Marketing in 2014: Mad Men or Math Men?

Economist SVP Nick Blunden.

The Economist Leadership Roundtable took the stage at the Hard Rock Café in NYC last week as part of Advertising Week events and galvanized the audience by asking some really hard questions. Then they sat back and listened.

The panel, led by Economist SVP Digital Nick Blunden, and featured a diverse group of entrepreneurs and big media company executives. 

Nick established the theme by referencing an excellent special report on advertising and technology from The Economist published in early September. It was entitled "Little Brother" and it focused on the ways technology is radically changing the advertising business and its profound consequences for both consumers and companies.

Nick asked one particularly provocative and hard question: In today’s disruptive technology driven world, is advertising more or less powerful than in bygone era of advertising? (As exemplified by AMC’s Mad Men series).

Tim Spengler, President of Content Marketing & Revenue Strategy at iHearMedia (formerly Clear Channel) answered first. He commented that advertising ”… is becoming more powerful…” as it evolves with the complexity that technology has created. He added “Data will be used more and more…with mobile infrastructure creating more of a one-to-one relationship with the audience.”

Greg Mason

Greg Mason, CEO of Purch Interactive (a digital content and services company) offered a qualified response “… that advertising could eventually become more powerful…as more down-funnel and performance-driven data becomes evident.” Greg observed that “intent-based data” is key, alluding to better attribution, or cause-and-effect measures of media exposure and eventual commercial transactions that might result.

The real Mack McKelvey.

Erin “Mack” McKelvey, CEO of 

Salient MG (a marketing consultancy specializing in digital / mobile and political sectors), offered “…advertising is becoming more powerful as marketers become more engaged with consumers via smartphones.” However, she offer evidence that sometimes data-driven marketers can do a poor job of profiling their intended targets. She cited the marketing profile she found for herself online that got her demographic, professional and behavioral data completely wrong.

Elizabeth Harz, President, Media of Adara (a travel data and analytics platform) said, “…advertising is becoming more powerful as it enhances consumers experiences.” She went on to say “...creativity is more important than ever. Teams need to be formed that are analytic and creative – leaning into data to help create content that consumers can relate to.”

Krishan Bhatia - NBC Universal

Finally Krishan Bhatia, EVP, Digital Strategy & Operations at NBC Universal observed “advertising is becoming more powerful as it becomes more interesting.” He went on to comment “content consumption is occurring
in a non-linear  way on an accelerated basis in digital venues.” and “a key media buying issue is seeking appropriate content delivery in the right context versus simply buying audience demos.”

Panel participants seemed to be more focused on asking the right questions about the highly disruptive and fast changing media / marketing / technology landscape rather than offering answers. The Economist did a good job of drawing the discussion out of traditional silos and providing insights on the combined power of compelling content and technology.

So it looks like marketing and advertising will continue to be part art and part science for the foreseeable future. As a result,

meeting the challenge of redefining and evolving business models for the ad agency, publishing, tech start-up and media sectors will most likely be in the journey, not the destination.