# leocwlau

> Digital What and How


## Posts

- [Adobe vs Google Analytics: Which Fits Your Business Stage?](https://leocwlau.com/2026/adobe-vs-google-analytics-which-fits-your-business-stage/): The Adobe Analytics versus Google Analytics 4 debate is not about crowning a winner. It is about matching the platform to your organisation's maturity, scale, and ambition. Here is how to choose without falling into vendor tribalism.
- [Reimagining Marketing Leadership in the Age of AI](https://leocwlau.com/2026/reimagining-marketing-leadership-in-the-age-of-ai/): How must marketing leadership evolve when artificial intelligence becomes not merely a tool, but a force that transforms how we plan, execute, and measure our work? This article explores the shift from generative AI to agentic systems, the tension between democratisation and control, the challenge of maintaining brand differentiation, and what marketing leaders must remember as they architect human-machine collaboration in the age of infinite generation.
- [From Use Case to Organisational Capability](https://leocwlau.com/2026/from-use-case-to-organisational-capability/): The Familiar Cycle In some recent discussions with people I met at conferences or during catch-ups, we came across a story that was repeated. It starts with excitement. A new initiative has been announced. A digital transformation project, an automation opportunity, a process improvement initiative. Resources are allocated, a team is assembled, and work begins. For months, the team pushes forward, overcoming obstacles, making decisions, and delivering results. The pilot succeeds. The presentation is delivered. The stakeholders applaud. And then… silence. Six months later, another team faces a similar challenge. They start from scratch. They make the same mistakes. They rediscover […]
- [The Agentic Web: Beyond the Browser and Into the Functional Layer](https://leocwlau.com/2026/the-agentic-web-beyond-the-browser-and-into-the-functional-layer/): The internet is shifting from "page views" to "action completed," marking the death of the traditional browser for task completion. In this new Hybrid-Agentic ecosystem, AI agents navigate a website’s Functional Layer to execute complex tasks with mathematical precision, bypassing manual clicks and scrolls. As the Machine Economy emerges, businesses must adapt to serve both human experience and agentic utility. Explore how the Agentic Shift is rebuilding the digital world for speed, trust, and autonomy.
- [Beyond the Prompt - From Chatbots to Self-Hosted Agentic AI with Openclaw](https://leocwlau.com/2026/beyond-the-prompt-from-chatbots-to-self-hosted-agentic-ai-with-openclaw/): Moving from standard chatbots to Agentic AI with Openclaw offers a more autonomous experience by shifting toward independent, task-oriented intelligence. By self-hosting the system within a Docker container using Ollama, I established a sustainable, private environment that treats the AI as a separate individual with its own dedicated accounts, effectively avoiding expensive API token usage. Official documentation is often insufficient, where some information is missing or glossed over. While users might expect AI chatbots to be helpful guides, they often prove unreliable for technical troubleshooting, providing "thoughtfully incorrect" suggestions that require verification. Achieving a successful setup ultimately necessitates manual research, combining official documents with web crawling and human intelligence to resolve hurdles. Because automated tools and standard guides fall short, users must be prepared to manually intervene and perform their own technical verification to bridge the gaps in the provided instructions.
- [Automated Adobe Launch Verification with n8n](https://leocwlau.com/2025/automated-adobe-launch-verification-with-n8n/): Learn how to build an automated Adobe Launch verification crawler using n8n and Puppeteer to proactively detect missing or misconfigured tags across your website, preventing data loss with cost-effective, scheduled monitoring and Google Sheets reporting.
- [Time Measurement and Reporting in Adobe Analytics](https://leocwlau.com/2025/time-measurement-and-reporting-in-adobe-analytics/): Master Adobe Analytics time spent: backward calculation secrets, why last hits get 0s, and how to accurately measure process completion time with plug-in.
- [Understanding Attribution in Adobe Analytics](https://leocwlau.com/2025/understanding-attribution-in-adobe-analytics/): In today’s data-driven marketing, understanding the customer journey is key to optimizing ROI. Adobe Analytics’ attribution assigns credit to touchpoints, revealing channel effectiveness, and contribution from various customer behaviours. There are three approaches for dynamic multi-touch analysis: Marketing Channels for acquisition, eVars for preferences, and Attribution Models in the Analysis Workspace.
