Lovemarks tells us that consumer sentiment for brands can finally be measured. Great news, but why are metrics still considered such a holy grail in marketing?

The Lovemark approach joins a long list of ways to measure marketing efforts and their results. Companies like Interbrand and Corebrand show us the dollar value of brands and use brand equity to determine stock valuations, respectively. Even newer areas like word-of-mouth can be measured.

Yet the left-brain, creative discipline has gotten away with having very few success measurements. Somehow companies focus on making their operations state-of-the-art, while allowing their marketing to be more of a black art.

Uber-marketer P&G gives the marketing industry's measurement attempts a C minus. "This is a $450 billion dollar industry and we're making decisions with less data and discipline than we apply to $100,000 decisions in other aspects of our businesses," said P&G's global marketing officer, Jim Stengel. "We lack an industry standard for measurement. We need a method to determine the effectiveness of our efforts."

As budgets decreased during the recent downturn, the need for right-brain measurements increased. But many attempts at measurement do not yield consistent data that can be compared against other components of a marketing plan. Far too often, measurement is seen as the end game. Unless you employ it at the front end, you're usually left with quantitative data that might not show success. Ads might use readership surveys, public relations can use ad equivalency, Web sites rely on traffic logs and trade shows count card swipes.

It all starts at the beginning with research to create a benchmark you can measure performance against. Select one primary metric that can be consistently tracked across all efforts. From there you create measurable objectives. Then keep all tactics focused on clearly supporting your strategies and objectives. These steps put you in a position to really prove your worth and defend your budget.

Still not interested in marketing with both sides of your brain? Consider this news from CNN. You are 25 percent more likely to lose your job after Labor Day as companies prepare their 2005 budgets. A marketing plan incorporating success measurements allows you to review your accomplishments late in the year—rather than defend your actions.

Creativity is no longer enough. Do you agree?

Go FC Now, It's Your Birthday: Heath, thanks for letting me Blog Jam. As a Company of Friends member since late 1997 and an avid blogger, I guess I'm qualified, but I'm grateful and excited nonetheless. Can I send a shout out to all Cincinnati CoF members?