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| Auditing is a technique which can be very helpful to Field Marketing agencies. It is surprising, then, that thorough audits are few and far-between when it comes to extended field-marketing. This article will address the merits of Audits. |
An audit is a kind of self-concerned market-analysis, by which a Field
Marketer can gauge the impact of a brand or campaign, and use the information
to plan their next course of action. It is often divided into two categories:
Internal Auditing and External Auditing.
An External Audit covers areas outside of the brand/agency's control, such as
the economy, public concerns, the competition or even the market in-general.
Such areas are important for a brand, because they must shape their campaign to
fit-in with the outside world, or face a potential zero, or negative, Return on
Investment (ROI). Internal Audits are less-frequent, which is a shame, as the
whole idea of an internal audit is to assess one's current situation in the light
of any recent campaign. In short, an External Audit is to know where you are
going, whereas an Internal Audit is to know where you currently are.
Auditing, situation dependent, works by comparing results to goals (for
example, actual quarterly sales to predicted quarterly sales). Often, in
marketing, it also involves comparing actions (past or current) to a number of
specifications. To simplify, imagine that a big supermarket chain, such as Sainsburys,
has asked for an audit of its marketing campaign for a home-brand of cake. You,
the Auditor, are an external agent, and thus are most likely to conduct an
external audit, given that internal managers (with knowledge of the company
structure) would likely be the more efficient choice for an internal audit. Some external auditing tasks require analysis of
conduct against things like 'health-and-safety' or 'company policy' to ensure
that a campaign does not negatively affect company reputation, as well as
distributing a questionnaire amongst consumers asking them for feedback on the
campaign.
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| Marketing Audit |
In the world of marketing, audits are often used to gauge the impact of a
particular campaign. I have previously written on the subject of 'lastability'
of a marketing campaign: particularly that field marketing tends to have a
short-term effect on its target-audience. However, I feel that Auditing could
assist in extending the 'shelf-life' of a marketing campaign. One of the
reasons for marketing falling-short of targets is its failure to adapt to a
changing market. Customer interests are constantly shifting, and marketing
firms like Cosine (cosineuk.com/)
must occasionally adjust their approach. One part of auditing, customer
feedback, is especially helpful in this sense, as it not only garners feedback
on the campaign, but also gives organisers an idea of the direction in which
consumer interest is heading. Thus, a campaign can be tweaked, and given an
artificial 'boost' to its length of appeal.
It is therefore important for Field Marketers to audit themselves, and
their clients. It seems like a basic marketing skill, but a surprising number
of Field Marketing agencies do not invest nearly enough in the discipline, preventing
their campaigns from growing and adapting, and sometimes perhaps saddling the
reputation of their clients with 'outdated' or culturally-irrelevant themes. A
marketing campaign which grows and changes, cutting out obsolete content,
appearing to take into-account consumer concerns, and yet retaining a memorable
image is the most ideal response to a thorough audit. Take, for example,
tea-distributors 'PG Tips'. The iconic image of the monkey as the company
mascot has been maintained throughout recent years. However, due to feedback
and animal-rights movements, the company ceased using live monkeys in its
adverts, switching to using puppets.
Compare the following commercials, and
consider the implications, had PG Tips not audited their approach.
Circa 1971
Circa 2010