PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 5, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Marketing dashboards are becoming an increasingly popular tool for building marketing's alignment with company financial goals and for increasing marketing's accountability in enhancing the bottom line, according to the latest issue of MarketingNPV(r) Journal, a publication focused on helping companies improve their marketing performance skills and processes.
A well-designed marketing dashboard translates complex measures into a simple and coherent set of information that allows marketers to assess the current situation and act quickly. Like an automobile dashboard, it can give managers a hands-on feel for the impact of actions and progress without taking their eyes off the road.
"CEOs expect marketing leaders to cut costs and increase contributions to growth. At the same time, the rise of new channels, such as the Internet and wireless, and the increasing importance of word of mouth and sponsorships make marketing resource allocation decisions much more complex. Marketers need practical tools to measure the effectiveness of their expenditures and get more bang for the buck," observes Pat LaPointe, managing partner and editor in chief of MarketingNPV Journal.
"A good dashboard reflects what's going on in marketing, why, what's likely to happen next, and what return on investment (ROI) is expected," says LaPointe.
In this issue's cover story, MarketingNPV Journal takes a look at defining a marketing dashboard, explains why marketers should bother with creating a dashboard, and outlines a step-by-step process for building one, including how to select the right combination of measures and how metrics from different parts of the organization fit together. The article guides the reader through the process of identifying and mapping out the primary business drivers of their respective company and assembling the key components for an effective, forward-looking dashboard.
Also featured are case studies from Hilton, Unisys, and others who have gone down the marketing dashboard route successfully.
Other features include an article on why so many attempts at brand valuation fail, as well as a discussion with Don Lehmann, one of marketing's most pragmatic academic thinkers, who offers some perspective on how marketing (and marketers) benefit from more rigorous decision processes.
Additionally, the issue provides marketers with a few new tools and techniques to help measure and improve their marketing effectiveness.
Copies of the new issue can be viewed and downloaded from www.MarketingNPV.com.
MarketingNPV(r) (www.marketingnpv.com) provides the processes, techniques, and tools to measure and improve financial return from marketing investments. MarketingNPV builds marketing dashboards, provides consulting and training, maintains an online archive of articles and resources, and publishes a bimonthly journal, all to help marketers make smarter decisions, better assess the economic value of their initiatives, and make stronger cases to request or defend resources.