Forrester Cross Channel Attribution

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The Forrester Wave™: Cross-Channel Attribution Providers, Q2 2012by Tina moffett, April 30, 2012

FOR: Customer Intelligence Professionals

key TakeaWays

Companies are investing in attributionMarketers are seeking expert advice for the best ways to measure their channels with more precision. In general, they need help developing attribution models and making sense of all their data.

The Vendor Landscape is immatureVendors have fairly immature cross-channel attribution off erings. Most continue to emphasize digital attribution but are rapidly expanding to include additional channels while also developing future marketing scenario-planning capabilities.

Visual iQ and Clearsaleing Lead The packForrester evaluated fi ve out of the more than 60 vendors we screened. Visual IQ and ClearSaleing have strong, core-attribution methodologies and capabilities. Th ey are followed by GroupM, Adobe, and Convertro.

© 2012, Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited. Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. Forrester®, Technographics®, Forrester Wave, RoleView, TechRadar, and Total Economic Impact are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. To purchase reprints of this document, please email [email protected]. For additional information, go to www.forrester.com.

FOR CUsTOmER InTEllIgEnCE PROFEssIOnAls

Why Read This RepoRT

In Forrester’s 67-criteria evaluation of cross-channel attribution vendors, we found that Visual IQ led the pack because of its expertise in cross-channel attribution methodology, reporting, and customer analytics. ClearSaleing performed well with its strong attribution methodology, despite its limited experience in incorporating offline channels. GroupM’s LIVE platform provides a solid attribution offering, while Adobe and Convertro follow close behind with limited offline channel coverage and less mature attribution approaches.

Table Of Contents

attribution providers seek To Fill a Measurement Gap

Cross-Channel attribution evaluation overview

Cross-Channel Attribution Providers Have Broad Expertise

evaluated Vendors Represent a Cross-section of a Wide Landscape

Vendor profiles

leaders

strong Performers

Contenders

supplemental Material

notes & Resources

Forrester conducted executive interviews and product demonstrations in February 2012 and interviewed or surveyed 45 user companies.

Related Research Documents

The Forrester Wave™: Interactive Attribution Vendors, Q2 2012April 30, 2012

The Forrester Wave™: Interactive Attribution, Q4 2009October 20, 2009

The Forrester Wave™: Cross-Channel attribution providers, Q2 2012Visual IQ surfaces At The Top Of A Relatively Immature marketby Tina moffettwith Dave Frankland, Ari Osur, Caitlin souther, and michelle Dickson

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The Forrester Wave™: Cross-Channel Attribution Providers, Q2 2012 2

© 2012, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited April 30, 2012

aTTRibuTion pRoVideRs seek To FiLL a MeasuReMenT Gap

Marketers want a better measurement technique to understand how their channels are truly performing. Enter cross-channel attribution — a holistic approach for understanding marketing performance. Forrester defines cross-channel attribution as:

The practice of using business rules to allocate proportional credit to any marketing communications, across all channels, that ultimately lead to the desired customer action.1

Although cross-channel attribution is a nascent market, Forrester has identified four segments of providers that support it: full-service vendors, agencies, consultants, and marketing-mix modeling firms.2 Collectively, these firms seek to meet a growing demand for marketing measurement accuracy and to augment and supplement in-house analytics expertise. When we asked why firms selected their providers, one marketer said: “We wanted to understand how our customers interacted with us through different channels. And we wanted to optimize on all marketing investments.”

Cross-channel attribution is a complex measurement approach. Marketers turn to external firms to provide guidance on development, management, and analysis of cross-channel attribution results. Specifically, these vendors:

■ Help organizations make sense of their data. In the era of “big data,” organizations struggle to make sense of all the information they have. And most traditional analysts that exist within firms lack expertise in cross-channel data management and analysis. Attribution players help organizations weed through the relevant data, and they provide valuable measurement insights. As one marketer put it, “My attribution provider helps me understand disparate data sources and look at all variables in one view.”

