John Matthews
President at Marketing Evolution

Last August, Marketing Evolution added a Chief Data Science and Analytics Officer to the team — a nod to the inevitable shift toward increased data integration moving forward. In this context, we asked John Matthews, President at Marketing Evolution, his views on AI/Machine Learning completely transforming marketing measurement and analytics.

Tell us about your role at Marketing Evolution and the team/technology you handle.

I serve as Chief of Staff to the CEO, handling the integration of the leadership team, the health of the P&L, and the strategic initiatives. Over my eight years of tenure in the business, I have led the teams that developed and introduced Marketing Evolution’s software, served as the company’s President, and have sold to and worked directly with our customers to help them improve their marketing effectiveness.

Why did you choose to publish a report on Person-Level Data Measurement?

Forrester estimates that by 2021, digital marketing spend in the US will be nearly $120 billion. But marketers are still using measurement methods and attribution models that aren’t detailed enough or accurate — that’s a lot of money being wasted on marketing. We set out to evaluate the state of person-level data adoption among marketers. We found that organizations generally understand and support the fact that they must master customer data at the person-level, but challenges remain, proven by the fact that they are still using disconnected marketing measurement and optimization approaches. These methods are holding many firms back from realizing the chief benefits of person-level data. The purpose of commissioning this data is to help inform us, the industry, and our peers about the benefits of this type of measurement, why it’s essential and the risks inherent to turning a blind eye.

As a specialist in behavioral science and research, how do you distinguish human attitude towards physical shopping versus online shopping?

Marketing Evolution’s measurement and optimization platform is differentiated in the industry with its capability to attach person-level attitude data — while a campaign is running — to person-level media exposure, location, web, consumer profile information, and purchase behaviors. That means we provide marketers with the unique ability to stitch together brand building efforts and consumer attitudes to individual shopping and purchase behaviors — and distinguish patterns between specific online and in-store shopping visits and outcomes. Armed with these cohesive person-level data sets and optimized answers coming through our software, Marketers then act on that information and insight to tune their media and messages to capitalize on consumer differences in both shopping venue attitudes and behavior, allowing the marketer to provide the best ad exposure and consumer experience possible.

What are your predictions on person-level data completely transforming marketing campaigns in 2018-2020?

Given the fact that consumers today have very high expectations in the way brands reach them and how they interact, it’s critical that marketers take advantage of every touchpoint to provide seamless experiences that align products and services across the channels they prefer. For marketers, this heavy emphasis on personalized marketing means their efforts to engage consumers need to be based on analytics derived from insights at the person-level, or they are taking a big risk in the relationship. My predictions are steeped in research: Marketers know they need to abandon independent measurements — our data finds that over 70 percent have already implemented or are currently expanding their customer data capabilities. Additionally,  a large majority of marketers (80 percent) say that access to person-level data would either improve or significantly improve their ability to execute on their high priority initiatives to grow revenue, improve marketing efficiency/ROI, increase brand influence and reach in the market and better leverage data/analytics in business decision-making.

What are the key takeaways from the report that address the challenges in data management and granular-level marketing intelligence?

72 percent of organizations are most often using a disconnected approach to marketing measurement and optimization so no matter how great your data is, if it’s not the right data or it’s not being used cohesively, it’s likely not telling the right story. This leads to decreased impact and ultimately, revenue. In addition, fewer than one-third of organizations meet what Forrester refers to as “maturity competency standards,” which scales specific criteria needed to optimize marketing measurement. Key barriers to person-level success are:

• Data integration (28%)
• Data management (26%)
• Cross-silo data management (24%)

What do you think about AI/Machine Learning completely transforming marketing measurement and analytics?

Last August, Marketing Evolution added a Chief Data Science and Analytics Officer to the team — a nod to the inevitable shift toward increased data integration moving forward. Our platform succeeds based on the use of AI and billions of the data points that provide marketers using it with insights into recommended media, messages, and budget allocation. Clearly, these technologies are pivotal for successful measurement. At the end of the day, it’s this tech that has taken marketing from simple, rudimentary messages that “intruded” on the consumer, to a more refined process aimed at understanding the consumer. Because of these new complexities, more advanced, centralized and cohesive tools are necessary for successful measurement.

Thanks for chatting with us, John.

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