By Mike SeimanOnline advertising has always suffered a kind of schizophrenia when it comes to showing itself as similar to or different from traditional media. There are some ways in which the industry can (and should) certainly post up on its uniqueness – the ability to facilitate and measure user interaction, for example – but there are also reasons it’s best served by tacking into conventional expectations, rather than attempting to blaze new trails simply because it can. One seemingly arbitrary difference that deserves rethinking is the way in which campaign success is attributed to media partners.In the offline advertising world, the concept of branding pivots around the idea that the consumer is somehow affected every time he is in contact with an element of the brand message. From first contact in a 30-second TV spot, to the second contact via a billboard on his commute, and right up to the final contact when the consumer is ambushed by the in-store POS display, it is understood that all of these points of contact have contributed to his ultimate purchase. The end sale is attributed, at least in part, to each of these touch points. No one would ever suggest that because the sale did not happen while the viewer was driving on the freeway, the billboard had no effect on his desire to ultimately engage the brand. It is assumed that the billboard played a role and it is, therefore, attributed a percentage of value in the process.The online world is different. For myriad reasons (none overly compelling), the measurement-centric focus of online advertising – and display advertising, specifically – has lead to a culture where attribution of a sale is given solely to the last marketing company to drop a cookie on the user’s browser. This “last cookie wins” culture perverts the ability of branding and performance to be seen as synergistic to each other. An online advertising partner is given the message that while their unique ability to create an impressive user/brand experience may be nice, the truth is that they will be judged simply by how many converted users saw their cookie last. In splitting the concept of brand exposure from the concept of measurable performance, the industry does itself a great disservice.The attribution debate has long raged in the online advertising space and will no doubt continue on. But if the industry is to lure more of the all-important brand dollars, it will have to proffer a new culture where, just as in offline, every touch of a user that ultimately converts is credited in some part for the conversion. Only then will the floodgates of creativity truly open up — digital partners will then know that their out-of-the-box thinking stands a chance of being rewarded over (or at least alongside) the efforts of the display chop shop that has been serving cheap ads below the fold, but where the cookie is still served.Fortunately, there is good news. At least one very prominent agency is implementing a cutting-edge attribution model with its digital partners related to a large-scale campaign for a high profile client. In this new model, attribution is split and assigned relative payout weights between the company that serves the user his first impression (this partner is called the “introducer’’), the partner serving the final impression prior to conversion (this partner is the “closer”), and all partners that served impression along the way (these are “influencers”). Interestingly, this method of campaign attribution pairs an older concept with a newer one unique to online. The consideration of these different stages is a traditional idea, but the ability to put specific touches into buckets is something that can only be done in an interactive environment. The concept is new and the results are not yet all in, but speaking of behalf of an ad network invited to be an early beta tester of the model, we see a lot of promise in the method.Contrary to some common thinking, the idea that online advertising can mirror the most desirable elements of traditional media should not be seen as an admission of weakness. Illustrating these links to traditional strategies while integrating the added value of the new capabilities is the path to luring forward-leaning brand advertisers to more fully embrace the online realm. Rethinking how we process online attribution is a great starting place.