■ Create a more precise, statistical approach to attribution. Most firms have an outdated approach to attribution — such as attributing a sale to the last interaction point — that provides false comfort that they are measuring the true impact of their marketing efforts. Even newer attempts to use weighted and rules-based credit approaches are quickly becoming outdated. Seasoned attribution vendors provide an algorithmic, model-based approach to attribution, using advanced statistical techniques to assign appropriate channel credit.3

■ Provide accurate customer and channel metrics. As firms attempt to understand the true value of customers or channels, they are frequently bogged down trying to understand the factors that influence these metrics, such as unaccounted-for marketing exposures and true channel influence. Attribution providers specialize in pinpointing channel impact through their measurement approaches. They seek to provide well-defined consumer metrics, incorporating true attributed cost and revenue of interactions. In other words, they can fundamentally refine customer intelligence’s (CI’s) approach to measurement.




■ Present well-defined marketing investment recommendations. Because marketers struggle with understanding the true performance of channels, they lack visibility into where to make the proper marketing investments. By employing an attribution approach, organizations can better understand how their offline and online channels are really affecting the bottom line. Once they understand what’s driving revenue, firms can provide recommendations on where brands should invest their dollars.

CRoss-ChanneL aTTRibuTion eVaLuaTion oVeRVieW

To assess the state of the cross-channel attribution market and see how the vendors stack up against each other, Forrester evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of top cross-channel attribution vendors. We looked across a range of business, marketing, and technology criteria. After examining past research, user need assessments, and vendor and expert interviews, we developed a comprehensive set of evaluation criteria. We evaluated vendors against 67 criteria, which we grouped into three high-level buckets:

■ Current offering. Forrester’s criteria to assess the strength of a cross-channel attribution vendor are weighted toward the enterprise customer. We evaluated each vendor against eight groups of criteria: attribution approach; data management; data privacy and security; implementation and use; reporting; analysis; service and support; and client relationship and pricing structure.

■ Strategy. We compared the strategies of each company with the needs of CI professionals, industry trends, and Forrester’s forward-looking vision of the attribution market to assess how each vendor is positioned to enable future success. We examined corporate strategy; product strategy; go-to-market strategy; management; and customer satisfaction.

■ Market presence. To determine current market presence in the cross-channel attribution market, we evaluated each vendor’s customers; client type and industry presence; marketing spend; financials; and employees.

Cross-Channel attribution providers have broad expertise

In considering which vendors to include in our evaluation, Forrester invited more than 60 companies that provide cross-channel attribution services to provide us with details about their services. Five of these — Adobe, ClearSaleing, Convertro, GroupM, and Visual IQ — are the industry leaders in this market. Notably, each of the vendors we evaluated has (see Figure 1):

■ Extensive knowledge of online and offline attribution capabilities. We looked at vendors that had core attribution methodology and experience in incorporating online and offline channels in their attribution models. We found plenty of vendors that offer only online capabilities, so we focused on firms that also have experience in incorporating a wide range of offline channels into their attribution solutions, including television; catalog; direct mail; point of sale (POS); and call center.




■ Cross-channel attribution clients. While many vendors claim to offer cross-channel capabilities, all the vendors included in this evaluation have active clients that include online and offline channels in their attribution model.

■ A full-service cross-channel attribution offering. We looked for vendors that provide a full-service attribution offering, including professional services and advisory; implementation services; an attribution interface; and insights generation and analytics.

Figure 1 Evaluated Vendors: Cross-Channel Attribution Information And Selection Criteria

Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

Vendor

Adobe

ClearSaleing

Convertro

GroupM

Visual IQ

Product evaluated

Adobe Insight

ClearSaleing Attribution Suite

Convertro Multi-Channel Attribution

GroupM LIVE

IQ Intelligence Suite

Product versionevaluated

5.5

5.2

1.4

5.0

3.0

Versionrelease date

Q1 2012

Q4 2011

Q1 2012

Q4 2011

Q3 2011

Vendor selection criteria

Extensive knowledge of online and offline attribution capabilities. We looked at vendors that had core attribution methodology and experience for online and offline channels. Specifically, we looked at attribution vendors that had experience in incorporating a wide range of offline channels into their attribution solutions, including television, catalogue, direct mail, and call center.

