The Media Director says she believes online metrics will someday change how traditional media is run and measured, and feels education is still sorely needed within the industry.

Organic is a global, digital professional services firm with a client roster that includes such well-known brands as Sprint PCS, Washington Mutual, Jeep, Reebok, Tommy Hilfiger, and Coach. As Media Director, Heidi Browning says her job is to “turn cynics into believers and believers into evangelists in the interactive space through strategic planning, compelling creative, rigorous optimization, data-driven insights, and a commitment to quality.” We talked with Browning recently to get her views on the industry.

iMedia Connection: What’s one of the most successful “DR” campaigns your company has executed recently, and what made it successful?

Browning: We run direct-response campaigns for most of our clients and I consider each one a success because we work very hard to meet specific goals. For one of our clients, we optimized our campaigns to achieve a 600% reduction in CPA, while at the same time delivering high value customers. The joy of direct response is having the opportunity to input vast amounts of data and output optimizations that dramatically improve campaign performance. When making decisions we consider both view-through and click-through metrics, sales volume, sales value, life time customer valuations, conversion rates and cost-per-action. Our clients enjoy being empowered with the data and learning about the optimizations that lead to positive changes in ROI.

iMedia Connection: What’s one of the most successful “branding” campaigns your company has executed recently, and what made it successful?

Browning: One of our greatest branding success stories is the launch of PCS Vision, the first nationwide 3G network. We employed a two-phase approach to maximize the integration with offline media and build momentum throughout the launch. We synchronized our media, creative assets and timing with the offline. First, we introduced PCS Vision through home page takeovers, roadblocks, streaming video, and Superstitials. Next, we expanded our presence on category-leading sites with application-specific messaging to increase awareness and preference for PCS Vision. We measured our success using three data sources: post impression tracking, log file analysis and brand impact studies. We won a gold trophy for outstanding achievement and creativity in retail advertising at the Retail Advertising & Marketing Association Show and the Silver Adweek Technology Marketing ICON award. The greatest reward, however, was seeing our clients’ eyes light up as we delivered both quantitative and qualitative results on the effectiveness of online advertising.

iMedia Connection: It sounds like your company has evidence that suggests online advertising and marketing are contributing positively to branding metrics?

Browning: Absolutely. We ran more than nine brand impact studies for our clients last year, all of which showed positive increases in awareness and/or persuasion metrics. Our next step is to expand into cross-media analysis. I am very encouraged by the recent cross media studies from the OPA. These studies are so important, not just because online advertising is finally being considered part of the must-have media mix, but also to uncover the point of diminishing returns for all media. This information is critical for effectively allocating budgets across all media to deliver maximum ROI.

iMedia Connection: Are third-party Internet traffic-measuring services useful beyond being something you have to subscribe to to get R/F data?

Browning: They are at this time. We still need to build a solid rationale for decisions. When you have two sites with similar audiences, you need to understand reach, composition and consumption behavior of those audiences to make intelligent decisions.

iMedia Connection: Have you piloted any early Reach & Frequency planning on behalf of your clients?

Browning: We haven’t subscribed to any R&F tools yet. Most of our clients are savvy online marketers and understand both the language and metrics of the medium. I’m not a big proponent of standardizing online metrics to the old and imperfect reach and frequency models. I think it’s nice to have R&F tools as a resource or a conversation starter with a traditional marketer, but that’s where it should end. We cannot ignore the valuable metrics online offers, even if they aren’t part of a marketer’s existing vocabulary. As companies become more accountable, so will the media dollars. Traditional marketers will want more data in the future.

I personally believe that in the future, behavioral marketing and associated metrics will become the favored model across all media, especially with the proliferation of wireless and PVR technology. Right now consumers are using wireless phones to interact with television shows and are delivering immediate, measurable results. PVR technology enables consumers to watch TV on their own terms: what they want, when they want, and without commercials---all of which is being tracked. Because TiVo can measure views, replays, and response to direct offers, television will enter the realm of behavioral metrics. If you think about it, TiVo is the greatest thing that’s happened to our industry because it will force traditional marketers to think differently about how people consume and interact with advertising. Online will benefit in the short term because it provides an alternative channel for viewing 15- and 30-second spots. Recent improvements in streaming technology and transition ad units (or guaranteed impressions) will facilitate the process. In the long run, the PVR companies will find a solution for television advertisers that may include forcing consumers to opt in for the commercial content they want to view. We’ll see a mind shift among traditional advertisers in how they allocate, produce and measure television advertising.

iMedia Connection: Are most of your clients taking advantage of day-parting or is this perhaps more hype, than hope?

Browning: When considering a day in the life of a consumer, we must embrace peak Internet consumption periods in our planning process. Day-parting is a very effective tactic for promoting certain products and services or reaching specific audiences such as C-level executives or Business Decision Makers. It’s also a great optimization tool. We often optimize our media to time of day to achieve greatest efficiencies.

iMedia Connection: What remains the industry’s biggest stumbling block?

Browning: There are two main stumbling blocks: lack of standards and education. The lack of standards is frustrating, yet we’re all to blame: agencies, publishers, advertisers and the ad servers. We continue to lack standards in everything from the definition of an impression to ad unit sizes and names to our terms and conditions. We attempted to develop standard Ts&Cs, but they aren’t truly standard until everyone abides by them--without addendums. We standardized some ad unit sizes, but there are still hundreds of Websites with unique sizes or opportunities. The ad servers point fingers at each other when asked why they cannot agree on the definition of an impression. The third-party ad serving companies should collude on a definition. Whether we like it or not, at least it’s a standard.

In terms of education, the industry has made great strides in building case studies to educate people on the value of online. Now we need to focus on two specific segments: senior marketing executives and traditional agency teams (planners, account, creative and media).

First, we need to continue educating senior marketing executives about the medium. It needs to go beyond just putting it in terms they understand like reach and frequency. We need to educate them about the power of interactive metrics through seminars, research and case studies. We need to show them the Internet can provide both brand positioning opportunities and direct-response results.

Then we need to educate traditional agency teams. Traditional agencies hold the biggest budgets, and have the closest relationships with marketers. Until account teams really understand and embrace the Internet as an integral part of the media mix, they won’t be advocates.

iMedia Connection: What knowledge can you share to bridge the gap on how to better serve marketers’ needs in the online world?

Browning: Give online a chance, but be realistic about what it can accomplish. The Internet is an important touchpoint in consumers’ lives and our journey is to seek the optimum path to achieve desired response. Deliver actionable data-driven insights. It’s important to look at all metrics in order to understand customer interaction with brands, both online and offline. This includes cross-media brand impact studies, post-impression tracking, log file analysis, online to offline purchase behavior, and cross-media frequency and recency studies. As the world becomes smaller and competition becomes greater, marketing must become more scientific. Data is the key.

iMedia Connection: Have any of your clients successful utilized any emerging technologies, such as IM, wireless, iTV, etc.?

Browning: One of our clients is a leading wireless provider. They participated in a cross-media deal with Fox sports that enabled people to participate in on-air polls for NFL and major league baseball during The World Series. The synergy between the three screens (television, wireless and online) was very powerful and our client was pleased with the results.