In a high-speed, data-driven world, the demand for precise measurements in digital advertising has never been higher.
With the rise of first-party data and the growing complexity of consumer metrics, advertising is exiting the era of broad strokes and entering a realm of razor-sharp focus.
That’s where Ron Amram comes in. Previously head of media at Sprint Nextel and Heineken USA, Amram is now senior director, global media, at confectionary maker Mars.
In this video interview with Beet.TV contributor Jon Watts, Amram explains how the company is approaching the new media world.
The Three Waves of Data
Mars, in some markets, had a much-loved slogan, “A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play.”
Amram says the company’s advertising team also operates with another triumvirate in mind. He says the company works with “three waves of data”.
- “Broader, campaign-level data, the marketing mix model level.”
- “Specific, program-level or platform-level or composite-level test-and-learn, agenda-type tests.”
- “Executional-level data that we can optimize and hopefully link to performance.”
This three-wave structure of data measurement allows advertisers to break down their strategies into measurable and adaptable segments, enabling a more granular approach to data handling, Amram says.
Understanding quality, perpetual learning
MediaRadar has an interesting summary of Mars’ multi-platform ad output.
Amram says Mars’ emergence into digital media has brought learnings.
“There’s levels of (media) quality, not every impression’s the same the way it was in the past,” he says. In the past, every impression was treated the same. Now, with the ability to measure engagement metrics and understand the quality of impressions, the game is changing.
Another big change is artificial intelligence.
“I think what AI allows for is the pivot towards action and continuous improvement,” Amram says. “It becomes learning for humans to make better decisions. So I think it moves faster.”
Measuring Mars
Next up, Amram wants Mars to capture a swathe of consumer touchpoints, with privacy in mind.
Set-top box data, smart TV data, ad server data, and streaming data are all transforming the measurement services used in advertising.
“We’re adding as many of these signals as we can,” Amram says. “There’s several vendors that are providing … mobile engagement (data).
“(It answers questions like) ‘Are people touching the ads of how long are they scrolling?’, ‘Are they zooming in on assets?’ and things of that nature?”
