Marketers Can Improve Accuracy Of Forecasts, Says Founder of MarketingNPV E-mail Marketing

PRINCETON, N.J.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—April 6, 2004—Corporate marketing executives can improve the predictability and reliability of forecasts through adherence to several basic principles and processes, according to the latest issue of MarketingNPV®, a magazine focused on helping marketing executives improve their decision-making skills and processes.

“Most marketing departments feel very insecure about their marketing forecasting competencies. Not necessarily with regards to the experiential/intuitive components, but relative to the science and processes that help balance instinct,” observed Pat LaPointe, founder and editor-in-chief of MarketingNPV. LaPointe, a 20-year marketing veteran, added that “forecasting is one of the most important things done in marketing, yet one of the least understood.”

To help marketers increase their forecasting ability, the current issue of MarketingNPV provides a lead feature titled “Five Ways to Improve the Accuracy of Your Forecasting”, that details a process marketing executives can implement for more targeted forecasting.

“Even if still working with a No. 2 pencil and a scrap paper, there’s no reason marketers can’t produce outstanding quality forecasts with more predictability and reliability, significantly improving their marketing return on investment,” said LaPointe.

The key to forecasting success, says LaPointe in the article, are process improvements that help corral the best available facts and insights from both inside and outside the company versus a reliance on mathematical exercises. Moreover, the issue provides suggestions for forecasting in situations where there is no data history and a lack of obvious comparables to benchmark on.

One such article explains the situation DirectTV faced back in the early '90s when the company was trying to forecast the potential size of the market for satellite TV services -- something which fewer than three percent of the U.S. population had ever been exposed to. The approach delivered a 10-year forecast accurate within five percent.

There is also an interview with Jeff Manning, co-creator of the “Got Milk?” campaign, one of the most successful campaigns in advertising history. Jeff talks about brands, metrics, and the economic value of consistency in an age of fast-churning strategies and agency relationships.

The issue further provides a resources section on how to choose a forecasting software package and a feature on what chief marketing officers really should know about web metrics.

Copies of the new issue can be viewed and downloaded from http://www.marketingnpv.com .

MarketingNPV® and www.marketingnpv.com , provides corporate marketing officers the insight, techniques and tools for better marketing decision making through a magazine, online content, workshops, and a web-service library of downloadable decision tools. MarketingNPV shares the learning from around the world with regards to processes for making better decisions without impinging upon creativity or innovation. It provides marketers with the ability to make smarter decisions, better assess the economic value of their initiatives, and make stronger cases to request or defend resources.