Scotch Game

Working directly with senior leadership of multi-unit retail and restaurant concepts, providing growth expertise. 

Helping to build, refine, and expand the growth formula unique to each company.  

Solutions are on-demand and scaled to the need.  Service areas include: Diagnostics, Consultant & Advisory, Fractional CMO, Leadership & Coaching, and Results Guarantee.

Principal

Jackson

Served in a multi-faceted executive leadership role for this F500 company involving strategic planning and execution, organizational development, process and program innovation, and training/performance management in support of enterprise-wide marketing/brand transformation efforts.

•	Developed enterprise brand positioning in support of new business strategy shaping customer experience and go-to-market approaches, integrating with employee experience and generating over 95% engagement from employees within the first 60 days.

•	Built new organizational capabilities (including tools, KPIs, and processes) to enable the integration of design thinking and market-fit principles across the marketing, sales, and customer experience functions in support of the brand repositioning initiative.

Head, Enterprise Wide Marketing Innovation

ShareRoot

ShareRoot digital platforms, artificial intelligence tools and subject-matter expertise allows for a customised approach for each of our clients to understand market opportunities, design market access strategies and a data-rich environment for understanding, engaging and activating audiences.
 
Whether it is developing high-quality original content for social media, optimising e-commerce sales, creating e-games and applications, harnessing the power of social media or developing bespoke digital marketing strategies, the ShareRoot group of companies can provide solutions to suit any digital challenge.

Member of the Board of Advisors

Cracker Barrel

Played key leadership role on the 7-person executive team that worked closely with Board and reported directly to CEO, additionally serving on 4-person Real Estate Committee that determined sites/markets and capital allocations for business expansion for this F1000 restaurant/retail company.

•	Supported the CEO in driving business transformation by leading business model innovation and brand offering revitalization across the product, equipment and process development, insights, pricing, menu strategy, and licensing functions.

•	Led comprehensive redesign of off-premise/to-go business model (covering product/brand offerings, back-end processes, staffing models, and marketing programs) to deliver 200%+ sales growth, positive IRR, and national rollout to drive ongoing business innovation.

Executive Lead - Marketplace and Product Development

Promoted after 18 months to seven-person executive team adding product development, equipment development, licensing, and business development responsibilities. Executed business model innovation, digital strategy development, product lifecycle optimization, pricing, and brand extension efforts. Reported to CEO.

•	Grew total revenues over 20% and market share greater than 30%, recording 21 of 24 quarters of same store sales growth, resulting in six-fold increase in share price.

•	Enhanced $80M marketing line by evaluating and augmenting media and channel mix creating greater reach, targeting, and messaging capabilities resulting in profitable sales lifts in excess of 10%.

•	Created first digital strategy including SEO/SEM, social media, OLV, and CRM resulting in 2x industry engagement / sentiment levels, industry comparable reach, and high organic search rankings.

•	Implemented multi-cultural marketing programs impacting the customer experience, employee experience, and go-to-market as well as introducing market-level pricing (generating an incremental $30M in EBITDA) enabling expansion of an additional 25+ units.

SVP - Marketing (chief marketer)

Hired to redefine brand and reignite food focus. Spearheaded development and execution of strategy, programs, and process improvements / innovation across brand, media, advertising, menu development, market research, and pricing functions. Led cross-functional team responsible for driving menu innovation and optimization. Reported to CEO.

•	Formulated and implemented new product and marketing strategies/plans (including new core menu enhancements and seasonal menu program) that re-established “product” as critical growth and traffic driver for company.

•	Redesigned innovation and product strategy to focus on jobs-to-be-done and need states; also reworked end-to-end development process to structured rapid deployment model allowing company to successfully bring 50+ products year to market for Cracker Barrel.

VP - Brand and Menu Strategy

ARAMARK

Led an 18-member team in developing and implementing a marketing plan covering 300+ on-site food units within Aramark’s high-end business dining unit, serving clients such as Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.

Drove end-to-end rollout of new marketing plan across all assigned Aramark food units (resulting in 2-year same-store sales growth 6% over plan), in addition to implementing new catering program that grew sales by 10%+.

• Leveraged insights from market research, focus groups, and surveys to launch new product lines and present compelling new business development pitches to both existing and prospective clients, resulting in consistent sales growth.

Director of Marketing

Helping C-suite leaders of scaling and mature multi-unit concepts boost growth and market value | Former F1000 NEO

I help leaders of multi-unit concepts improve the effectiveness of their revenue line. 

