Media Mix, POE as a New Performance Indicator

↳ Can We Compare POE Mix Indicators With Each Other?

The study “Media Performance Global POE” by Havas Media, for the past 4 years, aims to analyze the “consumers' perception of their exposure to brands” and the origin of these contacts spread across the well-known Paid — Owned — Earned Media Mix.

Paid refers to paid advertising (digital or otherwise), Owned encompasses all brand-owned and managed channels (website, point of sale, magazine, newsletter, etc.), and Earned covers all “mentions” (negative or positive) the brand earns (press coverage, blog mentions, word of mouth, etc.).

Through this study, Havas Media (whose business model is directly linked to the amount of paid advertising space purchased by its clients) explains that overall, in 2014, 54% of brand-consumer interactions come from Paid media (compared to 60% in 2010).
No surprise here: buying paid ad space remains vital for brand visibility.

This study has the great merit of making advertisers aware of other elements of their visibility outside of advertising. It's surprising, yet foundational and revealing of current changes, to see a leading media agency not only interested in media audiences but also in brand audiences. However, this study risks suggesting to advertisers that marketing performance can be measured via the consolidated analysis of the number of contacts spread across the POE Mix… Without analyzing the content and quality.

Indeed, can we compare a few seconds' contact with a 4x3 street poster to a visit to the brand's store lasting several minutes? Yet, this is what the study's methodology might suggest by consolidating the POE Mix performances.

This is even more evident when focusing on digital: can we equally compare a few seconds' view of a banner to an in-depth read of an article on the brand's site? (Especially if the visit originated from a generic Google search not targeting the brand name).

↳ Should We Compare Exposure Times?

Marketers, fond of media pressure indices, might be tempted to value the exposure time to the brand to correct this effect. A minute spent reading an online article might equate to 2 thirty-second radio spots heard. Not convincing on a qualitative level either…

Indeed, focusing solely on digital, can we qualitatively compare reading an article written by the brand itself on its site with reading an influential user's review on their blog? Hardly comparable…

Should we, by the way, value the number of site visits by multiplying it by the average visit duration to obtain a global audience strength? Should we calculate a brand exposure rate on social media by multiplying the number of fans by the number of posts displayed by the brand to value these elements as ad space equivalences? We clearly see the limitations of this exercise…

↳ The End of Consolidation for Measuring Changes

Whether seeking more audience strength for your brand than contact quality, whether a recommendation matters more than a seen ad, depends on many parameters specific to each sector, brand, and strategic context.

Setting your own goals first (awareness and notoriety, education, relationship, engagement, sign-up, online sales…) allows you to establish your own performance indicators. Every performance indicator dashboard should be built according to the company's strategy and set objectives.

Given that the different elements of the digital POE Mix are not comparable, it's preferable to track their evolution independently. For instance, if Paid increases, it's likely due to an increased advertising budget or more effective and impactful spending. On the other hand, if the brand’s digital “positive” Earned media increases, it means the brand is likely improving its digital content production quality, exporting it effectively, and enhancing its overall digital influence.

As we can see here, the POE Mix cannot be a consolidated performance measurement tool, due to the quantitative and qualitative diversity of its components.

The digital POE Mix remains, first and foremost, an excellent tool for mapping out the various elements of its ecosystem and tracking their performance evolution (What platforms do I have at my disposal? What have I built? What topics interest my audiences? On which channels can I rely? How should I integrate all these elements?).

It's also an excellent way for marketing and communication professionals to make their executives aware that a brand's digital visibility includes blogs, forums, news sites, and social networks, and that “earned media” (especially digital) also deserves their full attention.