small and large brands, and is available to anyone, hence Harrison’s contention that this could genuinely become an industry measure.
MCA consists of a category tracking tool, annual audit and quarterly trackers, and quantifies for each brand in a category, the relative influence on purchasing of each type of consumer contact to the total “Brand Experience”. The Brand Experience crucially aligns with market share – indeed the average correlation is 90%.
The method involves qualitative focus groups and quantitative face to face contact. The consumer is asked to pick the top ten most influential contact types in the category and this produces a ranking of factors on a scale of 1-100 per category. The consumer is asked to state if he/she has seen this brand via any of the contact types, which could range from traditional advertising vehicles to beer mats or word of mouth recommendation.
The derived contact clout factor multiplied by the brand association percentage delivers the brand experience points.
Harrison provided two case studies which indicated major changes in advertising strategy as a result of using the tool, and subsequent significant sales uplift.
“Multi-contact marketing is rising fast,” summarised Harrison (finally!!), “budgets are drifting to what is measurable, holistic industry research such as MCA (and Touchpoints) is urgently needed.”
MRG: www.mrg.org.uk
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