Profitable Marketing Communications: A Guide to Marketing Return on Investment » (New Edition)

Lucy aitken is a freelance journalist and writer. She was previously editor of Campaign and Media & Marketing Europe.

Many companies still see marketing as a cost, not an investment, and it tops the list of types of expenditure most likely to go in a downturn. According to proven business strategist Antony Young, marketing is about creating positive value for a business or brand by demonstrating cost versus return.  Young and co-author Lucy Aitken propose a radical change in marketing philosophy to an investment-led approach whose focus is value, not cost.  The book introduces investment disciplines and strategies to marketing practices and gives insight into how marketers have delivered outstanding marketing return on investment (ROI) for the companies. Finally, it provides a blueprint to maximize the returns from marketing communications.

 

Drawing from case studies and their own experience, the authors show how marketing can work as part of a wider business strategy and prove that marketing can give customers, staff and shareholders good reason to stay loyal to companies.

Foreword     vii
Preface     ix
Acknowledgements     xi
A need for a new marketing model     1
How it used to be...     2
The declining effectiveness of mass advertising     5
The changing consumer     6
Increased pressure on corporate profitability     7
Growing pains     9
The impact of interactivity     10
The implications     12
What this book sets out to do     13
A change in philosophy     15
What is Marketing ROI?     15
Studying the market     20
Why Marketing ROI is difficult to achieve     20
How should marketers respond?     27
Our Marketing ROI stars     30
Toyota Motor Corporation: driving in top gear     31
P&G: a soap opera with a happy ending     35
O2: How a [pound]17.7 billion brand was born     39
British Airways: dealing with turbulence     42
Impossible is nothing...     45
Invest, don't spend     46
The ICE checklist     47
Investing in experimentation     50
Decide whether you need to invest in marketing     51
Marketing -an alternative to acquisition     52
The ladder of insight     53
Our eight investor tips to profitable marketing communications     53
Use these tools...     60
Concentrate on outcomes, not outputs     61
Output obsessions     62
Outputs that drive the wrong marketing     63
What's the difference between an outcome and an output?     64
Creating a Marketing ROI culture     64
Setting the right metrics     65
Useful metrics     68
Turning metrics into objectives     69
Targeting the right outcome     69
How to focus on outcome-led marketing     71
Reassuringly effective     74
Forget consumers, target customers     76
The three deadly sins...     77
Profit (Marketing ROI) comes from loyal customers     79
Profit (Marketing ROI) = loyal customers     80
Customer satisfaction = customer retention     80
Customer equity     81
Segmenting by customer profitability     83
Customer retention helps acquisition     88
Consumer packaged goods     92
The power of empathy     93
Bespoke media      93
Use the technology to guide smart investments     94
Manage your communication investment portfolio     95
Your marketing communication portfolio     95
Embracing risk     96
A different approach     97
The integration challenge     98
Growth of alternative channels to advertising     103
Payback time     105
Making the right investment decisions     107
Touchpoints ROI Tracker     108
A central organizing communication idea     110
Determining the channel mix broadly based on ROI measures     111
Leveraging synergies: development     111
Leveraging synergies: execution     112
A final thought...     113
Differentiate any way you can     114
Value versus price     116
How to differentiate your brand     118
Avoid commoditization     123
When not to differentiate...     128
Editing consumer choice     128
Engagement and experience are the new 30-second ads     130
The magic of mavens     133
Invest in inspiration     133
Experience, not possessions     134
Encouraging consumers to participate      142
'In the flesh' appearances     143
Making it personal     143
What's in a name     143
Revamping a flagging brand     144
Apply a 'focus investing' approach     145
The Buffett style of investing     145
Focus investing applied to marketing     146
How strategy helps focus investing     147
Understanding why marketing campaigns fail     149
New product initiatives     150
Making the right choices     150
Identifying the big bets     151
Making choices about communication     158
Betting on Buffett     159
Establish a measurement culture     160
Setting out the problem     161
Our view...     162
Set metrics at the start     163
It's not failure; it's learning     164
Metrics: moving the needle     165
Introducing an ROI system     169
Modelling     170
Owning econometrics     172
Marketing dashboards     173
Market testing     176
Data, not dinner     176
Leverage your employee capital     177
Investing in staff...to invest in customers     177
Marketing that motivates     179
Employees are customers too...     181
Our Marketing ROI stars and their employees     189
Is your organization Marketing ROI-fit?     191
Why ROI is important     192
Learning from the pitch     198
Relationship management     199
The brief     199
Unification, not integration     200
How does the ad industry need to change?     200
Selling advertising     201
Building value     201
Equipping agencies to deliver a Marketing ROI agenda     202
A new breed of agencies     202
Summary     204
References     205
Further reading     208
Index     209