Mobile Marketing Association Launches Marketing Attribution Think Tank To Lead and Rethink Marketing Attribution and Measurement

Brands Report Marketing Attribution is Biggest Priority; Audit Shows Marketers Lack Confidence in Current Solutions

New York, NY (PRWEB) - Addressing what marketers say is their biggest concern, marketing attribution, the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), along with 24 of its marketer member companies, announces the formation of a new think tank focused on unraveling its complexity. Brands behind the initiative include Allstate, Bank of America, 1-800Flowers.com, Procter & Gamble, The Coca-Cola Company and Unilever.

The MMA Marketing Attribution Think Tank (MATT) will help rethink the world of marketing measurement and attribution, giving marketers better measurements, tools and confidence in connecting marketing to business outcomes. The first initiative of MATT is focused on Multi-Touch Attribution (MTA), as many marketers believe it to be the Holy Grail to fixing marketing measurement.

“Multi-touch attribution will be the anchor of future marketing attribution. However, it’s an area where marketers lack the depth of knowledge and experience to evaluate solutions. Add in a highly-fragmented pool of solution vendors, each delivering a different modeling technique, and it's nearly impossible for marketers to confidently select and apply the right solutions for their business,” explains Greg Stuart, CEO of the Mobile Marketing Association. “The MMA is a big tent organization and we are in a unique place to bridge the gap between the solutions and what brands need: clarity, education and standards around MTA performance, transparency and technology.”

Over the last six months, the MMA has conducted a comprehensive, deep-dive analysis into the providers, dynamics and implications for marketers around MTA, working with Joel Rubinson, President of Rubinson Partners, Inc. and former Chief Research Officer of the Advertising Research Federation. Due to the technical complexity of MTA, the MMA also aligned with the Marketing Science Institute as an academic partner to support future technical development. The Institute is a nonprofit organization committed to bridging the gap between academic marketing theory and business practice.

The initial brand audit on MTA was surprisingly negative. In short, it revealed that many brands do not leverage MTA because of the difficulty in evaluating solutions. Brands that do leverage MTA gave it a -35 Net Promoter score, showing their lack of confidence in the current attribution model.

“Brands admit that they need to deepen their teams’ knowledge on attribution solutions, but the black box approach is leading to hesitation and a lack of trust,” explains Rubinson. “We are hoping to empower brands with the tools they need to find the right partner for the right program that meets their brands’ needs. The MMA can even help the MTA solution providers build this really important market.”

With the backing of 24 brand marketers from the MMA’s Global and North American Board of Directors, the MTA Marketers Council developed an RFI (Request for Information) and standardized scoring system that brands can use to understand and rank vendor offerings based on their own business objectives. The full report, which will be made available to MMA members, will also include a scoring system to assess which vendor can best support their marketing needs.

On November 1, 2016, the MMA will host a deep-dive workshop for marketing analysts and brand teams to reveal the results of the vendor analysis. Following this session, MMA will host a webinar series covering the pros and cons of different MTA modeling approaches as well as unified IDs and their importance and the difference between MTA and marketing mix modeling.

The MMA will also create working groups to support ongoing developments under the overall governance of the MATT steering committee, which is brand led.

“Ultimately MATT will dig into a more significant rethink of marketing measurement and attribution," added Stuart. “We welcome brands and solution providers to join our collaborative efforts to develop the best possible metrics to really impact a marketer’s business."

MMA Members will gain access to the full report in November and dates for working sessions and webinars in the next few weeks. For more information on MATT, email matt(at)mmaglobal(dot)com. To learn about MMA membership options, visit http://www.mmaglobal.com.

The MTA Marketers Council includes the following MMA Global and North America Board Members:

  • 1-800-Flowers: Amit Shah, SVP, Online Marketing, Mobile & Social*
  • Allstate: Sanjay Gupta, EVP, Marketing, Innovation & Corporate Relations*
  • American Express: Tatyana Zlotsky, Vice President, Digital Acquisition
  • Bank of America: Lou Paskalis, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Media Planning, Investment and Measurement Executive*
  • Chase: Susan Canavari, Chief Brand Officer
  • Chobani: Peter McGuinness, Chief Marketing and Brand Officer
  • Choice Hotels: Robert McDowell, SVP, Global Distribution
  • Coca-Cola: Tom Daly, Group Director, Global Connections*
  • Coca-Cola: Kim Gnatt, Global Group Director, Digital Marketing & Innovation
  • Colgate-Palmolive: Jack Haber, Former VP, Global Advertising & Digital
  • Dunkin’ Brands: John Costello, Former President, Global Marketing and Innovation
  • E*TRADE: Rich Muhlstock, Chief Operating Officer Marketing
  • Hilton Worldwide: Virginia Suliman, Vice President – Websites
  • Johnson & Johnson: Gail Horwood, VP, Worldwide Digital Strategy
  • Mastercard: Michael Donnelly, Senior Vice President, Digital Marketing
  • Nestlé: Pete Blackshaw, Global Head, Digital Marketing & Social Media
  • Procter & Gamble: Ilonka Laviz, Digital Marketing Director, Global eBusiness
  • Samsung: Jay Altschuler, VP, Media & Partnerships
  • T-Mobile: Andrew Sherrard, CMO
  • Unilever: Luis Di Como, SVP, Global Media*
  • Wendy’s: Brandon Rhoten, VP, Advertising, Media & Digital
  • Zurich: Monu Kalsi, VP, Head of Digital Marketing

*Executive Steering Committee

About the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)
 
The MMA is the world’s leading global non-profit trade mobile marketing association comprised of more than 800 member companies, from nearly fifty countries around the world. Our members hail from every faction of the mobile marketing ecosystem, including brand marketers, agencies, mobile technology platforms, media companies, operators and others. The MMA’s mission is to accelerate the transformation and innovation of marketing through mobile, driving business growth with closer and stronger consumer engagement. Anchoring the MMA’s mission are four core pillars; to cultivate inspiration by driving innovation for the Chief Marketing Officer; to build the mobile marketing capabilities for marketing organizations through fostering know-how and confidence; to champion the effectiveness and impact of mobile through research providing tangible ROI measurement; and to advocate for mobile marketers. Additionally, MMA industry-wide committees work collaboratively to develop and advocate global best practices and lead standards development. 
 
Members include: 1-800-Flowers.com, Allstate, American Express, Bank Of America, Campbell’s, Chase, Chobani, Choice Hotels, Citi, Colgate-Palmolive, DataXu, Dunkin’ Brands, E*TRADE, Electronic Arts, ESPN, Facebook, Ford, Foursquare, Google, Havas, Hilton, iHeartMedia, InMobi, Johnson & Johnson, Krux, Marriott, MasterCard, McDonald’s, Mondelez, Nestle, OpenMarket, Pandora, Pfizer, Pinterest, PlaceIQ, Procter & Gamble, R/GA, RadiumOne, Razorfish, Samsung, SAP, Sears, Spotify, Starcom, The Coca-Cola Company, The Rubicon Project, The Weather Company, T-Mobile, TUNE, Ubimo, Unilever, Verve, VEVO, Vibes, Visa, Walmart, Wendy’s, xAd , Zurich and many more. The MMA’s global headquarters are located in New York with regional operations Asia Pacific (APAC), Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) and Latin America (LATAM). For more information about the MMA please visit http://www.mmaglobal.com.