Many organizations and their suppliers narrowly focus on just one area within the revenue line. Or they don't connect the different pieces, resulting in missed sales and internal team frustration.

As a partner for you and your team, we work together to find and activate the most significant leverage points across your whole concept to improve revenues. 

With experience in the C-suite for F1000 restaurant companies, I can leverage extensive experience running various revenue-related functions and deep industry knowledge for your benefit.

Working with me typically results in the following:
- Clarity about what are and will be the growth engines across your whole concept
- Higher sales from new program launches
- Higher ROI from your marketing line
- A better way to align marketing, product, ops, and training
- Confidence your innovation efforts will all stack up over time efficiently and exponentially

Nine areas influence the revenue line. My approach identifies your equities, builds magnetic moments, and creates structures to ensure disciplined delivery. 

 This approach has produced over:
- $500M in new sales
- 6x stock price increase
- 35% market share gains
 
Work typically takes one of four paths: consultative, fractional leadership, diagnostic, or workshops/speaking. 

Ideal partners are concepts that:
- Are committed to improvement 
- Have a senior member of the team directly engaged 
- Provide the necessary information in a timely and thorough manner
- Have leadership teams willing and able to support the change

I started Scotch Game in 2017 after serving as chief marketer and NEO for Cracker Barrel OId Country Store, Inc. for nearly a decade. 

I understood from first-hand experience the demands of running a restaurant business. The struggle to get sufficient focus on driving growth across the company could negatively impact the revenue and margin line.

I've worked at the board and leadership level, leading marketing, brand, menu strategy, culinary, pricing, equipment development, corporate communications, new concept development, and new business development functions, and I have served on the real estate committee.

I recognize the commitment involved in engagements. I aim to be respectful of your culture and your business. While I operate with a partner mindset, I also strive to bring you an outside, unbiased view to help you make the best decisions and take the best actions possible. 

Please feel free to connect via DM.

Chris Ciavarra

Marc Binkley, EMBA

Calgary Marketing Association

My role is to bring the organizations vision to life - To make Calgary known as a world-class marketing community. Our three guiding pillars are 

1. Building awareness of the organization & our programs
2. Supporting members by connecting them together and providing credible world-class sources of information
3. Celebrating our uniquely talented community here in Calgary

President

Quatical

I provide executive consultation and organizational leadership. I support leaders to develop a strategy that connects business objectives and brand reputation while leading the go-to-market plan supported by sales & marketing unification, marketing campaigns and performance reporting.

Fractional CMO

Founder

Marc Binkley Consulting

Proven executive leader with deep experience leading business transformation including hands-on management of sales & and marketing strategy, budget, resources, new business development, customer retention and P&L responsibility.

Here are some of the ways I can help  

• Act as an Executive Advisor and sounding board for candid discussions and objective opinions
• Increase the quality, volume, value and speed of your pipeline
• Create the structure, support systems, processes and incentives for a high-performance revenue operations team
• Provide an evidence-based approach to increase the returns and reduce the risk from marketing investments
• Led cross-functional teams to diagnose complex problems, synthesize data and convert it into actionable best-in-class solutions

Freelance Marketing Consultant

VistaVu Solutions

VistaVu (VVS) is a privately owned, mid-sized SAP reseller and B2B SaaS company serving over 350+ clients in North America from 178 industries.

Key Responsibilities

•Create a vision and implement the paid, earned and owned media strategy to position the VistaVu brand & products, generate leads, accelerate pipeline conversion, increase deal size and expand the lifetime value of existing customers
•Develop an annual go-to-market strategic plan (segmentation, ideal customer profile targeting and positioning), select and implement the sales and marketing tech stack and, manage P&L budget
•Direct market research, buyer journeys & competitor analysis for short- and long-term market forecasts, reports and strategic recommendations
•Lead cross-functional communication and collaboration to align targeting, messaging and content production 
•Maintain brand standards and ensure compliance across all communication channels
•Build, manage and coach a high-performing marketing team

