Anthony Pitts's guest appearances

Anthony Pitts

This Is Attribution

Greg Collins

David Kaplan

Jim Spaeth

Kevin Seaman

Vanessa Branco

Jane Clarke

Rudy Grahn

Lee Beale

Nathan Gorenflo

Leslie Laredo

Alice Sylvester

Michael Kaushansky

Havas Helia

Ted Moon

OwlTail

Welcome to Throwback Tuesday where we share important interviews we believe warrant another listen! Today’s interview is with Anthony Pitts from DraftKings. This discussion managed to touch on most of the critical aspects of attribution as it pertains to qualitative or “squishy” data analysis— like the human decision-making process. Guest bio: Anthony Pitts was the VP of acquisitions at DraftKings from 2012 to 2015. Under his leadership, the company scaled its customer base at a remarkable rate while decreasing the cost of customer acquisitions.   Before DraftKings, Tony spent over seven years in the digital ad tech world overseeing the successful completion of thousands of advertising campaigns that spanned multiple industries while finding actionable ways to use his theoretical understanding on how to increase company yield through advertising.   Key takeaways: [2:00] I introduce today’s guest, Anthony Pitts, and ask him about how he came from studying voter behavior to finding how to apply all those squishy concepts to advertising and eventually building up to attribution as the way to efficient marketing strategies. [10:04] Tony walks us through his first steps at DraftKings, shares the story of how Google and Facebook shut them off in the beginning! And he breaks down how the first campaign was built as well as the reasons underpinning the decisions they took around it. [13:02] Tony shares how they planned out who to target and what tiny budget he built his first four-week campaign with and what that meant in terms of using logic and empirical thought processes — there was no roadmap for this kind of thing back then! [16:09] With a budget ballooning to 10 times its original size, how do you know what’s good? How do you know where to invest the money: TV, radio, Facebook or whatever digital channel? Where is your biggest ROI? Tony shares his tips.   1. Establish a process Tony took estimates and did data analysis to determine which channels would get the most money (TV has a broader impact and so got more budget allocation.) This allowed for subsequent evaluation and performance reviews for the channels, which, in turn, allows for adjustments for performance.   2. Track your data For DraftKings, getting an email address was the first point of conversion considered, so identifying which channel permitted this was the first part. Each channel was assigned a promo code which allowed for tracking for the original conversion channel through the customer’s existence.   [23:48] Tony speaks to the importance of timing. After setting up your process, when do you spend all that money? Each business has its own rhythm in terms of customer acquisitions: seasonal components that will increase the probability of customer acquisition. [25:45] Tony touches on the reasons why he thinks some marketers aren’t doing attribution and what he would suggest for them to start with as well as some tips to convince the decisional teams. [30:00] I ask Tony about the seemingly decreasing popularity of testing among marketers as well as why — and what — they should be testing for. [32:42] Measurement and attribution should not be thought of in the same spending class as media; Tony believes it’s more of an infrastructure functionality. But when it comes to media expenditures, he offers that all things being equal, you should always aim at spending as little as possible to achieve your desired goal! (Unless there is a learning curve, then you should invest in knowledge.) [36:21] Tony answers my question as to where is attribution headed to, five or 10 years into the future. [40:30] I highlight a point Tony made that nothing will give you absolute truth, but a mix of different sources will get you an increasingly more precise picture. [42:56] Tony shares one thing he knows that no one else knows: don’t get bogged down in the minutiae of tactics — at the end of the day it’s about the big picture. I thank him for coming on the podcast and sharing so much of his experience.   Be sure to tune in for the next episode and thanks for listening!   Connect with our guest: Anthony Pitts on LinkedIn   Mentioned in this episode DraftKings Game Theory Voter behavior   About your host: Jeff Greenfield is the Co-Founder and Chief Attribution Officer of C3 Metrics. As the chief architect of the platform, Greenfield worked directly with the former CEO and Chairmen of Nielsen to solve advertising’s attribution problem.   Greenfield’s history of technology and marketing initiatives has served blue-chip clients including GlaxoSmithKline, Kimberly-Clark, Sony BMG, Black &amp; Decker, Forest Labs, Plum Creek, and more.   Prior to co-founding C3 Metrics, Greenfield was a recognized thought leader in the area of Branded Content as the publisher of Branded Entertainment Monthly, a joint effort with VNU Media, detailing industry statistics, gaps, and trends. He’s been a featured speaker at NAPTE, The Next Big Idea, and a news source in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, ABC, CBS, CNET, and Investor’s Business Daily. Greenfield studied Biochemistry at the University of Maryland, holds dual degrees from Southern California University of Health Sciences and is an instrument-rated pilot.   Jeff Greenfield at C3 metrics Jeff Greenfield on LinkedIn Jeff Greenfield on Twitter

