Online's data flow can be a double-edged sword, highlighting both successes and missed opportunities.

Sean Finnegan is the Midwest Director of OMD Digital, part of OMD Worldwide. Based in Chicago, he and his team of digital experts provide a series of strategic online media services for such mega-brands as Dell, United Airlines, Quaker, McDonald's, State Farm, The Home Depot and Wrigley. Finnegan is involved in online advertising industry groups and associations, such as the IAB, Chicago Interactive Marketing Association (CIMA), Chicago Association of Direct marketing (CADM), MSN Advisory Council, Washington Post.com Advisory Council and the iMedia Summit Advisory Board. He also travels the country speaking to colleges and universities on the study and impact of online advertising.

iMediaConnection: What's your biggest frustration these days?

Finnegan: The daily battle to manage the onslaught of data. It's an industry issue and yes, OMD has multiple advanced metrics systems in place to track and package response figures, to then act upon immediately. But at times, the amount of actionable information can add up, so I get anxious as to how we handle the receipt and reaction to this never ending flow of numbers. And we do it extremely well, but not without constant focus and attention to resources and priorities. The depth and frequency of our medium's real-time feedback is a double-edged sword. It is priceless information, largely unique to a client's media vehicle set, but if let to sit, can quickly become stale and remind you of a missed opportunity in time to alter your plan. My goal, in the midst of information overload, is to continually elevate the department to pure strategy, to enable them to implement change on key data insights versus becoming a slave to their volume.

iMediaConnection: What's easier this year than last?

Finnegan: Selling clients on their involvement in new media. OMD's clients view digital media as an innovative and different animal, yet also as just another outlet to their customer base. They do not get tripped up in the newness or technicalities of an existing or emerging digital platform. They understand media fragmentation, displacement and integration, and quickly adapt to fresh opportunities in the online space. We present our clients these unique digital opportunities with the same awareness and sales goals similar to mainline media, and the question of "how?" quickly becomes "when?"

iMediaConnection: What's one of the most successful branding campaigns your company has executed recently, and what made it successful?

Finnegan: Our recent launch of Quaker's Rice-a-Roni One Skillet campaign on AllRecipes.com comes to mind, as it productively blurs the lines of editorial and advertising. Rice-a-Roni recipe content is effectively integrated throughout the AllRecipes.com site, along with ad units within each recipe and within each printed recipe.

iMediaConnection: Can your company point to evidence that suggest online advertising and marketing are contributing positively to branding metrics?

Finnegan: Yes, and also how online impact contributes to overall awareness across media. OMD research showed that for the launch of a new CPG product, online advertising significantly increased all measured brand metrics, both independently and incrementally to offline media.  These incremental lifts include unaided brand awareness (+9), aided brand awareness (+5), purchase intent (+9), brand attributes (+3). By continuing with this type of research, we hope to modify the overall media mix and not just the role of one medium.

iMediaConnection: What's one of the most successful direct response campaigns your company has executed recently, and what made it successful?

Finnegan: Allow me to be somewhat general, and say that we continue to see new and improved success with all of our search engine marketing (SEM) efforts. The approach may not be attractive, but it works, and its model ensures that your forecast is largely accurate when it comes to receiving actual returns. We are capitalizing on all facets of SEM, taking our clients deeper into this vehicle with local, contextual and wireless, too.

iMediaConnection: Have any of your clients successfully utilized any emerging technologies, such as IM, wireless, iTV, etc.?

Finnegan: We've seen several successes within the world of instant messaging -- especially with our younger audience (teen and young adult). This space has allowed our consumers to become a part of the conversation, and not just a pusher of a message. We are also scaling our efforts (commensurate with audience) with the various forms of iTV and gaming.

iMediaConnection: Are you working with search and local search for your clients? Why? And how's it going?

Finnegan: Definitely, as I mentioned in my answer dodge above on DR campaigns. Search and, increasingly, local search are becoming invaluable tools to our ROI initiatives.

iMediaConnection: What are you telling your clients about rich media?

Finnegan: We are using rich media now more for sales-based campaigns. Though immediate response rates have always been well above average to online SAUs, the cost of entry always presented too much of a risk and conversion rates were not always stellar. Traditionally used for announcement-based messaging, with a proper pricing model and refined use, we have made using this format more amenable to our response goals.

iMediaConnection: What can't the Internet do, as much as we wish it could?

Finnegan: In the manner that TV generates water cooler chat (e.g. 'Sopranos'), its not yet much of a buzz generator. The Internet is more of a silent tool used continuously, personally, productively and in various ways. However, I do hear, see and feel a buzz whenever the connection is down.

iMediaConnection: How is the agency-seller relationship these days? How could it be better?

Finnegan: Much improved and more like the traditional relationships. The exchanges between us and our partners are productive, trustworthy, helpful and beneficial to the client. This was not achievable in the heyday of kids, IPOs and egos. I am much more confident in our industry because of the experience and maturity levels on both sides of the table.

iMediaConnection: Are you having issues with terms and conditions?

Finnegan: With certain companies, unfortunately, yes. We remind ourselves and partners that contracts are usually drafted in happy times but that we must focus on the possibility of the future not being so rosy. Thus, certain sticking points that appear to suggest a lack of trust. For example, sequential liability is still a major issue to contend with, but in the end, we tend to work it out.

iMediaConnection: Are you working with your clients' non-interactive agencies? How are you perceived -- as a partner or still as an oddity?

Finnegan: OMD is an integrated media services company, and thus OMD Digital sits amongst and works in lock-step with the OMD non-interactive departments. We also work in the same positive fashion with Omnicom's non-interactive brand agencies, such as DDB, BBDO and TBWA / Chiat Day.

iMediaConnection: What's the one thing you wish clients would understand?

Finnegan: Probably the true labor intensity of managing a digital campaign. To quickly illustrate this point and avoid whining, when forecasting resources, we generally use a traditional to online billings measure that shows it takes the same amount of manhours to service $10 in offline media to $1 in online. It also helps to communicate that a typical digital media group handles six different functions in planning, buying, billing, research, traffic and reporting/optimization.

iMediaConnection: What's the one thing you wish publishers would understand?

Finnegan: Well, for my position, I would like my media partner friends to understand that during an average workday, I typically receive close to 50 phone calls and one business-related email per minute (not to mention my cascading windows of IM messages, cell phone calls and text messages). I also travel a decent amount, so it's tough for me to return all messages and still do my job. I have to prioritize my day so that I am always delivering value to OMD's clients. Oh, and see my family.

iMediaConnection: What remains the industry's biggest stumbling block?

Finnegan: Competitive reporting. Its current state is a joke and a huge hindrance to justifying fair budget allocations. I understand that it's just one measure, but currently, it is only useful as a competitive creative tracker and almost a good source for site titles used. I have to do a deeper dive on the various methodology models, but from my vantage point, the spending levels reported are outrageously high. This excess may be a result of the services placing average industry CPMs against affiliate and house ads. It needs to be fixed ASAP.

iMediaConnection: What are you reading these days?

Finnegan: When I have time to read (we have four children), I read the WSJ cover to cover on the train in the a.m. and the Chicago Sun Times on the way out. Book-wise, I am on somewhat of a divinity kick lately as I have just finished 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'Gods and Generals' and am now on the final book in the 'Left Behind' series --'Glorious Appearing.' I tend to glean management insight and sometimes marketing strategy from history, political and eternally-minded books.

iMediaConnection: And finally, tell us something we don't know yet, but that we will this year.

Finnegan: That our fifth (and final) child will be born in July!