2009 the Year of Measurement?

Jonathan Salem Baskin posted a report on a session he hosted at the Consumer Electronics Show. I met Jonathan at the Intangible Asset Finance Society (IAFS) and had some interesting conversations around branding and the value of brands (his area of expertise). The three main conclusions of the session were:

• 2009 Will Be The Year of Measurement – If you are going to do something “prove that it matters.”
• You Find What You’re Looking For -Don’t just focus on one stage in a process, “take into account  behaviors at both ends of the funnel.”
• Selling Doesn’t Have To Be a Dirty Word – This was an interesting one. In this case, they were talking about the tension between “not selling” and authenticity in social media. But ultimately, “relevance and utility” are important. Businesses have to make money to survive.

The evolving economy makes it difficult to use yesterday’s pat answers to even common business challenges. Measuring intangibles is hard. But we all need to welcome efforts to measure what we do and find creative metrics that will make us smarter and more effective.