Although it may not be possible to directly link specific marketing activity with sales, i to i research has developed a number of techniques which move one step closer to proving the effect of brand communication on sales.

From designing research in order to prove the effectiveness of PR expenditure,  i to i research has always been very focused on the accountability of communication. We are currently placing great emphasis and resource in linking as much client and sales data as possible with primary research in order to be able to get closer to proving the financial return of different types and pieces of brand communication.

In our experience, the key to establishing a robust methodology to deliver meaningful data and insights into the sales effect of brand communication is the skilful matching of data from different sources and linking it to tailored research.

There are a range of data sources available, including panel data, sales data, competitor and client sales data, online sales tracking and retail sales data, none of which alone are capable of completing the circle.

However, the careful matching of different data sources can get round this problem. One example is what we call a “top down” approach, where we append a “unique identifier” to customer records that are going to be used in a particular piece of research, so that their survey responses can be matched back to their sales data after the project is completed.

If you would like to find out more about the way in which we evaluate sales return, please contact Claire Spencer at claire.spencer@itoiresearch.com or call on 020 3178 2160.