Broad list of cross-channel attribution clients. All the vendors included in this evaluation have some active clients that include online and offline channels in their attribution model.

Full-service cross-channel attribution provider. During our selection process, the vendor must provide a full-service attribution offering, including professional services and advisory, implementation services, attribution interface, and insights generation and analytics.




eVaLuaTed VendoRs RepResenT a CRoss-seCTion oF a Wide LandsCape

In 2009, and again this year, we evaluated the digital attribution market.4 This Forrester Wave™ on cross-channel attribution casts a wider net — incorporating all interaction points, both online and offline. Additionally, many of the players that we have screened and incorporated into our evaluation provide a wide range of expertise and services in addition to attribution. We specifically evaluated the cross-channel providers based on the value that they deliver to customer intelligence professionals — evaluating, and weighting, their data management and analytical prowess above their media buying applicability. Based on this landscape, we discovered (see Figure 2):

■ Visual IQ and ClearSaleing have solid offerings. These vendors have strong, core attribution methodology and capabilities. Visual IQ has solid management experience and expertise, coupled with an advanced attribution approach and complementary technology interface across all channels. ClearSaleing has a solid methodology and a promising go-forward strategy, especially as part of the GSI Commerce/eBay family.

■ GroupM offers a competitive option. GroupM’s attribution offering is composed of the LIVE technology platform and the consulting and analytics services delivered through its Business Sciences unit. GroupM’s LIVE platform attribution solution offers robust methodologies with solid data management and technology interfaces. The LIVE platform has a large presence in both online and offline channels that makes GroupM a solid performer in the cross-channel attribution space.

■ Adobe’s and Convertro’s attribution capabilities are more limited. Adobe is known for its digital tracking and insights through its multiple products. The company’s Insight platform provides attribution services, but with a natural emphasis on its online attribution offering. The vendor is developing an overall methodology and core offline integrations into its attribution platform. Convertro’s attribution approach is core to its business. Its attribution methodology and offline development are promising and ripe for acceleration in this market.

This evaluation of the cross-channel attribution market is intended to be a starting point only. We encourage readers to view detailed product evaluations and adapt the criteria weightings to fit their individual needs through the Forrester Wave Excel-based vendor comparison tool.




Figure 2 Forrester Wave™: Cross-Channel Attribution Vendors, Q2 ’12


Go online to download

the Forrester Wave tool

for more detailed product

evaluations, feature

comparisons, and

customizable rankings.

Risky Bets Contenders Leaders

Strong Performers

Strategy Weak Strong

Currentoffering

Weak

Strong

Market presence

Full vendor participation

AdobeClearSaleing

Convertro

GroupM

Visual IQ




Figure 2 Forrester Wave™: Cross-Channel Attribution Vendors, Q2 ’12 (Cont.)


CURRENT OFFERING Product(s) evaluated Attribution approach Data management Data privacy and security Implementation and use Reporting Analysis Service and support Client relationships and pricing structure

STRATEGY Corporate strategy Product strategy Go-to-market strategy Management Customer satisfaction: Net Promoter Score

MARKET PRESENCE Customers Client type and industry presence Marketing spend Financials

Ado

be

2.980.002.504.053.003.001.603.375.000.00

2.091.301.802.602.003.00

4.404.003.005.005.00

Cle

arSa

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2.660.002.472.901.003.003.602.442.200.00

4.274.303.004.205.005.00

2.373.002.501.001.80

Con

vert

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2.340.002.472.353.005.001.302.351.100.00

2.734.302.601.804.001.00

1.201.002.501.001.00

Gro

upM

2.770.003.353.002.003.002.401.533.200.00

2.391.301.403.804.003.00

2.912.002.505.003.40

Visu

al IQ

3.360.003.482.952.003.004.403.023.700.00

4.005.004.602.205.003.00

2.233.003.001.001.20

Forr

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50%0%

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5%5%

15%15%

5%0%

50%30%20%15%

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5%40%

All scores are based on a scale of 0 (weak) to 5 (strong).

