Which 50? Has The Datafication Of Advertising Finally Killed Off Adland’s Favourite Slogan?

Undoubtedly one of the most overused slogans in marketing’s and advertising’s history is John Wanamaker’s iconic “half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half”.
And it’s a credit to the quip’s longevity that last year the line celebrated a real milestone – its 100th birthday.
But in these data rich times, does the fabled “which 50?” line still ring true?
Wasif argues in this era of the datafication of advertising, Wanamaker would have all the technology and sophisticated tracking and monitoring methods he would need to measure the ROI or ROAS accurately and precisely on every single cent he spent on his marketing budget.
“That’s what we mean by the datafication of advertising,” Wasif tells B&T.
“It can simply be defined as the ability to track and monitor key metrics through the use of technology that are important to demonstrating and defining the success – or failure – of all marketing efforts be they offline or online.
“It also means that you can use these same technological means to improve and optimise your advertising efforts in real-time and in future campaigns,” he says.
For example, the tech giants have been using datafication to successfully target us all with ads for some time now. Which isn’t really surprising given the fact we provide them with so much information and touchpoints every time you use the likes of Google, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Wasif adds: “This has helped marketers improve the quality of their targeting selections and improve the quality of marketing efforts.”
Yet, one problem that just won’t go away for datafication is around user privacy. A classic example of that was in early April when a Facebook hack exposed 550 million users’ information, including seven million in Australia.
Wasif believes that the industry will never truly get on top of privacy issues while government legislation continues to significantly lag the speed of the new technologies.
The arrival of things such as the EU’s GDPR and the removal of third-party cookies will impact the datafication of advertising until the software companies invent ways to circumnavigate it, Wasif says.
“A big hurdle is having all the big players – ad networks, ad servers and exchanges, social networks, data suppliers, etc – working together to form a standardised solution,” Wasif adds. “If not, then the end result will be having differing solutions adapt and try to communicate with one another to provide end users with a compromising solution that won’t be good for the industry.”
But ultimately big data “will become hugely important to organisations” over the coming decade, he adds.
Brands will be able to “harness the power of these large data sets to inform their business and advertising decisions.
“Along with big data, I believe that personalisation will be a main driver of advertising success as companies will develop capabilities using first party data to cater to their customer base. It is already happening as we can see brands build loyalty programs and paying a monthly premium to get exclusive features,” he adds.
Wasif’s tips to help improve your first party data strategies include:
- Understand the solutions available in the market and prepare for the inevitable loss of some data by investing in alternatives. Work with your providers and networks to form a viable solution that fits your business needs.
- Develop a data strategy and maximise the use of your web analytics (decide what data is important and essential to your business, actions taken on your website, apps)
- Get your data sources and collecting that data in order (CRM, lead forms, social channels, emails, customer feedback, instore purchases, loyalty programs)
- Look into investing into a CDP that will help unify your customer and first party data as well as help you activate the data you have collected via your marketing efforts
- Link your offline and online data
- Finally, use all your first party data sources to segment your audiences
Not that data should be the be-all and end-all of your marketing smarts.
As Wasif explains, brands that place too much importance on data are at risk of losing that “gut” feeling that gives most marketing its creativeness and originality.
“At Tug we have been communicating with clients since early last year to prepare them for the eventual changes in tracking and tagging solutions to overcome the loss of some data due to these industry wide changes,” Wasif says.
“To that extent, we are working closely with our clients to build their first party data, get their analytics and data collection points in order as well develop their audience segmentations. While some of the solutions we are trialling is still in their infancy we are making headways in being prepared for the cookieless future,” he concludes.
Please login with linkedin to comment
Tug AgencyLatest News

Air New Zealand & Bastion Shine Save Christmas With Their Latest Campaign
When it comes to New Zealanders, are they really just glorified Tasmanians who are much better at sport?

Google To Pay $111m To News Publishers In Canada
Google lumped with latest $100 million-plus fine. Which, when it's all said & done, is like 50 cents to the rest of us.

Thursday TV Ratings: The Chase Takes The Crown For Entertainment
Much like navigating the single-malt whiskey menu at Rockpool, Thursday night TV proves a tricky one for network bosses.

Before Adland: Luke Spano’s High-Stakes Switch
The Avid Collective MD reveals his life pre-adland. As exciting as it is, it's not international playboy spy & Lothario.

New Study Busts Aussie Advertisers Over False “Clean, Green & Sustainable” Claims
Aussie adland in strife over some of its 'green' claims. By that we mean environmental claims, NOT fibrous vegetables.

Network 10’s Rod Prosser On TV Ratings: “One Measurement System Is Better For The Industry”
The only thing B&T would love more than a chat with Rod Prosser would be a game of squash. Yes, he's a 'yellow dot' man.

It’s Friday Quiz Time Again!
Take B&T's trivia quiz for your chance to win a $100 booze voucher and possible cirrhosis of a major internal organ.

Innocent Bystander Wines Challenge The Boring With New Campaign
As the Latins famously say "in vino veritas" or "in wine, there is truth". And, truthfully speaking, B&T hated this ad.

Apple Enlists Taika Waititi For Gorgeous (& Not Christmas) New Work!
Think the month leading into Christmas is all Curtis Stone's Christmas prawns? It's Apple to the rescue today, readers.

Clean Up Australia Unveils Brand Refresh Via uberbrand
Do you have "litterbug" on either your resume or LinkedIn profile? Change your trashy ways immediately on this news.

Musk: Advertisers “Go Fuck Yourselves”
B&T warns this article contains language readers may find offensive. And by that we don't mean Elon Musk.

Triple M Puts The Gold Back In The Gold Coast
The Gold Coast is Australia's "glitter strip". That is if you think bogans, bikies & personal trainers are "glitter".