Achievements

• Created and delivered a go-to-market (GTM) strategy that resulted in a 280% increase in Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL), a 77% boost in Sales Qualified Leads (SQL), 70% growth in new revenue ($1M)
• Executed a land & expand customer retention program that resulted in exceeding the $14.7M annual recurring revenue (ARR) target
• Managed annual marketing budget of $1 million (people resources, training, travel, martech, and paid media LinkedIn, HubSpot, Google Ads, PowerBI analytics, email, events etc)
• Premiere partner of SAP's business development funds (BDF) program
• Led the product marketing, GTM strategy, brand building and sales enablement for Resolv and FieldVu two VVS owned SaaS products
• Recruited, trained and led team of 5 direct reports to deliver on KPIs

Marketing Director

Anstice Communications

Anstice is a full-service digital advertising agency. As the Managing Director, I led strategic operations to ensure the organization efficiently achieved its business objectives, Anstice branding, client strategy and digital marketing (SEO, SEM, UX/UI, Social Media, SEM, Web Design).

Key Responsibilities

• Sales: New business development and RFP responses
• Establish KPIs, measurement systems and customer retention 
• Managed and developed a team of 25  
• Oversee annual financial P& reports, budget management, implement improved business processes, manage employee communications and collaborate with the CEO to create and deliver employee development and training programs
• Led content marketing for CRM & brand communication

Achievements

• Achieved 79% revenue growth in 3 years ($1.5 – $2.7M)
• Revitalized Anstice's brand, positioning, content marketing, and services transforming a PR agency into a full-service strategic marketing firm
• Inspired cross-functional collaboration and strategic leadership for 80% of the agency's key accounts including: 

1. B2B Tech & SaaS: 
- Product Marketing, Customer Acquisition
- Achieved a 3.8x increase in MQLs, a 5x uplift in website conversion rate, and a remarkable 288% YoY revenue growth for the audio-conferencing product line and SaaS offering.

2. Utilities: 
- Customer Retention, Brand Development
- guided successful digital transformation and rebranding efforts, including the implementation of a customer-centric website, online account management system, and lead generation strategies.

3. Homebuilder: 
- Sales Promotions, Digital Transformation, Lead Generation, ROI Analysis
- Implementation of a new customer-centric website, online account management system, and lead generation strategies.

4. Transportation: 
- Customer Analytics, Competitor Research, Brand Development, Performance Marketing
- Diagnosed and successfully executed a go-to-market plan to improve brand development, customer acquisition and loyalty.

Vice President Marketing

Managing Director

FGL Sports Ltd

FGL Sports is the largest sporting goods retailer in Canada and is a subsidiary of Canadian Tire. The company owns and manages over 1,000 locations under several banners including SportChek, Sports Experts, Atmosphere, Pro Hockey Life, Intersport, Nevada Bob's Golf, and Hockey Experts.  Marc's three areas of responsibility were:

Leadership & Marketing Strategy

• Oversight of the omnichannel strategic planning and go-to-market coordination for all media channels including Paid Google Search (SEM), Google Analytics, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, store signage, PR and CRM
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to drive the Canadian Tire digital strategy towards performance and a single view of “one customer”. 

Analytics

• Created the first data science team to clean and synthesize data to enable evidence-based decision-making  
• Use data from store traffic, instore sales, ecomm purchases, media reports and Google Analytics to measure marketing performance, improve conversion rates and calculate ROI / ROAS  
• Project manage major operational initiatives including digital infrastructure for online to offline measurement, in-store analytics, customer identification, data lake development, marketing science, customer segmentation, audience building, attribution and media mix modelling 

Paid Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Manager

• Led and optimized an $8.5m pay-per-click PPC budget on Google Ads
• Collaborated with agency and business partners to find opportunities in keyword research, ad copywriting, bid management, landing page optimization, conversion rate optimization, A/B testing


Accomplishments

• Achieved an exceptional average return on ad spend (ROAS) of 5x.
• Successfully implemented a sophisticated RFM CRM segmentation strategy, resulting in a notable 41% increase in email marketing revenue on a database of 1 million contacts.
• Pioneered a ground-breaking global pilot with Facebook that linked online ad exposure to offline sales

Senior Manager Strategic Marketing

As the social media manager for FGL Sports, I’ve played a critical role in helping digitally transform the go-to-market approach for both FGL and Canadian Tire. 

