Two things you might not now know about me: I’m mildly dyslexic, and I’ve been in marketing technology for decades. That second point is relevant here because, in an industry full of folks much younger than me, I’ve come to realize my long career is of unexpected value.
Along with many modern business books, I have a home library of wisdom from great thinkers that the years have mostly pushed to obscurity. I’m thinking now of a book co-written by another marketing elder, sadly now departed, who taught and published out of a college at Northwestern University. I had the pleasure of seeing Don E. Schulz, PhD speak live.
Predicting Our Measurable World
At the presentation, sponsored by the American Marketing Association in the early 1990s, he told me and a room of mostly ad professionals that their careers were about to change dramatically. I leaned forward to learn more.
(I was a direct response consultant at the time, definitely a second class citizen in the room. I was used to it, especially within the very ad agency that employed me at the time — and which eventually pushed me out because I wanted our marketing success to be measured by more than just the number of Addy awards handed out at lavish, self-congratulatory banquets reminiscent of the Oscar Awards event I’ll be watching tomorrow night.)
The men and women seated around me in their fine silk and wool suits were fully invested in things staying exactly as they had been for decades. They didn’t like what Dr. Schulz had to say.
He announced to a stunned audience that the power dynamics of broadcast marketing was about to reverse, much like the nearby Chicago River that historically had flowed in one direction but through engineering had completely reversed its flow.
Yes, that dramatic a change.
And instead of the flow of water, he was talking about cash.
The way he explained it, ad agencies, which all happily followed the Mad Men business model of producing ads for the masses (and earning 15% commisions on every magazine, radio and television ad bought on those channels), was going to be decimated by internet technology that would soon place more power into the hands of consumers.
He talked about targeted marketing. I leaned forward even farther in my chair.
Instead of “spraying and praying” — telling everyone who would listen about the latest product showcased in their shiny ads — there would be a marketplace where consumers looking for a type of product would anonymously advertise their intent. He called this middle business that would manage the market of interest and intent an “infomediary.” It would gather the products via the internet and, only once the consumer had found one of interest, would it reveal this prospective buyer’s identity to the brand.
The details back then were sketchy. But years later Google, through its AdWords program, would become that middle business. Intent would be “advertised” by the keywords consumers typed into the search bar. And much of the wealth that had flowed to ad agencies would be captured by this massive and efficient infomediary, giving consumers unprecedented power and choice.
An Anti-Mad-Man Who Predicted CDPs
The audience was visibly upset. Where folks would start by politely raising their hands to get more details, by the end I distinctly recall some of them leaping to their feet to ask their questions in urgent tones.
I found it quite entertaining.
Just as Schulz didn’t have the specifics about Google that night, he didn’t mention in the book he co-authored the concept of a Customer Data Platform (CDP). But in that book, Measuring Brand Communication ROI, he created a brilliant framework for measuring the dollar impact of CDPs on brand value and revenue.
Although his book is long out of print, you can read about about his framework in my eBook. You can download it here.
And watch this space for additional reasons why I’d love to talk to you in two weeks at Adobe Summit.
