Proving that the hot topic of attribution isn't going anywhere, AOL has signalled its intent in the space by creating a new role zoning in on the much-talked about, and somewhat challenging, industry topic.
Sydney-based Nikki Retallick will take the reins as head of data and attribution APAC focusing on those areas which AOL deems are the two fundamental building blocks in its unified programmatic solution for publishers, advertisers and agencies alike.
Managing director ANZ, Mitch Waters, says Retallick's new duties reflect the importance the company places on the use of data to inform better audience-centric marketing strategies and to measure outcomes through AOL Platforms’ Attribution capabilities.
“Data and attribution are being recognised as vital elements of a leading technology stack and we are experts in this field,” Waters says.
“Nikki will help promote our products, educate the market and seek out ways of building on our success.”
He added that key to this will be expanding the regional presence of Convertro – the multi-touch attribution engine that AOL bought for US$101 million back in 2014.
We caught up with attribution guru Retallick to go deeper on the topic of attribution:
Q: How would you summarise the wider industry's view and understanding of attribution?
NR: It varies enormously. Where people have worked client or agency side on an account that is direct response or performance led, there's a good chance they'll have had exposure to attribution, even if it's of the more basic (rules based) type. In the ad tech space there has definitely been a flurry of activity in this area over the past couple of years and it's a real industry buzzword right now. The thing is, digital marketing and ad tech can already be complex and MTA (multi-touch attribution) is at the most pointy end of that, so whilst the tech itself aims to remove some of this complexity, there definitely needs to be more education on the subject and the process involved and this is a huge part of what we do at Convertro.
Q:What's the hottest aspect/topic within attribution?
NR: I would say there are two hot topics right now: one is the idea of marrying MTA with programmatic technology, whereby you have a direct plug-in from an attribution tool to the bidding tech. This link means the speed to activation is the fastest it's ever been and so driving return on marketing investment and optimising in the most intelligent way is being driven more and more by machine learning. The second trend is the unification of MTA and media mix modelling (MMM). In an ideal world we'd just use MTA because it provides very granular, user level insight around consumer choice. However, not all marketing touch points are digital and other aspects influence consumer purchase behaviour, such as in-store promotions, socio-economic trends and the weather. Introducing elements of MMM into a MTA model helps us to also factor in these influences for a more comprehensive view of what drives people to buy.
Q: There's a lot of talk about moving beyond last click, but the talk seems to be outpacing the action - why?
NR: It's complicated and it can be costly and time-consuming to move beyond what we know, even when we're fully aware the current model is flawed. All too often it just falls into the too hard basket but I'm confident that as more brands gain confidence in this area then the inevitable move away from last touch will be widespread.
Q: What are the top three 'must knows' on attribution for a marketer?
NR: 1) There are different methods and models but algorithmic rather than rules-based is the only way to go. Otherwise, you'll just be replacing one flawed theory with another. As to which model, I'd say logistic regression is by far the strongest but obviously I'm biased.
2) Don't think this is a quick fix scenario - be in it for the long-term, and have the commitment to see it through
3) In addition to ensuring you have the flexibility to move budget fluidly between channels and teams, understand that the insights attribution give you may require an organisation re-structure longer term.
Q: What's your main goal in your new role?
NR: A successful roll-out of Convertro in Australia, and an increased knowledge and appreciation of attribution, industry-wide. On the data side, to move beyond amazing conversations with huge potential into real action and innovation.
Q: What should the market's main goal be regarding attribution?
NR: User recognition cross device at a high level of accuracy and bridging online and offline data. This is an absolutely critical step within attribution - you can't do one properly without the other.
Q: Where is the industry on this?
NR: There is again huge disparity, the companies with more user log-in data have better scale and the companies that have both online and offline customer data they are able to connect are streets ahead. These are both in the minority on both counts.
Q: Where is AOL on this?
NR: Under Verizon and with the global Microsoft partnership and acquisitions like Millennial, we're in a strong position.
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Did you catch this? AOL's programmatic assets and Huff Post sold in $4.4bn deal with Verizon
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