(from our July RBR/TVBR Solutions magazine)

David Verklin, CEO of Carat Americas, runs the largest independent media services company in North America, sporting 6 billion in billings annually. David shepherds over 350 clients including Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, RadioShack, Adidas, Hyundai, New Line Cinema, Electronic Arts, Kia, Black & Decker, Marriott and Philips Electronics. Here, David talks about the biz, with a special focus on his passion, new digital technologies and the marketing that goes with it.

The last time we talked, you said you get a briefing at least once a day on what's going on digitally, the latest headlines.

Everyday, everyday, one part of our business or another. Be it Mitch [Oscar, EVP/Carat Digital], who is briefing me on what I call new advertising technology. Mitch is looking at new advertising technologies, from addressable to broadband, which I think is an opportunity to my Carat Digital to Carat Interactive guys,

Isobar [Carat's interactive and digital media arm], other people. So everyday I'm trying to get briefed on something. Truthfully I think you almost need it to stay on, it's just moving so fast. There's new stuff every, everyday that I just need to be up to speed on.

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What do you wish research companies could provide that they're not?

I think there are a few key buckets on the research area that we're all interested in. The first is that in the quest for ROI, everyone wants research that answers the question "I spent a dollar and I want to know what I got back." But there's really an issue that's before that which is some kind of research on the effectiveness of nontraditional media. How do we measure event marketing? What is the ROI on that model? What do you get for that experimental market activity? I think the research on non-traditional media is one that we could really use. Does it have a lingering effect on brand imagery? Are we seeing that those kinds of experiences do drive purchase intent?

I'll give you a very simple fact; call it "Verklin's Law." ROI is directly proportional to the diversity of the media mix and the degree of interactivity in the media plan. We have seen that fact through our market mix modeling analysis of over 800 brands.

You show me a media plan that's got a lot of componentry to it - - that could be both the Internet or it could be direct response, anything that's got more two-way - - and I will show you a media plan that's generating a higher ROI. The problem is that as you move into some of these diversified marketing elements, they are extremely difficult to research and to be able to get statistical measurements that they're giving you ROI.

Most of us would agree that the traditional media metrics, almost all of them, are flawed. The second bucket is an improvement in traditional media measurement devices. Television research right now basically measures the number of people watching the program and then we impute that the same number people who are watching the program watch the ad at the commercial break. We do not have minute-by minute research in TV, which they have in Europe. We have research every quarter hour. If I'm an advertiser, I'm not interested in who's watching the show, I'm interested in who's watching the ad.

The next bucket we're going to need is, I'll call this "Aggregated National Data for Interactive Television." Imagine I've created a VOD opportunity on five different cable systems. I need the data on who clicked on that and the action they took, hopefully a little bit about who watched my ad. I need that rolled up nationally. I don't want to deal with five different cable operators. So there needs to be some kind of national media interactive TV clearinghouse.

What is the future of ROI measurement?

There are a number of companies - - IFX, Avista, probably Bearing Point, Veridium - - all of us have the same vision on ROI, which is to make it real time, and on-demand. I want to know what's working, but I want to know it's working right now. So right now the ROI techniques give us a backwards look.

You ran a schedule, we do the analytics and you're able to say, "OK, here's what you've got for that spending, but it's a bit of a rear-view mirror."

You want a terminal on your desk with your sales data coming in and your media schedule as it's running, coming in and analytics being done in real time that gives you the ability to have some sense of what's working and what's not working in the marketplace in real time so you can make adjustments. That's the future of ROI as sure as the nose on my face.

What is the future of product and content integration?

I do not think the future of advertising is a Coke can in front of a judge on American Idol. If that's what it's all about and if it's "The Restaurant," we're in trouble. I would say the first thing is that strategic entertainment has to have three elements. One it has to be kind of organic. It has to be naturally integrated into the program. Two, it's going to have to be put within an environment that's interesting to watch. You can't be watching paint dry. Third and finally, it has to be strategic. I think that's what I liked about the Oprah G6 thing was it was fun, it was kind of naturally integrated and it helped during the launch of a new product. I think we'll see it grow where the products are woven more and more into the plot. So I think that The Apprentice model is actually pretty darn good.

And I think you'll see advertisers get more and more involved in the production of content and find ways of either the Hallmark Hall of Fame model where we'll create content and put some ads in it or the Apprentice model where someone else will create the content and advertisers will find a way to weave themselves into the story line.