Responsibilities

• Budget planning and management of $10M media spend.
• Social Media Marketing for both paid and organic content
• Collaborate and design digital-first brand awareness campaigns
• Balance brand awareness objectives with performance marketing KPIs such as ROAS / ROI
• Creating brand new content strategy designed for mobile first UX
• Media buying and ROI optimization
• Create and manage influencer marketing programs
• Develop Sales & marketing funnel optimization
• Successfully established 24/7 customer service program providing 24-hour response times and 72-hour resolutions via social media and online chat.
• Use audience segmentation and online communities to activate viral and real-time partnerships like the Olympics, NHL, NBA, and sponsored athlete activations 
• Social media listening and sentiment analysis
• User Generated Content (UGC)
• Online Reputation Management


Accomplishments

• Transformed the traditional print flyer ad program into a digital and social media advertising initiative, driving an average YOY sales lift of 11% for same-store locations.
• Launched innovative viral video campaigns with Steve Stamkos, Kevin Pillar and Kyle Lowry
• Architect of the world-class Rio2016 Olympics brand campaign recognized as the 7th best campaign in the world by WARC

Social Media Manager

Mount Royal University

Through the continuing education department at Mount Royal University, Marc designed and taught the first-ever Social Media Certificate program in Canada. The program included five courses including business strategy, social media marketing, digital analytics, content marketing strategy, and a capstone project with supplementary workshops on topics such as LinkedIn for Business, Intro to Twitter, Intro to Facebook.

Responsibilities
● Market research and curriculum development 
● Instructional design
● Course planning
● Course assessment
● Online course development & learning management systems (LMS)
● Teaching strategies and student engagement
● Classroom management
● Develop learning outcomes, course objectives and educational resources

Accomplishments 
● Nearly 15 years after launch, the program is still running and has been included in the standard curriculum for the school of business.

Instructor - Social Media for Business

Pentacle The Virtual Business School

Eddie Obeng created the Pentacle Virtual Business School to help leaders learn.  

Eddie and his team built a private social network called QUBE which they use to help executives better apply strategy and innovation so that they can take ideas and turn them into money.  

With a client list of most of the world's best global organizations (like Sony, Novartis, Heinekin, Dell, Microsoft and IBM) Pentacle has established a reputation for interactive, engaging learning which transforms both businesses and leaders.

Learning Facilitator

Sleeping Barber Corporation | Digital Marketing Agency

Founder of a boutique Digital media agency to help Calgary businesses grow their brand and leverage new advertising opportunities through SEM, SEO, Blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We used a proprietary brand building system to re-engage employees and build sustainable production of content.

Founder, Social Media Brand Strategist, Trainer and Professional Speaker

Rogers Communications

The Calgary Media Group at Rogers was comprised of four Calgary-based radio stations (Jack FM, Lite959, The Fan 960 and 660News), one Canmore-based station (Mountain FM), a TV station (City TV) and each their accompanying websites and loyalty programs. This sales role was primarily commission-based and required creating and selling customized campaigns that combined TV, radio, website and loyalty program elements.  

Responsibilities

• Prospecting for lead generation and new business development 
• Conduct customer needs assessments and goal setting
• Client acquisition, sales & pipeline management and close deals
• Developing sales pitches and presentations 
• Account management including accounts receivable 
• Managing client engagement and relationships to minimize customer churn and maximize customer retention
• Upselling and cross-selling
• Train and develop new skills such as consultative selling, solution selling, challenger sale and spin selling
• Report on sales forecasting


Achievements

• Grew my book of revenue by 203% 
• 2x winner of the national new business award for most revenue generated from new clients 
• Created, tested and implemented generate Rogers' first inbound lead generation system for all reps

Account Executive

Marc is an innovative marketing executive with 25 years of experience in delivering growth in both top-line revenue and bottom-line profits.  Marc helps companies navigate through digital disruption and transform their sales and marketing operations to match and exceed the expectations of modern buyers.   

Examples include:

B2B SaaS Company
Using market research, win/loss analysis and customer insights to modernize the market segmentation, positioning and go-to-market approach for a B2B SaaS company. This resulted in a 280% YOY increase in Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs), a 77% increase in Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs) and a 70% increase in new revenue attributed to marketing sources ($1M) while still achieving the annual recurring revenue (ARR) target. 

Digital Marketing Agency 
As the VP Of Digital Strategy and Managing Director of Anstice, Marc led the repositioning of the Anstice brand from a public relations firm to a full-service digital marketing agency. Repositioning the brand required the development and implementation of new strategic plans product development, employee development, process improvement such as business development and client satisfaction, establishing new KPIs & incentives, and financial reporting. Achieved 79% revenue growth in 3 years. 

