This article is the first in a series of six that will discuss the client, agency, marketing measurement partner relationship.

Defining the Common Goal of Agencies and Marketing Measurement and Optimization Partners

Improve the performance of marketing initiatives. Succinctly, this is the goal that media agencies and marketing measurement and optimization providers have in common. Agencies may pursue an improved audience strategy or aim for improved media cost efficiency, while measurement providers can deliver Marketing Mix Models or Unified Attribution, but ultimately both are leveraging their expertise in the name of improved performance for their clients.

Benefits of Collaboration in a Complex Marketing Landscape

As a former SVP of Analytics at Universal McCann, and now VP of Analytic Consulting at Ipsos MMA, Chris Kinney has seen how both sides work. “As an agency, we realized the value in aligning, supporting and collaborating with measurement partners on behalf of our clients. We believed that focusing on this collaboration had more upside than downside,” says Chris. It was true; over a 3-year period, clients saw ROI improvements fueled by insights that were jointly created and activated upon.

These improvements came in the face of industry-wide hurdles (such as increased focus on data privacy and cookieless activation), increasing media budgets (which typically drives ROI down, due to saturation), and a matured measurement program (fewer “easy” optimizations, as plans weed out historically poorer performing tactics over time). How was this done?

Establishing a Collaboration Roadmap in a Bespoke Series

Now on the measurement side at Ipsos MMA, Chris will be sharing his expertise and use cases to define what that specific process entails, and how to bring it to all clients and agency partners through an exciting series of follow-up blogs. It takes time, a clear roadmap, and true partnership to build a successful relationship between agencies and measurement providers, but the results can be game changing.

This series will address what specifically is needed to succeed and how to establish a jointly beneficial approach. Ipsos MMA has added world class agency processes to its already innovative measurement product, with client driven value at the core for all stakeholders.