- [MarTech Maturity in the Lens of Digital Customer Lifecycle](https://leocwlau.com/2025/martech-maturity-in-the-lens-of-digital-customer-lifecycle/): None of us would like to chase technology. Setting up a MarTech maturity framework with a digital customer lifecycle and regular assessments could give us a clear direction on where to go.
- [From Adobe Analytics Learner To Champion](https://leocwlau.com/2024/from-adobe-analytics-learner-to-champion/): A journey from Adobe Analytics learner to champion over a decade covering learn, excel, share, and champion. Observe, think, and try are the trio in learning. Demand, curiosity, empathy, and sharing knowledge internally and externally are important factors in going from learner to champion.
- [Combining A/B Testing and Personalization](https://leocwlau.com/2024/combining-a-b-testing-and-personalization/): In today's digital landscape, personalization is key to enhancing user experiences and driving conversions. But how can we truly measure its impact? There are some approaches to merge A/B testing and personalization, unlocking the potential to deliver tailored experiences while evaluating effectiveness.
- [How to pass the Adobe Analytics Architect Exam](https://leocwlau.com/2024/how-to-pass-the-adobe-analytics-architect-exam/): Sharing my journey of preparing for and successfully clearing this challenging certification in one go. It has a bit of a showoff 😁, some references for preparation, and experience from the examination. If you aim to become an Adobe Analytics Architect, I hope this can offer some help to secure a one-time pass.
- [Recalculate Adobe Target Result](https://leocwlau.com/2024/recalculate-adobe-target-result/): Go beyond the basics and unlock powerful insights by integrating Adobe Target with Adobe Analytics via A4T, to analyze testing and personalization activities using a wide range of metrics. Addressing the limitation of the A4T solution by leveraging Data Warehouse and Data Feed to perform offline calculations using Python to perform Welch's t-test and proportion test.
- [Harnessing GenAI Chatbot to Generate A/B Testing Ideas](https://leocwlau.com/2024/harnessing-genai-chatbot-to-generate-a-b-testing-ideas/): A/B testing is vital for optimizing web page performance, but generating impactful ideas can be time-consuming. Using a GenAI Chatbot can streamline ideation, enable data-driven decisions, and boost web page conversions.
- [What Makes a Success: Delivery and Presentation](https://leocwlau.com/2024/what-makes-a-success-delivery-and-presentation/): It is an incredible honour to be invited to serve as a judge at the Digital Media Awards 2024, a privilege that I have a chance to look into some of the most innovative and impactful campaigns. It comes to me that there are two primary factors when I am reviewing entries and call them success or not, the capability to deliver and the capability to present. That can go further to personal and professional development as well.
- [Tab, Tab, Tab, And Website Traffic Analytics](https://leocwlau.com/2024/tab-tab-tab-and-website-traffic-analytics/): We are using tabs for web browsing a lot which can seriously impact the web analytics of the site: user behaviour across multiple tabs and windows, sharing cookies, isn't distinguished in data analysis. This behaviour affects accurate session tracking and attribution, complicating the understanding of user journeys. Solutions include improving website design and tracking, shifting towards user-centric analytics, and augmenting quantitative data with qualitative research.
- [Measuring Customer Journeys For Life Insurance In Asia Using Adobe Analytics](https://leocwlau.com/2024/measuring-customer-journeys-for-life-insurance-in-asia-using-adobe-analytics/): Wenzhou-Kean University collaborates with Hong Kong Baptist University, adopting Adobe Analytics to equip students with transborder skills in web analytics. Invited by Hong Kong Baptist University to share the caption with students from Wenzhou-Kean University attending an Adobe Analytics training conducted by HKBU to present Asia's insurance industry landscape, and how the Internet and digital tools enable better customer experiences, process efficiency, deeper engagement, and the measurement.
- [Can We Really Replace The Cookie?](https://leocwlau.com/2023/can-we-really-replace-the-cookie/): What are the concerns around HTTP cookies such as security and privacy issues, and the challenges of a cookieless environment and how it impacts brands' digital marketing efforts? We should be focusing on first-party data, enhancing the overall customer experience, using cross-channel analytics, marketing automation, and customer data platforms to adapt to the post-cookie era.