VendoR pRoFiLes

Leaders

■ Visual IQ. Visual IQ has extensive experience in the cross-channel attribution services landscape. It provides a solid methodology, an easy-to-use interface, and comprehensive analytics and measurement insights. It has the most experience in incorporating all marketing channels into its attribution model, including call center, print, and POS data. Its “top-down and bottom-up” approach to incorporating offline and online data provides two different approaches for granular or aggregate-level data.5




In addition to its robust methodology, Visual IQ has a staff of experienced analytics and marketing experts who guide their clients through analysis and insights. Visual IQ’s attribution interface allows the user to view its standard corporate calculated metrics against newly attributed metrics. Its predictive scenario-planning tool allows organizations to determine where to allocate their marketing dollars and to which customer group.

To remain ahead of the pack, Visual IQ must avoid complacency. Its vision won’t extend its lead ahead of the pack forever, and we think the firm needs to gain more momentum, in particular around offline channels.

strong performers

■ ClearSaleing. As a standalone offering, ClearSaleing offers a strong algorithm, rules-based attribution methodologies, and some experience incorporating offline data sources. Specifically, ClearSaleing can input in-store traffic data, catalog, and print data into its attribution model. Further investments are being made in this area, and ClearSaleing’s expertise and longevity in this space makes it a viable strong performer.

In addition to its methodology, the company has strong reporting and analysis capabilities. It provides a large number of standard reports and the ability to integrate customer relationship management (CRM) data. While some of this data can be cumbersome, ClearSaleing has an advanced analytics team to help organizations mine through all the information.

With its recent acquisition by eBay and its absorption into the GSI Commerce Marketing Services division, ClearSaleing is a force to be reckoned with. The company plans to position ClearSaleing at the core of the GSI Marketing Services offering, which gives us confidence that it will pour more investment into bolstering the offering. In the short term, the company is focused on developing more scenario-planning tools and a deeper investment in a full offline and online attribution strategy. While the GSI relationship may prove to be a game changer, given the breadth of acquisitions that the company has made, we’re adopting a wait-and-see attitude about whether the company can deliver against the promise.

Contenders

■ GroupM. GroupM’s LIVE platform is the surprising dark horse in this attribution space. As a WPP-owned entity, GroupM is typically thought of as a media investment management operation. However, its LIVE platform tool provides cross-channel attribution at an aggregate level, using an advanced algorithmic approach. Additionally, the tool does incorporate a vast number of data points across different interaction points. Its experience in media management, coupled with an analytical attribution platform, puts this vendor in a unique position to offer an in-depth point of view on attribution.




We evaluated attribution providers with a customer-centric lens. As a result, we were disappointed that GroupM’s LIVE platform does not provide customer-level attribution. The LIVE platform is limited to delivering channel-level insights and cross-channel influence. Despite its strong aggregate-level attribution, firms that want a customer-centric offering will find severe limitations. Although GroupM acknowledges a growing demand in providing more customer-centric attribution and insights, such as purchase path analysis and lifetime value (LTV), we found an unclear path of how the company intends to address it. On the plus side, GroupM’s core agency experience brings a deep understanding of tactical marketing strategy and media buying. And, for buyers that have more media-centric attribution needs, the LIVE platform represents a very strong choice.

■ Adobe. The Adobe Insight tool provides basic cross-channel attribution insights for digital and some offline channels. It has a strong presence in the measurement space and provides easy-to-use tools and insights to marketers in a wide range of industries. While attribution is an important feature to its Insight product, is not core to Adobe’s business. Rather, the vendor views attribution as a method to address greater strategic questions.

Adobe needs to play an aggressive round of catch-up to remain competitive in the cross-channel attribution landscape. The vendor is falling short of providing a clear, cohesive cross-channel attribution development plan. The acquisition of Efficient Frontier will provide additional attribution expertise and help deliver client-defined custom attribution weighting and recommendations. However, it is unclear if the acquisition of Efficient Frontier will significantly bolster Adobe’s cross-channel efforts.

