DON'T OVEREMPHASIZE ROI AS SINGLE MEASURE OF SUCCESS; VARIETY COUNTS: It takes more than one benchmark to assess overall effectiveness.(CMO Strategy)(Return on investment)

Advertising Age, February, 2008 by Calkins, Tim; Rucker, Derek D.

Byline: TIM CALKINS And DEREK D. RUCKER

Everyone loves to talk about ROI. The benchmark has firmly planted itself in the soil of marketing doctrine, widely accepted as a measure that makes it simple to evaluate marketing programs and gauge spending levels. Return on investment enables financial types to evaluate marketing initiatives with the same approach they use to evaluate capital expenditures and acquisitions. For senior management, ROI makes marketing less subjective. For marketers, ROI makes decisions fairly simple; it removes the appearance of subjectivity from the debate. Perhaps more important, a good return makes it easier to defend marketing initiatives and to justify existing and future spending.

But to us, there is a fundamental problem...