Book Review: Measuring Key Metrics

Book Review by Michael Morein 

Marketing Metrics: 50+ Metrics Every Executive Should Master
by Paul W. Ferris, Neil T. Bendle, Philip E. Pfeifer and David J. Reibstein
Wharton School Publishing, £16.99, ISBN-10: 0131873709, 384 pages

What gets measured gets done. While it is appreciated that metrics are a key component in the process of executing a plan, in terms of monitoring progress and allocating resources, choosing the appropriate metric for the job is crucial and not always easy. This book comprehensively covers metrics used in measuring market share, profitability, sales force performance, channel and product performance, pricing, promotion and other aspects worth measuring and monitoring.

The approach of the book is practical while offering research based insights. The book describes the way the metric is constructed reasonably clearly, provides examples to demonstrate how the metric is calculated and indicates the data source and possible pitfalls. Importantly the book helps to understand the relationship between metrics which in turn can help in choosing metrics that complement each other and encourage working towards a balanced and optimal end-result.

Although the book is intended for readers from the field of marketing, many of the metrics overlap other disciplines such as supply chain and finance and so the audience for the book is not limited to marketing managers and executives. It can be used as a useful reference for those engaged in developing a balanced scorecard, dashboards, and operational reports, regardless of the company size or industry.

It is likely that professionals in the field of marketing will find many of the metrics elementary. However the book also covers more unusual and sophisticated metrics which were previously too impractical to use, but, due to developments in technology, can now be applied to the real world.