Microsoft to Create a Software Suite for Advertising Akin to Office Suite – Will it Propel Integrated Marketing Efforts
(Rate this article)
Loading ...
Microsoft is planning a collaboration with Mediaworks to build a software system that marketers can use to track everything from search advertising and e-mail newsletters to CRM systems to TV buys in one place. They plan to call the software Media Operations Management System.
Are You Using MOMS?
I am unsure if MS would want an acronym like that doing rounds (anyway it’s not official), nevertheless, the question is who will benefit from this tool?
The answer quite possible lies in what Quentin George, chief digital officer at Mediabrands said in the announcement, “We haven’t had the Office Suite, a productivity suite, for marketing” that fits marketing-management systems into a larger intelligent platform. He went on: “Donovan [Data Systems] does billing and reconciliation, another group does planning tools, another group does asset management. And we spend a lot of time and effort stitching those together. … This is the first time we’ve had a platform player like Microsoft actively going out and saying ‘We think this is a software challenge and all sorts of these elements can be deployed in a far more synchronized way.’”
Essentially it is a large enterprise solution for brands that have co-ordinated multi media marketing plans being executed almost simultaneously. A single window to all marketing efforts and thier performance is certainly a novel thought. However there is still quite a long way to go before this product becomes a reality. Moreover, I personally have doubts on the effectiveness that this tool can bring at least initially.
Why the Doubt?
Google had announced a similar plan back in 2007 itself when it announced a brand dashboard that would combine TV and online advertising performance together. The apparent benefit of model was mentioned as this:
Cross-correlating data across different mediums could make Google AdWords even more powerful. Google knows the users’ intentions (from search queries), what web pages they visit (from Web History or AdSense/Doubleclick’s cookies) and now has information about TV preferences. While Google can’t connect all this data to a Google Account, it could still use it to create profiles and cluster them, irrespective of the medium.
The problem was in the range of data. Google had basically tied up with Nielsen who were tracking 3,000 odd households in the US through Set Top boxes. The data although a good sample for research is not in my mind the perfect co-relation to measure advertising performance.
Microsoft and Mediaworks can face a similar hurdle especially with integrating offline performance if it is following a similar if not the same path.
On the other hand, a common dashboard would highlight all media together and help put numbers into perspective for marketers. This can also help drive integrated marketing efforts to my mind. The system of work wouldn’t be very different from how Google envisaged above, whereby instead of just giving TVC snapshots as banners and Print copies as PPC ad copies, each medium will be used according to their own strength while driving value for each other.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS Feed OR Email Alerts!
Sounds exciting