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FROM TRIAL AND ERROR TO ROI
The Evolution Of Communications
Measurement
Media and metrics go hand in hand. As means of communications evolve­—from newspapers
to wearable tech—communicators continue to develop new ways to understand the value of
each channel and predict impact on stakeholder opinions, attitudes and behavior.
1700s
Measuring Sales
MEDIA: Magazines
and newspapers
BRANDS: Commodities
POPULATION: 0.3 to 5.3 million
METRICS: Colonial marketers measure how
much product was sold after advertising.
INVENTIONS: Steam engine,
cotton gin, bifocal glasses,
lithography
1732
First picture published
in a magazine
(Poor Richard’s Almanac)
1704
First newspaper ad
(The Boston News-Letter)
1734
Freedom of the Press
established
1800s Measuring Sales and Media
INVENTIONS: Rotary press,
telephone, photography,
sewing machine, antiseptics
moving pictures, Coca-Cola
1893
First totally ad-supported
magazine (Munsey’s Magazine)
MEDIA: Billboards, flyers,
magazines and newspapers
1876
Telephone invented
METRICS: Circulation, distribution,
sales and subscriptions
1900s
BRANDS: Product differentiation
POPULATION: 5.3 to 76 million
Measuring Path to Purchase
1914
Audit Bureau of
Circulation formed
MEDIA: Billboards, direct
mail, internet, magazines,
newspapers, radio, telephones and TV
METRICS: Circulation, click-through, distribution, leads, message
penetration, path to purchase, preference, purchase intent, recall,
traffic, traffic sources, sales, subscriptions, views, visits, etc.
1931
Telephone research doubles
the revenue of radio networks
1920
First radio station
1961
Gary Steiner and Robert
Lavidge introduce first
path to purchase model
BRANDS: Image differentiation
POPULATION: 76 to 281.4 million
1971
First email
1941
First TV spot broadcast (Bulova Watch)
1950
Nielsen Television
Index (NTI) established
1949
American Research Bureau (ARB)
releases first local market report.
1941
Nielsen launches Nielsen
Radio Index (NRI)
1956
Foundation for Public
Relations Research
and Education founded
1974
Nielsen provides
daily TV ratings
INVENTIONS: Airplane,
Model T, Theory of Relativity,
credit cards, bar codes,
frozen food, The Pill, Viagra,
WWW (World Wide Web),
personal computers,
robots, cell phones
1936
Advertising Research
Foundation (ARF) formed
1984
First eCommerce
transaction
1982
Internet available
to the public
1973
Motorola introduces first wireless
phone, Arbitron develops metering
technology to track radio
1999
Internet advertising
breaks $2 billion
1987
Katie Delahaye Paine
announces first publicity
measurement system
1998
Google founded
1997
Netflix founded
1996
Hotmail launches
first web-based
email system
1996
Interactive Advertising Bureau formed,
International Association of Media Evaluation
of Communications (AMEC) founded
2000s Measuring ROI
METRICS: Advocates, circulation, click-through, conversions, comments, cross-channel
attribution, distribution, downloads, fans, followers, influencers, leads, likes, links, message penetration, path to purchase, preference, purchase intent, recall, sales, sentiment,
shares, subscriptions, tone, traffic, traffic sources, tweets, views, visits, etc.
MEDIA: Billboards, blogs, direct mail,
eBooks, internet, instant messaging,
magazines, newspapers, podcasts,
radio, telephones, TV, video sharing,
visual, verbal and written communications on multiple devices at any
location
2001
Wikipedia
founded
2003
LinkedIn launched,
iTunes launched
2013
181.4 million U.S.
mobile phone users
2004
Facebook launched,
Skype introduced
2012
Pandora and Spotify
disrupt radio industry
INVENTIONS: iPod,
hybrid car, Aibo
Adidas 1, YouTube,
retinal implants
2005
YouTube founded
2007
Apple introduces the
game-changing iPhone
2008
Nielsen reports on three
formats—TV, Internet and Mobile
2006
First Tweet
BRANDS: Social meaning
POPULATION: 281.4 to 310 million
The Future Big Data-Fueled Analytics
MEDIA: Wearable tech, customized media experiences,
one-to-one communications,
consumer co-creation
“
METRICS: Behavior change, brand experience, channel efficiency/
effectiveness, communications impact and efficacy, personalization,
reputation, resource allocation/ROI, social impact, speed-to-market,
stakeholder engagement, stakeholder outcomes
Widespread adoption
of wearable tech
First personalized
TV ads delivered
Analytics will change communications forever by allowing us
to move toward predictive modeling. The future is now.
— Chris Foster, VP, Booz Allen Hamilton
”
Accurate prediction of
stakeholder behavior
Proof of impact and
effective resource
allocation
Holistic visibility
into stakeholder
engagement across
touch points
Predictive analytics revolutionize communications
Communications Analytics Group
Sources
“The Audience Measurement Business,” from Ratings Analysis: The Theory and Practice of Audience Research. James
Webster, Patricia F. Phalen, Lawrence W. Lichty • Intersect Media Solutions, An American Media Timeline • Advertising
We leverage technology, big data, and data science to measure,
Age, Ad Age Advertising Century: Timeline • Association for Audience Marketing Professionals, Magazine Publishing
evaluate, and analyze communications. We want to share our
Innovation • Nielsen, Nielsen Acquires Arbitron • PitneyBowes, Direct Marketing Analytics • Mashable, Cell-ebration! 40
passion for measuring communications ROI with you.
Confirms 2014 Direct Mail Promotions • Six Revisions, The History of the Internet in a Nutshell • Newspaper Association
email Foster_Chris@bah.com
About.com Inventors, Bar Codes • UNCP, Anthony Curtis, The Brief History of Social Media • Project Muse, A Model For
or call 703-377-0870.
The Independent Institute, Retail Innovations in American Economic History • Tom Watson, The Evolution of Evaluation,
History • Funding Universe, The Arbitron Company History • The Washington Informer, Nielsen: Celebrating 90 Years of
Years of Cellphone History • MediaBistro, A Short History Of Major Internet Milestones • Direct Marketing News, USPS
of American, NAA/ABC Circulation Subcommittee’s Guide to U.S. Newspaper Digital Editions • Wikipedia, Apple I •
Predictive Measurements of Advertising Effectiveness • US Census Bureau, Computer & Internet Trends in America •
Bournemouth University, UK
www.boozallen.com