Lenovo, the #1 global PC manufacturer, was striving to gain a complete and accurate view of its marketing efficacy. Adopting a data-driven attribution approach with Adometry, the company ensured attributed results reflected actual sales data and discovered other valuable insights.
Goals
View marketing programs holistically
Optimize spend across channels, not just within channels
Confidently allocate additional marketing budget to drive incremental sales
Approach
Adopted a data-driven attribution approach with Adometry
Integrated data from existing systems of record, Adobe, and DoubleClick
Reanalyzed results to ensure fully-attributed results mirrored actual sales data
Results
Gained a complete and accurate view of its cross-channel marketing efficacy
Adopting data-driven attribution to uncover sales
The #1 global PC manufacturer adopted a new attribution approach and uncovered new opportunities within the ultra-competitive consumer electronics market.
Uncharted territory
Marketers face challenges in applying modern, cross-channel measurement techniques within the construct of outdated management approaches in which each channel is measured and optimized in a silo. Rules-based measurement techniques built around clicks make it commonplace for multiple channel owners to claim credit for the same conversions or sales.
Everyone knows this approach is flawed—and inconsistent with a holistic, cross-channel marketing strategy. But how do marketing leaders push wholesale change when alternative measurement methodologies seem too difficult or unfamiliar?
It often boils down to vision and a willingness to throw out old assumptions and let the data convey a new story.
Everyone wants credit
Lewis Broadnax, executive director of web sales and marketing for Lenovo, explains that as recently as 2012, Lenovo struggled to gain a complete and accurate view of marketing efficacy due to a rules-based model in which channels claimed duplicate credit. Since each channel was using its own reporting system, each channel incorporated all conversion activity but only the individual channel's marketing metrics. This segmentation inflated Lenovo's last-click-attributed results to 371% of actual sales.
These inflated results signaled the need for a radically new view of Lenovo's marketing. The organization needed to know what exactly was driving sales. Since Lenovo sells personal devices such as tablets and mobile phones in addition to PCs, it needed to figure out where to reach existing consumers. Lenovo knew it was time for a radically new view of its marketing so that it could start to understand what exactly was driving its sales. This led the company to explore data-driven attribution with Adometry to:
- View marketing programs holistically
- Optimize spend across channels, not just within channels
- Confidently allocate additional marketing budget in order to drive incremental sales
We're about six months into this program and we are seeing great results … My new budget just came down and fortunately, I was able to use some of the data we've been collecting to make different decisions than I would have last year.
A new and true view of performance
Lenovo discovered a new marketing picture after working with Adometry for just six months. After integrating data from existing systems of record, Adobe and DoubleClick, it reanalyzed results using cross-channel fractional credit to ensure fully-attributed results mirror actual sales data. Additionally, the company learned:
- The percentage of revenue resulting from multi-touch conversion paths (73%) as well as the extent to engagement spanned multiple channels (63%), meaning consumers are being reached by multiple programs and a variety of channels within Lenovo's mix.
- Not surprisingly for a popular brand such as Lenovo, direct navigation and organic search are in the top three for overall revenue (display is second); however, a significant portion of conversions are attributed to multiple channels. An integrated mix is a key aspect of Lenovo's strategy.
- By reporting on revenue performance and efficiency by channel, Lenovo identified that comparison shopping engines (CSEs)—which the company had considered eliminating because of a perceived low overall contribution to sales—actually provided the best performance. CSEs have about 42% better ROAS than the next-best channel. Not only is Lenovo continuing to use CSEs in new marketing plans, it is looking for ways to leverage the channel for even better results.
- When looking at channels by funnel stage (introducers, promoters, and closers), the channels that act as closers offered no surprises. However, Lenovo didn't realize how much branded display, paid social, paid search, and organic social are responsible for taking prospects to the next step as introducers and promoters in the conversion path. Armed with a new view of performance in these channels, Lenovo will optimize investments and drive greater sales.
- Traditionally, branded display programs were not considered in the overall ecommerce marketing mix. By including this investment in the attribution model, 1–5% of ecommerce revenue can be directly attributed to branded display programs. Armed with insights on the contribution of these programs, Lenovo is now working to leverage the lift that branded results are providing as part of an overall ecommerce marketing strategy both online and offline.
Increasing efficiencies
Understanding real results across channels as well as the interactions between branding and ecommerce efforts is allowing Lenovo to run marketing more efficiently. The company will also expand its view by incorporating in-store purchase data for an even more accurate picture of marketing performance.
Next steps
To learn more about Adometry's Marketing Performance Management Suite, please drop us a line at info@adometry.com.
