Several trends we are following this year touch on data. Meaning in Numbers. Big Thick Data. Accountable Expectation. Subjective Science. These all dive deep into things like finding more meaning in data, using data to take smarter risks and no longer trusting the data you’re analyzing.

That last fact points to a new trend we’re seeing that started to emerge in late 2016 and is now evolving in 2017 – Is your ad data authentic? Is fraudulent activity causing false metrics?

To help bring proof to this potential emerging trend, we found several insights that speak directly to the authenticity of data and brands rethinking their digital footprint:

  • A recent study from the Association of National Advertisers estimated that marketers were projected to waste around $7BN globally in 2016 through buying ads that no-one sees.
  • An interview with Claudia Perlich, Chief Scientist at Dstillery, shed light on her insights around what types of fraudulent activity exists – which she quickly admits is a very difficult problem to solve.
  • GroupM’s VP of Brand Safety, John Montgomery, recently took on a new role dedicated to implementing global standards that address brands’ long list of digital ad concerns, such as viewability, ad blocking and fraud.

These insights we uncovered point to a changing expectation from brands – What systems are in place to ensure the metrics and analytics reported are authentic?

Why This Matters –

Our inVentiv Health Communications Director of Marketing Analytics, Joe DeSalvo, has worked tirelessly to build capabilities to help meet this expectation. Joe and his team focus on measurement to understand audiences – what stimuli move them, what themes resonate and how they share their experiences – which can be viewed with focus using data.

On the importance of data quality management:

There is nothing more undercutting to your analyst then to be working with data that you don’t trust. This is why you’ll often see even the most seasoned data professionals seeking raw data. As an analyst, your credibility is reliant on the accuracy of the metrics – as you ladder to insights and action you are reliant on a solid foundation of sourced data. Regardless of how illuminating your insight might be, if the recipient of the reporting has reason to question the validity of the data then all of the value is discarded. – Joe DeSalvo, Director of Marketing Analytics – inVentiv Health

To learn more about how to help meet your customer’s metric expectations and our marketing analytics capabilities, please send an email to [email protected] and someone on our team will be in touch soon!

About the Author:

As Strategist of Innovation, Drew is charged daily with championing innovative thinking and doing. Drew is part of a global team that leads new innovative ideas that attract different advocates among existing and potential brands that are shared across all agency partners. Drew is backed by over 16 years of brand, sales and marketing experience with Fortune 500 companies such as Progressive and Nationwide Insurance as well as Founder & President of his own healthcare insurance agency for 6 years. Most recently Drew was part of the agency team that launched Briviact for UCB, Foundation Medicine as well as key roles with Eli Lilly Oncology and Johnson & Johnson.