Welcome to Throwback Tuesday where we share important interviews we believe warrant another listen! Today’s interview is with Anthony Pitts from DraftKings. This discussion managed to touch on most of the critical aspects of attribution as it pertains to qualitative or “squishy” data analysis— like the human decision-making process. Guest bio: Anthony Pitts was the VP of acquisitions at DraftKings from 2012 to 2015. Under his leadership, the company scaled its customer base at a remarkable rate while decreasing the cost of customer acquisitions. Before DraftKings, Tony spent over seven years in the digital ad tech world overseeing the successful completion of thousands of advertising campaigns that spanned multiple industries while finding actionable ways to use his theoretical understanding on how to increase company yield through advertising. Key takeaways: [2:00] I introduce today’s guest, Anthony Pitts, and ask him about how he came from studying voter behavior to finding how to apply all those squishy concepts to advertising and eventually building up to attribution as the way to efficient marketing strategies. [10:04] Tony walks us through his first steps at DraftKings, shares the story of how Google and Facebook shut them off in the beginning! And he breaks down how the first campaign was built as well as the reasons underpinning the decisions they took around it. [13:02] Tony shares how they planned out who to target and what tiny budget he built his first four-week campaign with and what that meant in terms of using logic and empirical thought processes — there was no roadmap for this kind of thing back then! [16:09] With a budget ballooning to 10 times its original size, how do you know what’s good? How do you know where to invest the money: TV, radio, Facebook or whatever digital channel? Where is your biggest ROI? Tony shares his tips. 1. Establish a process Tony took estimates and did data analysis to determine which channels would get the most money (TV has a broader impact and so got more budget allocation.) This allowed for subsequent evaluation and performance reviews for the channels, which, in turn, allows for adjustments for performance. 2. Track your data For DraftKings, getting an email address was the first point of conversion considered, so identifying which channel permitted this was the first part. Each channel was assigned a promo code which allowed for tracking for the original conversion channel through the customer’s existence. [23:48] Tony speaks to the importance of timing. After setting up your process, when do you spend all that money? Each business has its own rhythm in terms of customer acquisitions: seasonal components that will increase the probability of customer acquisition. [25:45] Tony touches on the reasons why he thinks some marketers aren’t doing attribution and what he would suggest for them to start with as well as some tips to convince the decisional teams. [30:00] I ask Tony about the seemingly decreasing popularity of testing among marketers as well as why — and what — they should be testing for. [32:42] Measurement and attribution should not be thought of in the same spending class as media; Tony believes it’s more of an infrastructure functionality. But when it comes to media expenditures, he offers that all things being equal, you should always aim at spending as little as possible to achieve your desired goal! (Unless there is a learning curve, then you should invest in knowledge.) [36:21] Tony answers my question as to where is attribution headed to, five or 10 years into the future. [40:30] I highlight a point Tony made that nothing will give you absolute truth, but a mix of different sources will get you an increasingly more precise picture. [42:56] Tony shares one thing he knows that no one else knows: don’t get bogged down in the minutiae of tactics — at the end of the day it’s about the big picture. I thank him for coming on the podcast and sharing so much of his experience. Be sure to tune in for the next episode and thanks for listening! Connect with our guest: Anthony Pitts on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyapitts/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> Mentioned in this episode <a href="https://www.draftkings.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DraftKings</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Game Theory</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_behavior" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Voter behavior</a> About your host: Jeff Greenfield is the Co-Founder and Chief Attribution Officer of C3 Metrics. As the chief architect of the platform, Greenfield worked directly with the former CEO and Chairmen of Nielsen to solve advertising’s attribution problem. Greenfield’s history of technology and marketing initiatives has served blue-chip clients including GlaxoSmithKline, Kimberly-Clark, Sony BMG, Black &amp; Decker, Forest Labs, Plum Creek, and more. Prior to co-founding C3 Metrics, Greenfield was a recognized thought leader in the area of Branded Content as the publisher of Branded Entertainment Monthly, a joint effort with VNU Media, detailing industry statistics, gaps, and trends. He’s been a featured speaker at NAPTE, The Next Big Idea, and a news source in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, ABC, CBS, CNET, and Investor’s Business Daily. Greenfield studied Biochemistry at the University of Maryland, holds dual degrees from Southern California University of Health Sciences and is an instrument-rated pilot. Jeff Greenfield at <a href="https://c3metrics.com/leadership/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">C3 metrics</a> Jeff Greenfield on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffgreenfield" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> Jeff Greenfield on <a href="https://twitter.com/jeffgreenfield?lang=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a>

Throwback Tuesday! Attribution’s $400 Million Marketer, Anthony Pitts