OPINION
The Al Ries Challenge by Arthur Einstein   "In the May 4, 2009 edition of Advertising Age Ries claimed that "determining the ROI of a marketing program is an expensive exercise with little or no value"… Nonsense like this, appearing in Advertising Age, is symbolic, I think, of just how behind the curve the publication, and the people who read it, actually are." Read more.

LONGBOW IN THE NEWS
New assignments. Longbow just keeps rolling.
SULLIVAN TIRE - operates retail car-care centers throughout New England
MERCURY MEDIA - the largest privately-owned direct response media agency
LIBERTY MEDICAL - markets health care products and services to consumers
MOORE MEDICAL - an online direct marketer of medical supplies serving healthcare professionals.

THEY WROTE IT. WE LIKE IT.
Superbrands Feature: The Evolving CMO "...Analysts who observe the chief marketing officer position say it’s unrecognizable from a few years ago. While crunching numbers was always part of the job, new sources of data…along with a need to show ROI have CMOs awash in data .... Sometimes derided as "spreadsheet jockeys" they are a break in tradition from the "creative savants" of old ..." Brandweek - Frontiers of Marketing  Read more.

HOW TO DO IT
Measuring Marketing Effectiveness - Some marketers consider marketing a purely creative discipline but a growing number are searching for a more rigorous way to measure their performance. Our Marketing Effectiveness Score combines 6 measurable customer behaviors into a single measure of marketing effectiveness and and provides, for each metric, a set of actions to improve the score. Read more.