■ Convertro. Convertro provides multiple rules-based, weighted, and algorithmic approaches to cross-channel attribution. It incorporates a limited number of offline channels into its current attribution system. However, investment in senior analytics management shows that the company is serious about further developing a core cross-channel methodology, specifically when it comes to television and radio.

At this point, Convertro is playing catch-up to the leading attribution players. But it lacks significant partnerships with other third-party data providers, specifically in the offline space. The company is positioned well with its digital offering — with its unique ability to track via fingerprinting— but in the long term, it needs to focus on major upgrades and improvements in offline capabilities to remain competitive.

suppLeMenTaL MaTeRiaL

online Resource

The online version of Figure 2 is an Excel-based vendor comparison tool that provides detailed product evaluations and customizable rankings.




data sources used in This Forrester Wave

Forrester used a combination of three data sources to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each solution:

■ Vendor surveys. Forrester surveyed vendors on their capabilities as they relate to the evaluation criteria. Once we analyzed the completed vendor surveys, we conducted vendor calls where necessary to gather details of vendor qualifications.

■ Product demos. We asked vendors to conduct demonstrations of their products’ functionality. We used findings from these product demos to validate details of each vendor’s product capabilities.

■ Customer reference calls. To validate product and vendor qualifications, Forrester also conducted reference calls with three of each vendor’s current customers.

The Forrester Wave Methodology

We conduct primary research to develop a list of vendors that meet our criteria to be evaluated in this market. From that initial pool of vendors, we then narrow our final list. We choose these vendors based on: 1) product fit; 2) customer success; and 3) Forrester client demand. We eliminate vendors that have limited customer references and products that don’t fit the scope of our evaluation.

After examining past research, user need assessments, and vendor and expert interviews, we develop the initial evaluation criteria. To evaluate the vendors and their products against our set of criteria, we gather details of product qualifications through a combination of lab evaluations, questionnaires, demos, and/or discussions with client references. We send evaluations to the vendors for their review, and we adjust the evaluations to provide the most accurate view of vendor offerings and strategies.

We set default weightings to reflect our analysis of the needs of large user companies — and/or other scenarios as outlined in the Forrester Wave document — and then score the vendors based on a clearly defined scale. These default weightings are intended only as a starting point, and we encourage readers to adapt the weightings to fit their individual needs through the Excel-based tool. The final scores generate the graphical depiction of the market based on current offering, strategy, and market presence. Forrester intends to update vendor evaluations regularly as product capabilities and vendor strategies evolve.

endnoTes1 To learn more about the cross-channel attribution landscape, see the December 3, 2010, “Untangling The

Attribution Web” report.






2 Forrester identifies four segments of providers that support cross-channel attribution: full-service vendors, agencies, consultants, and marketing-mix modeling firms,. See the February 13, 2012, “Understanding The Cross-Channel Attribution Landscape” report.

3 Simplistic attribution most often assigns full credit to the first or last interaction. Rules-based and algorithmic attribution are commonly referred to as “advanced attribution” or “fractional” approaches and assign partial credit to each interaction. Examples of rules-based models include even-weighted (giving each contact the same weight) and position-based (assigning different weights for contacts in the first, middle, and last positions), among others. Algorithmic models use statistical methodologies — like regression or probabilistic models — to assign value to marketing interactions, campaigns, creative versions, channels, and other attributes.

4 Forrester has published a Forrester Wave evaluation that specifically reviews digital-only attribution. See the April 30, 2012, “The Forrester Wave™: Interactive Attribution Vendors, Q2 2012” report and see the October 20, 2009, “The Forrester Wave™: Interactive Attribution, Q4 2009” report.

5 Visual IQ’s top-down and bottom-up approach is its unique, proprietary approach to solving cross-channel attribution.





Forrester Research, Inc. (nasdaq: FORR) is an independent research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice to global leaders in business and technology. Forrester works with professionals in 19 key roles at major companies providing proprietary research, customer insight, consulting, events, and peer-to-peer executive programs. For more than 28 years, Forrester has been making IT, marketing, and technology industry leaders successful every day. For more information, visit www.forrester.com. 72021

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