Retail
In addition to overseeing brand and performance marketing campaigns, Marc was responsible for creating and implementing a new social and digital go-to-market approach at FGL Sports. This program achieved an average 11% YOY lift on same-store sales. Marc was also the architect of Facebook’s global pilot program proving online ads delivered in-store sales and several award-winning omnichannel brand campaigns including the Rio2016 Olympics campaign which was awarded 7th best in the world by WARC. 


Broadcast Media Sales
While working as an account executive, Marc helped Rogers Media create the first inbound lead generation system for Canadian broadcasters. This project was based on a personal two-year pilot project that proved that inbound lead generation could be as effective, and potentially more useful, as cold-calling.  

Marc is excited to use his exceptional data analysis and creative problem-solving skills to generate solutions to complex challenges. He is passionate about developing high performers on a winning team and is exceptionally well suited to growing organizations that value accountability in the face of change.

Director Marketing

My role owns the messaging of the brand through all the stakeholder communications including: 

• Own the marketing strategy, budget and measure the effectiveness of the VistaVu marketing plan
• Assist in identifying global go-to-market positioning, messaging, assets, and programs that help to bring VistaVu's brand promise to life
• Leverage data, advocate stories and customer insights to help identify correct and consistent messaging that drives value for each of the stakeholder groups.
• Product marketing in key areas including Experience (product), Everyplace (place), Exchange (price) and Evangelism (promotion)

About VistaVu Solutions

VistaVu Solutions, provides innovative business management software solutions to mid-market companies across North America. We are one of the top SAP-certified partners in North America recognized for our innovation and high customer retention. Additionally, as a partner with Dell Boomi we provide solutions to our customers for supply chain EDI, HR system streamlining, banking file transfers and others. Our staff have core competencies in Industrial Field Services, Industrial Manufacturing & Components, Aerospace & Defense, Life Sciences, Food & Beverage manufacturing, and High Tech. Our goal is to deliver high quality customer experience and we measure our success in our clients’ satisfaction, and our ability to help them RUN GREAT.

Marc Binkley

𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀. 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀.

In this new era of AI, it's easy to forget that AI has been used by marketer in our media channels for 20+ years. Google embedded AI into its adwords platform as early as 2003. Facebook has used AI in its algorithms since 2010. 

Over this 20 year period, there was a complete digital transformation. The pipes leading to ad placements were digitized, and returned data to dashboards in real time. Consumer's mass adoption of digital channels gave way to more profile identification and interpreted intent-to-purchase behaviour. 

This change radically shifted how our industry executed on research, targeting and advertising. The shift of media dollars from traditional to digital channels is proof of this impact. 

Despite the amazing changes to our industry over this transformative digital era, two things remain true:  

1. Marketing hasn't gone away 
2. Marketers have not gone extinct. 

What emerged from this period is that marketers with digital skills have had the most evolutionary success. 

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗡𝗼𝘄? 

The new tools are dominated by LLMs like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and Grok. They're definitely different from the AI embedded tools of the transformative digital era. 

These new tools expand our capacity & capabilities, streamline processes and allow us to explore new strategic options without losing any time. In some cases, they're making decisions and performing tasks on our behalf. 

And, they're proving to be very helpful in those areas. 

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗲? 

Despite the growing body of marketing science and effectiveness research, marketing is still a craft that needs 'hands on the wheel' to guide it. I believe these new tools will will change the operational efficiency (how we do it) of the our discipline.

But like the AI tools from the past, these new set of tools don't change the discipline of marketing (what we do)

1. Market orientation & research -> 
2. Segmentation & Strategic choices via targeting and positioning -> 
3. Execution via 4Ps


My guess is that in 20 years, we'll still have employed marketers overseeing a recognizable marketing function. How we run that operation will seem as foreign as today's store visit conversions seem to direct mail advertisers from the 1950s. 


What do you think? 





References: 

25 Years of Google Ads https://lnkd.in/gU-5-k75

"Marketingland" structure MiniMBA https://minimba.com/

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀.

It’s not bad creative.
It’s not budget cuts.
It’s not poor media choices.
It’s not the CFO asking “what’s our ROI?”
It’s not AI.
It’s not missing the latest creator trend.
It’s not your competitor’s bigger budget.

It’s 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗧.

You know that feeling when you’re driving tired? You’re still driving. Still moving forward. But you start drifting between lanes without realizing it.

You catch yourself and jerk back. “I’m fine, I’m focused.” Then five minutes later, you’re drifting again.

