ROMI Model
The Foundation: The ROMI Equation
The return-on-marketing-investment (ROMI) equation is the foundation upon which the entire CBA Measurement System is built. Why ROMI? Because as former marketers, we understand that at the end of the day advertising ultimately has one goal: to generate a response among a specific audience. This response may be general, like improved impression of the company or consideration to do business, or it can be very specific, like an increased likelihood to open a new account with the company. But whatever the response may be, the effectiveness of the advertising can only be measured in so far as the effect it has on the company's bottom line can be measured, or in other words, its ROMI can be measured.
Therefore, when creating our unique approach, we started with the ROMI equation as the building block for conducting a comprehensive analysis of advertising effectiveness.
In addition, our belief at CBA is that all the pieces in this ROMI equation need to be taken into account in gauging the impact of advertising to determine both the short-term impact of the advertising on sales as well as the long-term effects of the advertising on building a brand.
Today, there is only one single-source solution which covers all four dimensions of the ROMI equation: CBA's AdPi Audit, which serves as the basis for the consequent CBA measurement products: AdPi Express, AdPi Evaluator and AdPi Lab.
How CBA Measures Up to the Competition
Other solutions provided by research and modeling companies today answer small "pieces" of the equation:
1. Copy testing firms provide an evaluation of pre-launch ads tested in a simulated environment, using metrics which are not linked to post-launch, in-market performance and provide comparisons to "historical" norms rather than recent, category-specific norms.
2. Some companies deliver recall, only one variable in the equation; moreover it is "claimed" recall (based on the description of an ad), not "proven" ad recall and recognition, which is delivered by a forced ad exposure.
3. Brand and ad tracking studies provide ongoing prospect perceptions, one variable in the equation; "analysis" aligns media spending GRP trends with brand leading indicator trends, inferring cause and effect - often a spurious assumption.
4. Media mix modeling firms bring together media spending and sales, two of the required variables, to identify which media channels (TV spending, print spending, etc.) and which combination of channels contribute to sales. However, they cannot identify the impact of the creative executions and messaging; they cannot tease apart the effect of one campaign versus another, if running concurrently; and they cannot measure the long-term effect of advertising on the brand. Moreover, significant time and effort is required to perfect these models, and in most cases it takes at least 12 months to get them to a refined stage.
Still Not Convinced? A Side by Side Comparison
Clients have conducted in-depth comparisons of the CBA offering as they relate to a variety of advertising and brand evaluation tools and techniques. They've told us that the CBA ROMI Measurement System package (particularly our AdPi Audit in combination with our AdPi Express product) cannot be matched in terms of the information delivered for the price.
| Included Package | Ad Testing | Media Reporting | Media Mix Modeling | Tracking Surveys | CBA ROMI Measurement System |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand Leading Indicators | NO | NO | NO | YES | YES |
| Evaluation of In-Market TV, Print, Radio Ads and Campaigns | NO | NO | NO | NO | YES |
| Advertising Response | NO | NO | MEDIA ONLY | NO | YES |
| Advertising Lift to Brand | NO | NO | NO | NO | YES |
| Volumetrics: survey data projections, ad-driven leads, new business | NO | NO | NO | NO | YES |
| Life-to-date Media Spending/Ad Each Month | NO | YES | NO | NO | YES |
| Large Monthly (2,000+), quarterly (6,000+) sample sizes | NO | NO | NO | NO | YES |
| Entire category competitive set | NO | NO | MEDIA ONLY | NO | YES |
| Predictive Advertising/ROMI Models | NO | NO | NO | NO | YES |
| Pre-Launch Ad Testing | YES | NO | NO | NO | YES |
Our clients tell us this package provides actionable information on a "just in time basis" and supports decisions on ways to optimize the advertising budget every month and every quarter. The marketing, research and agency teams now have the information senior management has been seeking regarding what the advertising is doing to build the brand and the business.
Please contact us to discuss our research offerings in more detail