Dangers of Marketing Optimization

Have been involved in a number of marketing optimization projects in the brands.   Are the new attempts at predictive analytics causing us to expect too much with these methods?   We called this 'analytics', and now its called 'Predictive Data Science'. Bottom line this is an attempt to allocate marketing dollars for best results.

All indications are that 'optimizing' is better than using gut feelings.  But that was determined long ago.  How much better are modern methods?   No indications that this is causing any strangulation of efforts due to mis-allocation of resources.  Adjustments are always made when changes in context change occur.

The efforts involved are covered in this Adage article.  A look at consumer behavior.   When you add the consumer behavior suggested,  the results are not 'optimal',  saturation is not a new thought.   The model is just wrong.

" ... It's often cheaper to reach that level of overkill on mobile and digital media, but it's not impossible to do it on TV, either, with narrowly focused cable TV or other low-rated buys that can end up serving lots of impressions to the same people.

The problem isn't entirely the narrowness of the targeting. It's also too much spending on media relative to creative. Brands using more targeted media need multiple ads and creative approaches to avoid wear-out or advance a storyline, particularly if they value frequency of impressions or need to keep their brands top of mind in product categories with short purchase cycles, said Mr. Briggs. ... "