Marketing is often given a pass on measurement while other departments within the organization have to prove their case. Somehow the power of an advertising tagline (when you think about it) that approximately said, "half of my advertising works, I just don't know which half" continues to give marketers the flexibility of not standing up for the effort and expense of the stuff we do.
Well, we should. All it takes is setting up some metrics. If your webstats rise, your marketing is working. If your total marketing expense drops and your sales rise you are being more efficient (not that you are less relevant!). If you dropped significant dollars on trade shows and advertisements to introduce a new product and it falls flat then you didn't get the job done (even if the product is a loser). We've got to take the good with the bad!
So, when the NFL Draft occurs on the first day of TV's May sweeps, it makes a difference to how ad rates are calculated. Is it a surprise that ESPN and the NFL Network are happy with the overnight ratings and the broadcast shows are moaning? Nope. Not surprised.
May sweeps were established to help set advertising rates. So the flood of great programming comes around just when it matters. Gaming the system a bit? Sure. So groan, but don't be surprised when other events try to horn in on the same time period. Just be sure to be valued for the effort that you are doing, be happy about the products you are pitching and be sure to have a handy fact or two that you can share to show that marketing matters.
Photo by espensorvik of Flickr
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