Does Size Matter?

In my piece on the branding myth, I alluded to the impact of accountants on marketing and specifically the result of their trying to quantify intangible impacts. But that doesn't mean I despise metrics. Quite the opposite - I despise when advertising agencies make claims for their campaigns by creating a direct causality between the campaign and for example the stock valuation over the same period. A couple of years ago this led to the outlandish claim that the Jamie Oliver campaign alone had added billions to Sainsbury's value. It was very successful no doubt, but I tend to think the revamping of the supply chain, the opening of new stores and the general rise in the stockmarket also contributed.

I had intended to return to this later in my blog, but then Seth Godin (with whom I've discussed marketing on and off for years since downloading his seminal Permission Marketing in I think 1999) said everything I wanted to say and better.