Stephen Tompkins' Ideas

Random Ideas, thoughts and more

Coach Spolestra and Data Driven Results

I just read a great article on ESPN.com about the data driven approach that Coach Spolestra (of my beloved Miami Heat) took in the off season to prepare for two of the best perimeter scoring players of the decade. In a nut shell, it says he analyzed charts showing where Wade and James felt most comfortable shooting from the field. The data showed that both loved the high pick and roll. The only problem is that two players running the high pick and roll doesn't work because one needs to pass to the other to score. Alas, with two players who like to play the same way, what do you do to get internal buy in for changing the fundamental nature of their games? You use data to prove that trading off your comfort zone (high pick and rolls) with some varied plays will result in a better overall performance which translates into more wins. 

Reading this article immediately reminded me of my data-driven business. Many times we use data from various sources to make decisions based on real time interactions. In other words, looking at a placements performance from multiple views during a campaign allows us to better optimize its performance based on interactions through the life of the run. This is not a ground breaking revelation in itself but I started to think about the second part of the article.  

What if you were to sacrifice a placements sweet spot to help the overall performance of a buy? How would this look? Would you use creative in conjunction with placement to determine optimal run time? Or would you use something more complex and multi-faceted like time of day/creative/placement on page and color to determine its success? I would think the more complex you drove the space the better your results would become. 

Coming from a graphic design background, I am a big proponent of creative being the main factor toward someone's propensity to click and subsequently purchase. With this in mind, I am starting to think more in terms of creative becoming more than just a pretty ad. Creative, like a placement, has its own ecosystem (color, text, graphic) all of which play into a users taste and need to be added to the data driven decisions that are made on strategy.  

Demand Side Platforms and Lebron James - Twice the Hype

As my beloved Miami Heat hit their stride and continue to blow out opponents and perform as one of the best basketball teams in the NBA it makes you wonder about all the hype this summer. Does it match the play on the court? 

Much like the NBA, online media is filled with hype. What will the over-hyped technology of 2011 be DSP maybe SSP? I am not sure which one it will be but one thing is for sure. The media will find its darling very soon and latch onto her much like the sports media did with Lebron James and "The Decision" this summer. 

That is not the only parallel one can see with Lebron James and Demand Side Platforms. Way back in 2005 when Lebron was in high school he was hyped as the next Jordan. The savior of basketball before he even stepped foot on an NBA court. In fact, his mother was granted a loan on the potential he possessed. Does that remind anyone of venture funding for DSP? It seems one only needs the acronym in their company byline to secure some money for development!

I am certainly not saying that Demand Side Platforms are unwelcome in the industry. Quite the opposite, I am a big fan of their potential to lead display advertising to the next level. (much like Lebron did for the NBA) I am just wary of the hype many folks in the industry who call themselves DSP's are generating and if the self-labeling merits the hype.

The way I see it: Demand Side Platform's are going to be Lebron James or Pervis Ellison in 2011. The key will be finding one that backs up the hype with solid performance and a great all-around game :)