Marko Hurst

A few weeks ago I posted Google Analytics Adds 8 New Features that covered some major changes to the Google Analytics platform. Just the other day, as part of a rolling release strategy for Google Analytics they have released a couple more new features and some updates to existing features. I’ve checked these out already (be aware that not you may have access to them just yet, but you will shortly) and I have to say I’m impressed. Google Analytics is really pushing the boundaries by taking into account how and what an analyst really has to go through on an everyday basis (it’s more than just reporting on the numbers) and is really beginning to make our (data) lives a whole lot better.

1. Custom Variables Now Available In Advanced Segments – “UPDATE TO EXISTING FEATURE – Multiple Custom Variables”: from  my last post “Multiple Custom Variables lets you customize your Google Analytics to collect unique site usage data”. Until now, if you wanted to use Custom Variables you had to use the standard Custom Variables report under Visitors. Now, you can create custom segmentation on a any key and and combination of Custom Variables (visitors, sessions, or pages). I.e. if you have created a Custom Variable, let’s say “New Member”, you can now view that variable across all of your reports.
2. Custom Variables Available In Custom Reports - Now Custom Reports can be created with any of the key or value dimensions that have been associated with a Custom Variable. This allows you take ANY metric and match it with the behavior from a segment that you have defined in you Custom Variables.
3. New Analytics Tracking Code Setup Wizard - I’ll admit it, manually configuring your Google Analytics (any really platforms) Tracking Code is a pain in the behind at best of times. Think back if you’ve ever had to track campaigns, cross-domain tracking, multiple subdomains,  mobile, PHP sites, etc. I believe you’ll recall it was “less than fun”. Well now there is a new tracking code setup wizard to help you out that automatically generates your tracking code based upon your specified setup options in your profile.
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4. Annotations – This feature is OUTSTANDING! From day one as an analyst you are taught that as a best practice you always write down & track what you’ve done, discovered, tried, etc. The problem of course has simply been “where you keep those notes”, i.e. a notebook, word document, local on your computer, etc. Well no more! The Annotations feature allows you leave a quick little note to yourself or others, such as “why that spike in traffic happened over the Holidays”. Now if you think about that for a moment, not only can simply leaving ‘notes’ for you or someone else be a real time saver, but Annotations can act as a central repository for managing your Business & Design decisions. And there was much rejoicing! Be sure to check out this video for details.
   

Coming Soon – Updates to the Google Analytics API will include: Support for Advanced Segmentation, new data dimensions and metrics.

Your visitors have evolved, have you?

Introduction

Not since the emergence of television fifty years ago have we seen such a metamorphosis in consumer behavior. The good-’ol-days when all that was needed to reach your audience was a product, a strong message, and enough money to keep them both in front of as many eyeballs as possible is a thing of the past. For years, people “behaved” the way they were supposed to and everything was going along just fine. Then all of a sudden, people’s behavior began to change overnight. They stopped “wanting” to listen to you, they stopped “wanting” to read what you wrote, and stopped “wanting” to look at your ads, they simply stopped paying attention to you. I mean seriously, how rude! So, what happened?

Well, in the 1980’s came the first transition with the introduction of cable & satellite TV. The unforeseen result was the beginning of the end – the fragmentation of mass media. Then in the mid-90’s the Internet arrived on the scene and in a short time established itself as something more than just a fad. And just like that, almost overnight the traditional advertising & marketing model was shattered beyond repair. The Internet now competed for the same attention that the other media channels were vying for, but unlike any other media channel in history the Internet was the first channel that was “push & pull”, or a two-way medium that allowed consumer’s to interact directly with systems, companies, other consumers, etc. and the system would react back. To add to this, the low cost of content publishing technologies allowed anyone with an Internet connection and a voice to stand up and be heard around the world, effectively changing Mass Media, into Media of the Masses.

Here Boy! Sit. Good Dog

In 1904, the famous Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in physiology for his work on digestive glands. Prior to winning the Nobel, Pavlov discovered a physiological phenomenon that his legacy is probably more famous for and remembered by most for today, “conditioned reflexes”, a.k.a. Pavlov’s Dog.

The story goes a little something like this… One day a inside of Pavlov’s lab a colleague noticed that a dog would salivate as soon as it saw or heard the assistant that fed him, before ever seeing or smelling his food. At first Pavlov found this very frustrating, as it disrupted the results of his test. But after a while he be began to wonder why this was happening. So, Pavlov conducted an experiment to see if one could learn to associate a natural stimulus, such as a food, with an unrelated stimulus, this eliciting a response by the unrelated stimulus alone.

Fast forward a couple of decades to the early 1920’s when a man whose resume includes experimenting on infants, leaving the academia world under suspicious circumstances, and established the first psychological school of behavioralism unleashed his brilliance and knowledge of behavior upon the world of advertising. His name was John Watson, 1878 – 1958. And still today, nearly ninety years later, the world of marketing, advertising, and branding are still following his techniques of behavioralism –Brand Association.

Effectively what brand association attempts to do is manipulate the response to a stimulus, e.g. brand name or logo, which initially provides a neutral feeling or response with the objective to train people to make a “false” connection between the a positive emotion, e.g. happiness or feeling attractive, and the particular brand being advertised.

If one lesson was learned from the dot.com era, it is that it takes more than a brilliant mind and money to make your brainchild to come to life and survive. So, how did mass media evolve and survive for so many years? Like primordial stew, the right time, right place, and maybe a Ouija board under the pale moon light contributed, but some very specific criteria are essential to breathing the long lasting life cycle and impact of mass media.

1. Society: People lived in localized communities. The number of people in a certain area was relatively small this allowed them interact with each other more often since they went to the same church, shopped at the same stores, went to the same schools, and often worked together as well.
2. Technology: People had limited access to the same media channels. There were at best only a couple of newspapers, three major TV networks, and not many more radio stations.
3. Market: People had limited choices in brand options.

The result: people were “salivating” for the next greatest product. For nearly eighty years this model of mass media and brand association would thrive, but the Internet would change all of this almost overnight.

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