PROFITING FROM MARKETING ANALYTICS: YOUR COMPLETE EXECUTIVE ROADMAP   “Solid ideas and experiences, well-told, for executives who need higher returns from their analytic investments. Captures many best practices that are consistent with our own experiences at Bain & Company, helping clients develop actionable strategies that deliver sustainable results.” –Bob Bechek, Worldwide Managing Director, Bain & Company   “Cesar has explored a complex subject in a clear and useful way as senior marketers look to more effectively leverage the power of data and analytics.” –Bill Brand, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer, HSN, Inc.   “Loaded with meaty lessons from seasoned practitioners, this book defines the guideposts of the Marketing Analytics Age and what it will take for marketing leaders to be successful in it. Cesar Brea has provided a practical playbook for marketers who are ready to make this transition.” –Meredith Callanan, Vice President, Corporate Marketing and Communications, T. Rowe Price   “While the field has a lot of books on the statistics of marketing analytics, we also need insights on the organization issues and culture needed to implement successfully. Cesar Brea’s Marketing and Sales Analytics has addressed this gap in an interesting and helpful way.” –Scott A. Neslin, Albert Wesley Frey Professor of Marketing, Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College   To successfully apply marketing analytics, executives must orchestrate elements that transcend multiple perspectives and organizational silos. In Marketing and Sales Analytics, leading analytics consultant Cesar Brea shows you exactly how to do this.   Brea examines the experiences of 15 leaders who’ve built high-value analytics capabilities in multiple industries. Then, building on what they’ve learned, he presents a complete blueprint for implementing and profiting from marketing analytics.   You’ll learn how to evaluate “ecosystemic” conditions for success, reconcile diverse perspectives to frame the right questions, and organize your people, data, and operating infrastructure to answer them and maximize business results. Brea helps you overcome key challenges ranging from balancing analytic techniques to governance, hidden biases to culture change. He also offers specific guidance on crucial decisions such as “buy vs. build?”, “centralize or decentralize?”, and “hire generalists or specialists?”   Whether you lead, practice, or rely on marketing analytics, this guide will help you gain more value–with less frustration. Go beyond “My algorithm can beat up your algorithm” It’s not about formulas, it’s about cultivating conditions for success Plan backwards, starting from desired business results Focus on value, not allure, hype, or sexiness Orchestrate resources to ask better questions, answer them, and act Tackle any analytically intensive initiative– and get the results you’re accountable for Make the most of new “native” digital channels… ...and the rapid digitization of legacy channels, too    

Table of Contents:
Foreword x Acknowledgments xii About the Author xiv Introduction 1 Why This Book 2 Who It’s For 5 Where It Fits 6 How to Use It 7 How It’s Organized 8 Part I  Improving Your Odds: Eco-systemic Conditions for Analytic Success 11 Chapter 1  Strategic Alignment—First You Need to Agree On What to Ask 13 Framing Your Focus Beyond the Answer Itself 14 Three Perspectives for Marketing and Sales Analytics 15 Venus 16 Mars 17 Earth 19 Applying the Three Approaches 20 Reconciling Organizational and Cultural Perspectives 22 Packaging for Balance: “The Analytic Brief”    26 Visions for the Analytics Capability to Serve These Needs 27 Chapter 2  Access to Data—Too Often Taken for Granted 29 Getting to Data: Historical Models and Patterns 29 The Paleo-Analytic Era 29 The Meso-Analytic Era 31 The Ceno-Analytic Era 32 Modern Times 33 Moving Forward 34 Lenovo’s “Analytic Maturity Model” 35 Building the Data Warehouse 37 The BENS “BRN” Story 38 Implications for Big Data Investments 40 (Aside: What’s Big Data?) 42 Supporting Ad Hoc Approaches to Defining Data Requirements 44 Managing External Sources 46 Chapter 3  Operational Flexibility—Don’t Analyze What You Can’t Act On 49 A “Common Requirements Framework” 50 Targeting 51 Content 52 Channels 53 Analysis and Testing 54 A Summary Picture 55 What’s Right for You? 55 Integrating Analytics into Operational Capability Planning 56 Chapter 4  People and Organization—Cultivate “Analytic Marketers” 59 Recruiting 60 Skill Mix 62 Developing 64 Organizing for Analytics 65 Part II  Practical Analytics: Proven Techniques and Heuristics 71 Chapter 5  Practical Frameworks—For Getting On the Same Page 73 The Analytic Brief 73 Chapter 6  Practical Research—Beyond Studies for Studies’ Sake 89 Chapter 7  Practical Analytics—Knowing When to Say When 95 Evaluating Performance 95 Do the Math 99 Proceed Iteratively 100 Interpolate Estimates 101 Model Iteratively 103 Assessing Solution Tradeoffs 104 Chapter 8  Practical Testing—An Underused Approach to Insight 107 Chapter 9  The Importance—and Limitations—of Storytelling 111 Chapter 10  Managing Bias—Like Air, Invisible and Everywhere 117 Part III  Making Progress 123 Chapter 11  Managing Pace and Results—Momentum Is Strategic 125 “Time is the fire in which we burn” 125 Keeping Score 127 Investing in Capabilities vs. Harvesting Results 128 Chapter 12  Governance Models—Because Analytics Are Political 133 Chapter 13  “Culturelytics”—A Practical Formula for Change 137 Part IV  Conversations with Practitioners 141 Chapter 14  Conversations with Practitioners 143 Paul Magill, Abbott 143 Doug Collier, La-Z-Boy Incorporated 147 Scott McDonald, Condé Nast Publications 154 Melanie Murphy, Bed Bath & Beyond 161 David Norton, MDC Partners, Harrah’s 166 Rob Schmults, Talbots 171 Annemarie Frank, HSN 177 Judah Phillips, SMARTCURRENT 182 Latham Arneson, Paramount Pictures 190 Mohammed Chaara, Lenovo 193 Belinda Lang, Belinda Lang Consulting, Aetna 199 Thomas White, TIAA-CREF    206 Perry Hewitt, Harvard University 210 Todd Purcell, The Hartford 214 Ben Clark, Wayfair 219 Index 225