Marketing Drift is the same thing.

You launch the year with renewed optimism and five “top priorities”.

But the strategic planning documents also have seventeen different, though neatly organized, objectives. In turn, marketing, sales, and product each interpret “growth” differently.

𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 (think Roger Martin’s where to play, how to win, what capabilities to build & measurement systems) 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗲:

How are we responding to that competitor?

What about this new type of customer?

Can we add another message?

We’re not just drifting between lanes. We’re debating which lane we should be in at every signpost. That’s what’s exhausting.

Meanwhile, media dashboards are puking data updates every minute. Click-through rates. Impressions. Cost-per-click. Engagement metrics. ROAS.

But your actual business outcomes (market share, brand penetration, customer lifetime value) take quarters to move.

Brand awareness didn’t grow. The metrics that actually connect to revenue are still stuck.

We start obsessing on metrics that are easy (CPM, CPCs) instead of what matters (market penetration, profit).

𝗪𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵. 𝗦𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁, regardless of whether it matters. (Thanks Tim Ambler)

And still we Drift.

Saying yes to “being agile.”
Depleting resources for “quick wins” that aren’t ours.

All drift happens the same way; small, logical decisions that compound into big, illogical outcomes. Nobody wakes up and decides to drift. It happens one “yes” at a time.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗲. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Clear strategic choices supported by evidence-based marketing principles lead to obvious measures of effectiveness.

This keeps us tethered and integrated, with properly measured campaigns, executed long enough to know if they work.

Are you executing a clear strategy, or debating what the strategy should be every time you make a decision?

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There isn’t a magic formula for “Proving ROI” but there are at least 9 ways to do it.

“Proving ROI” on marketing isn’t easy. Especially for offline sales. When we’re asked to prove ROI, what we’re really being asked to do is show 

1. how marketing affected the objective (# sales, revenue, # customers, market share, profit, price sensitivity etc) 
2. over and above what the business would have gotten any way AND 
3. as a direct (attributable) result of the investment in advertising.

This is very different from reviewing digital dashboards full of marketing KPIs and vanity metrics (CPMs, CPCs, Engagement Rate, CTRs, etc) that attempt to show the correlation between marketing metrics and business outcomes. 

In this circumstance, we’re showing correlation between two variables. But just because ice cream sales go up at the same time as shark attacks, it doesn’t mean ice cream sales CAUSE shark attacks. 

Here’s the typical formula for marketing ROI: 

ROI = (Revenue  - Marketing Cost) / Marketing Cost x 100 

There are a lot of problems with this, mainly because its based on a flawed set of assumptions including: 

- Marketing is fully responsible for all revenue and ignores at least 34 other factors that influence ROI 
- Revenue is the only metric worth measuring (not profit, market share, market penetration, willingness to pay, salience etc) 
- Ignores Future Customer Value (CLV) the total profit a customer is expected to bring over their entire relationship with the company
- It ignores the opportunity cost of having capital tied up in a long-running campaign or the effects of inflation

Inspired by Avinash Kaushik’s Digital Attribution Ladder of Awesomeness (links in comments), here are 9 ways, plus 1 bonus, to measure causality in marketing ROI.

WORST → BEST:

1. Gut Feel: Sales went up, we ran ads, therefore ads worked. Persuade everyone to believe me.

2. Time-Series Charts: Made Excel chart, saw patterns, declared causation when it’s really correlation at best.

3. Promo Codes & Phone Tracking: Unique codes per channel. Measures subset, misses multi-touch.

4. Customer Surveys:  "How did you hear about us?" Humans forget and often choose the most likely, not accurate, answer.

5. Digital-to-Physical Attribution: Platform tracking from ad impression to store visit.

6. Market Correlation Analysis: Compare locations with different ad intensity. Generates hypotheses.

7. Holdout Tests: Turn ads on/off or test vs control locations. Proves incrementality.

8. Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM): Econometric regression isolating each channel while controlling confounds. Need 2+ years of data. Only as good as the model. 

9. Incrementality Testing: Controlled holdout experiments with more rigour. Proves causation. Gold standard.


Bonus - Worth Experimenting 

Synthetic Control Methods: Create artificial control when matched markets unavailable. Useful for any sized business that can afford $20 / month for a ChatGPT subscription.


Am I missing any?

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taplio

The Battle

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Marc Binkley

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Marc Binkley's LinkedIn Performance

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