Measuring synergistic media channel performance in an online environment

Abstract

Current approaches to measuring the contribution of individual media channels to integrated marketing campaigns within an online environment are typically based on a ‘last-in wins’ methodology. Under this methodology, the final media channel that precipitated a response is considered the sole or chief contributor to that response. Although this approach has historically been used to avoid double- and triple-counting responses, it relegates the contribution of those media channels that are not attributed with the response but which assisted in the final, elicited response. The current study seeks to extend the findings of Naik and Raman and Schultz et al by proposing an alternative technique for attributing the true contributions of individual media strands to the synergistic effect observed within integrated marketing campaigns. This technique is applied in an online environment using a number of UK insurance company case studies. It reveals significant differences in the established, prevalent media measurement technique with that of the proposed technique. The results have implications for media planning and offer a more sophisticated model-based approach that quantitatively incorporates media synergy.