| Founded | 2007 |
|---|---|
| Motto | . . . where marketing and finance align on measurement for reporting, forecasting and improving financial returns from buyers in markets . . . short-term and over time. |
| Website | www.themasb.org |
The Marketing Accountability Foundation[1] and its Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) is the independent, private sector, self-governing body of academics and practitioners authorized by its membership constituency to establish marketing measurement and accountability standards across industry and domain, for continuous improvement in financial performance and for the guidance and education of business decision makers and users of performance and financial information.[2]
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Establishment of MASB was recommended by The Boardroom Project (2004–2007)[3] in response to growing demand for marketing accountability. A group of practitioners and academics saw an opportunity to increase the contribution of the marketing function, through the development of standard metrics and processes that link marketing activities more objectively and more closely to the financial performance of the firm.[4]
Over a three-year period, The Boardroom Project conducted a comprehensive review of current practices, needs and accountability initiatives underway, reaching the following conclusions:
The Mission of MASB is to “Establish marketing measurement and accountability standards across industry and domain for continuous improvement in financial performance and for the guidance and education of business decision makers and users of performance and financial information.” [2]
MASB sets the standards and processes necessary for evaluating marketing measurement in a manner that ensures credibility, validity, transparency and understanding.
MASB does not endorse specific measures. Rather, it documents, reveals and highlights how various measures stack up against the Marketing Metric Audit Protocol (MMAP). The belief and assumption is that the market will select specific measures based on these evaluations. MASB’s Dynamic Marketing Metrics Catalogue will be the primary vehicle for documentation and publication.
MASB also exemplifies how to evaluate and identify ideal measures according to MMAP for specific marketing activities such as TV and On-Line advertising and/or any other activity or area for which there is need as identified by its membership constituency.
MASB delves into practices underlying the development and management of ideal measures as well as those practices utilized to create knowledge, determine causality, and apply to process management for improved return.
Overall, MASB serves at the industry level in this fashion and works with “open due process”.[2]
MASB Directors operate according to the following precepts of conduct:
Work of the MASB is conducted on a Project basis and organized into three overall categories: Standards, Research and Concepts.
Prioritization is based on the following considerations:
Projects on the MASB Agenda were recommended by MASB Charter Members, influenced in part by feedback from C Level interviews. They have been prioritized according to MASB resources:[7]
The Marketing Metric Audit Protocol (MMAP) is a formal process for connecting marketing activities to the financial performance of the firm.[5]
The process includes the conceptual linking of marketing activities to intermediate marketing outcome metrics to cash flow drivers of the business, as well as the validation and causality characteristics of an ideal metric. Cash flow both short-term and over time is the ultimate metric to which all activities of a business enterprise, including marketing, should be causally linked through the validation of intermediate marketing measures.
The process of validating the intermediate outcome measures against short-term and/or long-term cash flow drivers is necessary to facilitate forecasting and improvement in return.
See Marketing Metric Audit Protocol and Measuring TV According to MMAP – An Example. [16]
MMAP Metric Profiles is a Catalogue of Marketing Metrics that provides detailed documentation regarding the psychometric properties of the measures and specific information with respect to reliability, validity, range of use, sensitivity . . . particularly in terms of validity and sensitivity with respect to financial criteria.
Most commercial providers offer little detail about their measures. Most of the publicly available information focuses on integrated suites of products and services with little technical information or reference to characteristics of specific measures that would allow profiling according to MMAP.
The Metrics Catalogue is provided on the MASB website as metric providers undergo the audit and their offerings are profiled according to MMAP.[16]
The Marketing Accountability Foundation (MAF)[1] is the independent, private sector, self-governing organization authorized by its membership constituency to:
The Foundation is incorporated exclusively for charitable, educational, scientific, & literary purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Sources of funding include Membership Dues, Projects, Workshops, Technical Services, Publications, and Training, Advisory & Auditing Services.
Membership is organization-based, and open to Marketers, Business Schools, Measurement (Modeling & Software) Providers, Media Providers, Media & Advertising Agencies, Industry Associations & Independent Consultants. Membership development has been targeted to fill the Foundation Trustee, MASB Director, Advisor and Project Leadership positions.
Founding and Charter Members in order of joining include: University of California Riverside, The MMAP Center, Starcom MediaVest Group, The Nielsen Company, The Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), Marketing Science Institute (MSI), UCLA Anderson School of Management, Columbia University, MarketShare Partners, ConAgra Foods, University of Michigan, American Marketing Association (AMA), Association of National Advertisers (ANA) , Kimberly-Clark, Foresight ROI, Blue Marble Enterprises, Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), The Wharton School, NYU Stern School of Business, CoreBrand, The Coca-Cola Company, Darden School of Business, University of Cologne, LogicLab. click here.[17][5]