- [Tracking Adobe Experience Cloud ID With WebSDK](https://leocwlau.com/2023/tracking-adobe-experience-cloud-id-with-websdk/): The ECID is a unique identifier in Adobe Experience Cloud/Platform that helps recognize individuals and devices. While ECID is not available as a dimension in Adobe Analytics, capturing it as a custom dimension is desired for data linkage. The older AppMeasurement tracking allows assigning the ECID using the getMarketingCloudVisitorID() function. However, with the new WebSDK, the getIdentity command is used asynchronously, posing challenges in capturing and assigning the ECID. Workarounds involve retrieving the ECID separately and using custom actions with JavaScript Promises.
- [Converting event_list And post_event_list In Adobe Analytics Data Feed](https://leocwlau.com/2022/converting-event_list-and-post_event_list-in-adobe-analytics-data-feed/): The event_list and post_event_list columns are heavily encoded and impossible to use directly. Showing how to convert the encoded event_list and post_event_list columns in Adobe Analytics Data Feed into meaningful event names and split them into individual columns using Apache Spark to make the data more interpretable and easier to analyze.
- [User Retention By Days Of Access](https://leocwlau.com/2021/user-retention-by-days-of-access/): Instead of the traditional day since the last visit or cohort analysis, calculating user retention based on the number of days users access a portal or app over multiple visits provides a more comprehensive understanding of retention. Using PySpark with Adobe Analytics Data Feed to extract the required data, calculate the weekly and monthly access rates, apply time-decayed weighting for recent months, and visualize the results. The goal is to gain better insights into how often users engage with the platform over time.
- [Rebuilding Adobe Analytics Full Path Report With Spark](https://leocwlau.com/2021/rebuilding-adobe-analytics-full-path-report-with-spark/): The full path report is missing in the new Analysis Workspace in Adobe Analytics and rebuilding using Apache Spark. However, we can rebuild it using Apache Spark and data from the Adobe Analytics Data Feed, by reading the hit data, filtering valid page names, grouping by visit, ordering the page sequences, removing duplicates if needed, and counting the occurrences of each unique path.
- [Optimise Custom Dimension Usage In Adobe Analytics](https://leocwlau.com/2021/optimise-custom-dimension-usage-in-adobe-analytics/): Here is the second half of my sharing in the Adobe Experience Maker The Skill Exchange event about optimising custom dimension usage. For multinational companies, it is common to have similar websites across multiple countries with similar features and slightly different data collection, such as lead generation forms from different countries collecting similar but different user information. Market A Lead Form: Market B Lead Form: Market C Lead Form: Even for a single market company, there may be the same feature with different data collection requirements on different applications, such as filter functions on products, past orders, and shop addresses. Product Filter: Past […]
- [Optimising Click Tracking With Adobe Launch](https://leocwlau.com/2021/optimising-click-tracking-with-adobe-launch/): It was my honour to be invited to join an Adobe online event to share my experience using Adobe Analytics, the recording is available at Experience Makers The Skill Exchange. Video content is good but I prefer to read articles than watch videos. So I am repeating the content in the article format here. I have two sharing in the online event and here is the first one on optimising click event tracking using Adobe Launch. Mouse clicks are a common user interaction on websites and require tracking. However, click tracking can be complicated as there are many things users can click […]
- [Setting Up My Spark Lab](https://leocwlau.com/2021/setting-up-my-spark-lab/): When learning Spark and testing with small datasets, I can simply run a local Spark instance with the following command which essentially creates a local Spark instance using all cores. This local instance has no worker and the driver will handle all jobs and tasks. However, it is more interesting and useful to run a local Spark cluster with a couple of workers such that the test run script can easily be reused in a production Spark cluster with minimal or no code change at all. The initial idea is to run a little Spark cluster on a single machine with […]
- [Visitor ID, The Must-Have Custom Dimension](https://leocwlau.com/2015/visitor-id-the-must-have-custom-dimension/): Understanding your visitors' behavior is essential for optimizing your website and tailoring your marketing strategies effectively. With this must-have custom dimension, you'll have the power to analyze visitor patterns, track user engagement, and make data-driven decisions to enhance your online presence
- [The Analytics Cycle](https://leocwlau.com/2015/the-analytics-cycle/): Strategic thinking and careful planning are required when it comes to implementing analytics solutions. The analytics cycle follows a plan-do-check-act framework. It all starts with defining or refining your conversion goals, and aligning them with your business objectives. The analytics cycle is a continuous journey that requires adaptation and improvement.