SenateSHJ Launches New Trans-Tasman Practices
SenateSHJ has launched a new digital, data and insights capability designed to help clients tackle the growing complexity of communication challenges. SenateSHJ Digital, Data and Insights (DDI) will combine the firm’s existing Digital and Insights functions to create a Trans-Tasman capability focused on digital communication, and the generation and use of data to improve communication. […]

Nova Shakes Off Swift Mania With Dedicated Station
Want to make yourself the most despised person in the office? Read on with the launch of Taylor Swift radio.

QMS CEO John O’Neill On His Plans To Get OOH Spend Up To 20% (Watchout TV!)
B&T's chatting with outdoor supremo, QMS' John O’Neill. Eerily the outdoors never got mentioned in any small talk.

AANA’s New Code Means Stricter Rules Apply To Advertising To Children
There are now stricter ad rules applying to kids. Yet, nothing a bottle of Fanta & a box of Froot Loops can't fix.

New BrandStory Format From Bonzai Allows 3x More Ad Space on Mobile
Creative technology platform Bonzai has announced the launch of BrandStory – a new premium mobile ad format. BrandStory offers triple the ad space and 2.8 times greater time in view than single scroll ad formats, addressing the surging demand from brands worldwide for more real estate to drive real results by seamlessly intertwining awareness, exploration […]

“Cut The Crap!” Piers Morgan Sensationally Outs “Royal Racists” On His TV Show
The corgis, anyone in the Palace with a funny hat & even Camilla off the hook, as Piers delivers royal racist dirt.

Wednesday TV Ratings: 365,000 Sign Up To Watch The Last EVER Hot Seat on Nine
Mrs McGuire reportedly unhappy about Eddie loafing about the house after Nine cans Hot Seat.

B&T’s Search For Australia’s Greatest Ad Heads To Channel 7
B&T went through the looking glass this morning, with editor-in-chief David Hovenden (above) appearing on Channel 7’s The Morning Show to get the general public involved in our search for Australia’s Greatest Ad. Hovenden chatted with Kylie Gillies and stand-in host Matt Doran about what makes a great ad and showcasing some of our favourites […]

It’s The Best Of The Best – Directors Of First Impressions, Presented By Finecast, Part Of GroupM Nexus
They're the ones with the best hair and the whitest teeth! Yes, it's adland's top 10 directors of first impressions.

Opinion: The Tall Planner’s Kate Smither On The DBA Dilemma
The science is not in question – smarter people than I, with far more data, have codified it. The logic is not up for grabs…it makes sense that creating mental shortcuts to your brand keeps you at the top of your mind. Lead image: Kate Smither – Owner, The Tall Planner I wouldn’t even take […]

Ortto & Tall Bob Partner To Deliver Better SMS & MMS For Australian & NZ Businesses
Two Australian-born technology providers have joined forces to bring more power and choice to marketers in Australia and New Zealand with mobile messaging that is more local, cost-effective, and integrated. It’s a partnership that sees two Australian software companies come together to deliver a world-class mobile-first solution for marketers building data-driven, personalised, omnichannel campaigns. While […]

PubMatic Nabs Luke Smith From Seven West Media
Seven's Luke Smith quits for PubMatic. However, he's still in line for one of James Warburton's annual Christmas hams.

Slew Of New Hires At Snap Inc.
Snap Inc. has announced a number of new recruits. B&T unaware if it positively impacted SEEK's share price.

Michael McLacren Confirmed As Deb Knight Replacement For 2GB Afternoons
Think AM radio has a bit of an angry boys' club feel? It's not improving things with this news.

Reddit Gets Playful Brand Refresh
This will be of interest to any Reddit fans, graphic designers or lovers of an orange so bright it burns the retinas.

World Square Counts Down To Christmas With Sydney’s Biggest Advent Calendar
Hopefully this news will get you in the Christmas spirit. Either that or go and stand in Westfields for nine hours.

Zitcha & Broadsign Partner To Drive Global In-Store Retail Media Market
Zitcha and Broadsign have teamed up to integrate the Broadsign out-of-home (OOH) advertising platform with Zitcha’s retail media platform. The collaboration empowers retailers to maximise and monetise in-store digital display networks and enables advertising partners to easily view and book available in-store inventory and review campaign performance alongside the retailer’s other media channels. With the […]

B&T’s Search For Australia’s Greatest Ad Part 5!
B&T's vote for Australia's greatest-ever ad is much like the recent referendum sans the mudslinging and Kamahl.

Ignite the Thrill: National Drag Racing Championship Unleashes Media Campaign Via Murmur Group
If there's one sport in the world that's thumbing its nose at global emissions, it's probably drag racing.

Rethink Ink: Is It About Time You Reconsidered Print?
Print's not merely an excellent vehicle for brands, it's also perfect for getting the barbecue alight for the sausages.

Double Rainbouu & 7-Eleven Launch Exclusive Summer Fashion Label
Today, 7-Eleven has announced a one-of-a-kind collaboration with the popular Sydney-based anti-resort wear label Double Rainbouu. Dropping tomorrow, December 1, just in time for summer, this limited-edition capsule will infuse the fashion brand’s rebellious spirit with a distinctly iconic 7-Eleven flavour. The unisex collection features five must-have styles comprising two signature Hawaiian shirts, a peaked cap, a bucket hat […]

Cannes In Cairns Media Accreditation Open Now!
Work in media? Want to cover next year's Cannes In Cairns? There'll be no free piña coladas without this form.

In-House Agency Council Research Report: 78% Of Marketers Now Work With An In-House Agency
In-housing is definitely an industry hot button topic. Admittedly still a long way behind office affairs.

OMA Announces Winners Of The Q3 Creative Collection Competition
Who doesn't love the out of home medium? Apart from the very real chance of being shat on by a bird.