Magic Num8ers for Consumer Marketing
— Key Measures to Evaluate Marketing Success
By John Davis. Published by John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd, Singapore, 2005. 309 pages. RRP $46.95. ISBN 0 470 82162 0.
Although you might groan at the title and the subject matter, almost any marketer who reads this book will find it is exactly what they have been searching for or what is missing from their marketing reference library.
From the start, author John Davis is quick to point out the struggles that we face at the cold front of our profession: “… marketing is a hybrid: art and science; qualitative and quantitative. There are no perfect formulas or idea practices that are uniform across or even within industries”.
However, I strongly believe this book fills a gap in marketing reference materials. It is a shorthand guide to the economic and financial application of marketing and an excellent reference guide to consumer marketing metrics. It shows how to further develop a marketer’s business acumen, how to evaluate return on investment for marketing strategies, and ultimately it speaks the language of general management to fast-track approvals for marketing proposals.
Also an excellent tool for training and guiding marketing staff, the simple and concise format is more in the style of a ‘Marketing Numbers for Dummies’. Read this book and you will have the answers to questions you were too afraid to ask.
The book is clearly organised and succinctly covers how to measure (the definition and formulas), report (how to find the data), compare and evaluate (what it means and potential challenges) on the four main marketing areas for evaluation: market; company; customer; and marketing.
In reviewing the book with a senior finance manager, I found all the approaches and formulas presented to be in line with Australian and general company practices. The only really contentious area covered is how to measure brand equity. However, as with all sections in the book, a fair opinion and more than one formula are discussed in detail.
‘Magic Num8ers for Consumer Marketing’ is recommended as essential for every marketing manager’s shelf!
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