It’s a funny business, advertising. The ability to track clicks and impression online has helped to remove some of the unknown, but it’s still a business that is vague. Coke has to advertise to keep up with Pepsi. Nike has to advertise to fend off Adidas. Companies have to maintain their market share and build up their brand. How much of the money they spend goes to waste though? Is that big billboard off the freeway worth it? Did that commercial really help our brand?
Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.
-John Wanamaker
US department store merchant (1838 – 1922)