'Five Key Principles' for ROI

While traveling in Asia this week, I visited the Hong Kong office of Zenith Optimedia (http://www.zenithoptimedia.com/) and learned of the very effective way they are interpreting ‘return on investment’ for their clients. I believe that fellow luxury marketers will be as impressed as I was with Zenith’s clearly voiced ‘Five Key Principles’ to direct their communications activities for the success of their clients – Invest, Outcomes, Connect, Productivity and Evaluate.

1. Invest – We invest, not spend, clients’ budgets.
2. Outcomes – We are interested in outcomes, not simply outputs.
3. Connect – We believe in creating powerful connections with consumers to make investment work harder.
4. Productivity – We aim to increase the productivity of the marketing budget.
5. Evaluate – We strive to measure and improve returns on all activity.

Return on investment has always been important for luxury marketers regardless of their specific business segment (travel, retail, etc.), and it is probably even more paramount in the present climate. What Zenith Optimedia has done in articulating these principles is create something simple, understandable and focused that adds tremendous value to their relationship with their clients. We should never lose sight of the fact that, first and foremost, marketing agencies and clients must engage in constant dialogue to ensure an understanding of a client’s objectives with any communications plan that is executed. I encourage other companies to follow Zenith Optimedia’s example.