marketing analytics

Advertising has never been richer in data. With the right tools, marketers can now track competitor spend, campaigns and performance across media and markets, often in near-real time.

Marketers are projected to have invested nearly $400 billion in US media in 2025, based on estimates from MAGNA and eMarketer. About half of that will go toward finding new customers. Yet, as marketing investment grows, clarity on what actually drives ROI and growth continues to shrink. The loss of third-party identifiers, rising privacy restrictions and closed ecosystems have made it harder to see what’s working.

There’s a paradox at play in how marketers are adopting artificial intelligence.

Eighty-seven percent of US advertisers say they plan to increase AI usage over the next 12 months. But only 45% feel confident in their understanding of how AI-powered technologies work. That 42-point gap is an indicator of early friction in AI adoption.

It has long been understood that brand is advertising’s most powerful driver of growth. Yet, in a marketplace worth more than one trillion dollars, less than 10% of digital campaigns track brand outcomes.

A rose by any name will smell as sweet, sure. But attribution by any name doesn’t work the same. Call it what you want, the problem of channel-based incremental testing is important. Measured raised $21 million last week, as it expands in the post-attribution attribution category, alongside other startups like Triple Whale, which raised $24 million a month ago, and Northbeam.

It’s a rough time to be in the clickstream data analytics biz. On Tuesday, Connexity-owned Hitwise announced that it would cease US operations. The closure is “due to events outside of our control,” Hitwise said on its homepage. “This is a very sad time for us at Hitwise after 20 years of operations providing first-to-market […]

Ascential, the company that owns the Cannes Lions festival and MediaLink, just bought a slice of the ad tech ecosystem with a 35% stake in marketing analytics company Jumpshot. The investment, worth $60.8 million, values Jumpshot at nearly $173 million. What does the parent company of ad land’s favorite international get together want with a […]

Intel has a product to sell, but it’s not a retailer. And that’s where campaign management gets tricky. The chip manufacturer has long partnered with retailers and ecommerce sites like Walmart, Best Buy, Target and Amazon to sell laptops and desktop computers with Intel processors inside. Intel, which doesn’t sell consumer-facing hardware on its own […]

As one of the largest ultra-low-cost carriers in the US, Spirit Airlines became synonymous with nickel and diming passengers for anything beyond a basic seat. But with a recent CEO change and a planned site relaunch this fall, Spirit is also trying to become more data-driven to improve customer retention and new passenger acquisition. “We’re […]

Database marketing and CRM agency Merkle has acquired performance marketing agency Pointmarc, a Seattle-based digital analytics consultancy. Terms were not disclosed. The deal is the latest in an acquisitions spree for Merkle, which acquired paid search and social agency RKG last July and earlier bought Chicago digital agency New Control, design firm 5th Finger and […]

More marketing platforms are getting into middleware – acting as a translation layer between a server and applications. One example is Acxiom, which tries to position itself as a neutral connector between online and offline data sources. Another one is Beckon, which recently raised $13 million in Series B funding led by Venrock to act […]

As SVP and chief digital officer for The E.W. Scripps Company, Adam Symson oversees the development of media and advertising products and services in more than 20 markets. His main focus is to enhance the company’s marketing and media product development through Web, mobile and connected TV platforms. Earlier, as a vice president of interactive […]