Grand Unified Theory of Marketing states that all marketing channels and tactics have their place, and can work together to optimally assist modern users along their individual purchase journeys, and even afterward.

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Grand Unified
Theory of Marketing
Dr. Augustine Fou
http://linkd.in/augustinefou
acfou @mktsci .com
March 2014

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Original Blog Post 2009
The Grand Unified
Theory of Marketing
by Augustine Fou

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Author’s Commentary
-- Dr. Augustine Fou
“For many years, I have been studying the inter-
relationships between traditional marketing and digital
marketing. While they have historically been treated as
different channels, they actually can and should work
together harmoniously. Furthermore, different tactics
are optimally used in different ways. The unifying
thread that ties all marketing together and helps
advertisers chose the right tactic and channel to use is
the target users‟habits and expectations‟. Let me
explain.”

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We used to think of ...
Traditional
• TV
• Magazines
• Newspapers
• Radio
Digital
• Search
• Social
• Mobile
• Video
Metric:
Size of
Audience
Metric:
Actions of
Users
vs

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Traditional Digital
Metric:
Size of
Audience
Metric:
Actions of
Users
Pitching Catching+
Should be ...
+
We need to think of ...
“Advertisers can do their “pitching” with offline, one-way channels like TV,
print, and radio; but they should make sure they are doing enough “catching”
in digital channels when users come online to research their purchases.”

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How it all works
together ...

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Left-side Right-side
Branding
aka “awareness”
Performance
aka “direct response”
“Soup and Soda” “Cars and Computers”
• Low cost
• Low complexity
• Low consideration
• High cost
• High complexity
• High consideration

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TV is left Digital is right
2013 - $108B (U.S. Only)
2017E - $131B
branding performance
“Soup and Soda” “Cars and Computers”
Television 61% ($66B, 2013) Digital 39% ($42B, 2013)
Display
(Facebook)
22%
Search
(Google)
46%
Other
32%55% 45%
Broadcast Cable
Television 53% ($70B, 2017E) Digital 47% ($61B, 2017E)
49%
Other
9%49% 51%
Broadcast Cable Branding
(Facebook)
Performance
(Google)
42%

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1st screen 2nd screen 3rd screen
• Television
• Magazines
• Newspaper
• Radio
• Display Ads • Search Ads
• Search Optimization
• Email
• Social Media
Marketing
• Mobile Marketing
awareness consideration choice purchase advocacy
• In-store
The Marketing Continuum
branding performance

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Role of the Channel
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Email
Mobile App
Direct Mail
SMS Text Message
Website
Social Media (not paid)
Search
Radio
Print Ads
Online Display Ads
Social Display Ads
TV
Greeter (Awareness)
Influencer (Consideration)
Closer (Decision)
Source: Experian Marketing
Services March 2014
Sorted by
Awareness
“left”

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Digital is Mainly a
Performance Channel

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Users Ignore More Digital Ads
Source: Harris Interactive via MarketingCharts Feb 2014

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“When users come online to research their
purchases, advertisers should make sure
they can find the info they need to move
expeditiously down the purchase funnel to
the purchase – and therefore do the
„catching‟ and harvesting of ROI.”
-- Dr. Augustine Fou

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Digital is a Performance Channel
Source: IAB 2012 Annual Report
Retail is mostly
direct reponse.

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Within The Digital Channel
Display and social
(display) are for awareness
Search (organic and paid)
are most useful just before
the decision to purchase.
Source: Google Think Insights
branding performance
Display ads
(social, mobile)
Video ads
(desktop, mobile)
Consumer
Reviews
Search Ads Organic Search
Lead Generation
Twitter Ads

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Types of Digital Ad Spend
Impressions
(CPM/CPV)
Clicks
(CPC)
Leads
(CPL)
Sales
(CPA)
• Display ads
• Video ads
• Social display
• Mobile display
• Search ads
• Mobile search
• Affiliate
revenue share
• Completed
lead forms
sold on cost-
per-lead basis
Awareness Performance

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Digital Ad Spend (IAB H1 2013)
Impressions
(CPM/CPV)
Clicks
(CPC)
Leads
(CPL)
Sales
(CPA)
Search 43%
$18.1B
Video 7%
$2.9B
Lead Gen 4%
$1.7B
11% Other
$4.8B
Source: IAB, 1H 2013 Digital Advertising Report, Oct 2013
Display 19%
$8.0B
Mobile 15%
$3.7B$2.8B
NOTE: revenues annualized from
actual 1H 2013 figures from IAB
(assumes $42B annual ad spend)
• classifieds
• sponsorship
• rich media
• email
branding performance
$13.7B $28.3B

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DR vs Branding by Industry
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Direct Response
Branding
Direct
response vs
branding by
industry
Travel is
heavily DR
while
entertainment
is mainly
branding
branding direct response

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Maps to the Way Users
Use Each Medium

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In the past WEEK, do you recall seeing ANY of the following types of ads?
44% Don’t Recall ANY Ads
Source: Marketing Science Custom Research, March 2014

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“Which of the following help you decide to buy a specific low-
cost/big-ticket item (e.g. soda, candy, toilet paper, shampoo)” N = 1,000
70% Think Ads Don’t Help
Source: Marketing Science Custom Research, March 2014

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Ads Drive Awareness
“Through which advertising
medium are you and other
people your age most likely to
be introduced to or find out
about a new brand you‟ll
consider for trial?”
Source: AdroitDigital, March 2014

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Peers Fuel Consideration
• Recommendations
from friends
• Consumer
opinions/ratings
posted online

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Users research in digital
Source Parago via Marketing Charts March 24, 2014

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Context of my thinking ...
Marketing and Advertising
Chief Digital Officer, HCG (Omnicom)
Business Strategy
McKinsey Consultant
Technology / Innovation
PhD, MIT Mat’l Science
Digital
Augustine Fou- 25 -

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Dr. Augustine Fou – Chief Digital Strategist
“Facebook is for branding and has the
reach to cannibalize revenues from TV;
Google will remain performance oriented
and better serve specific industries and
sectors – like cars and computers.”
FORMER CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER, HCG (OMNICOM)
MCKINSEY CONSULTANT
CLIENT SIDE / AGENCY SIDE EXPERIENCE
PROFESSOR AND COLUMNIST
ENTREPRENEUR / SMALL BUSINESS OWNER
PHD MATERIALS SCIENCE (MIT '95) AT AGE 23
Augustine Fou@acfou
ClickZ Articles: http://bit.ly/augustine-fou-clickz
Slideshares: http://bit.ly/augustine-fou-slideshares
LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/augustinefou

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Related Articles
Trends in Advertising
By: Augustine Fou, Nov 15, 2012
Branding Today: Why It’s
Ineffective, Irrelevamt, Irritating, and Impotent
By: Augustine Fou, June 21, 2012
Search Kicks Display in Effectiveness
By Augustine Fou, April 2012
Display Ad Benchmarks
By Augustine Fou, August 2013
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