- [Optimizing Paid Search Experience](https://leocwlau.com/2014/optimizing-paid-search-experience/): A seamless journey for visitors who click on your ads and land on your website is the key to conversion and should be meticulously designed to cater to customers' needs and intentions. Optimizing the experience to guide searchers towards your products, differentiate yourself from competitors, and ultimately drive conversions.
- [Testing Behavioral Differences Between Two Sets Of Visitor](https://leocwlau.com/2014/testing-behavioral-differences-between-two-sets-of-visitor/): In the realm of web analytics, built-in reports provide valuable insights, but they often lack statistical measures to determine the significance of the reported data. By comparing the means of two different sets of data, we can uncover valuable insights. Understanding the behavioural differences between visitor segments can be immensely valuable for optimizing marketing strategies, website design, and user experience. By leveraging statistical analysis, we can make data-driven decisions and unlock new growth opportunities.
- [Sharing Of HKU MSc (ECom&IComp) Program](https://leocwlau.com/2014/sharing-of-hku-msc-ecomicomp-program/): Are you ready to take your career to new heights and gain a competitive edge in the ever-evolving digital landscape? Whether you're looking for part-time study options or aiming to align your studies with your current role in digital marketing, the MSc (ECom&IComp) program at HKU might be the perfect fit for you.
- [Big Data Is Only About Variety](https://leocwlau.com/2014/big-data-is-only-about-variety/): When talking about big data, we usually talk about the three V's: volume, velocity, and variety. While volume and velocity are indeed important, variety plays a pivotal role in differentiating big data from traditional data management and analysis.
- [Connecting Analytics In Physical And Electronic Worlds](https://leocwlau.com/2014/connecting-analytics-in-physical-and-electronic-worlds/): By merging analytics from physical spaces and digital platforms, from retail stores to smart devices, data-driven insights can be harnessed to optimize customer experiences and drive business growth. With the advent of advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and location-based analytics, organizations now have the power to bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds. By leveraging data collected from various touchpoints, businesses can gain a comprehensive understanding of customer behaviour, preferences, and trends.
- [Mobile App Vs Mobile Web](https://leocwlau.com/2014/mobile-app-vs-mobile-web/): Mobile app or not? While mobile apps have their advantages, opting for a mobile app may not always be the best approach, especially if it lacks regular updates or if a web counterpart already exists. Some key factors to consider when making this decision, such as background execution, hardware dependencies, offline usage, and overall readiness.
- [(The Emerging) User Experience](https://leocwlau.com/2014/the-emerging-user-experience/): User experience has been steadily gaining interest over time. It's an essential aspect of customer-centric approaches, including customer experience, digital experience, and more. The maturing of the internet has played a significant role in driving this shift. As the awareness of user experience rises, organizations are actively seeking ways to enhance the user experience across various touchpoints and throughout the entire user journey.
- [Digital Property Needs A Conversion Goal](https://leocwlau.com/2014/digital-property-needs-a-conversion-goal/): Simply focusing on traffic volume or downloads isn't enough, it is important to align your digital property's objectives with your organization's goals. By setting a conversion goal, you'll have a clear direction for optimizing your efforts and improving user engagement. By monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) related to your conversion goal. This data-driven approach allows you to make informed decisions and enhance the productivity of your digital properties.
- [Analytics Outliner Detection](https://leocwlau.com/2014/analytics-outliner-detection/): Explores the challenges of monitoring multiple digital properties and offers a unique approach using standard scores for early problem detection. Discover how to improve tracking stability and react promptly to issues.

## Pages

- [Adobe Analytics - A Champion’s Handbook](https://leocwlau.com/knowledge-hub/adobe-analytics-a-champions-handbook/): Every click, scroll, abandoned cart, and conversion holds intelligence that can transform how organisations compete, serve customers, and scale. Adobe Analytics captures this intelligence at enterprise scale—turning noise into signal, signal into insight, and insight into action. This handbook is not a generic user manual for clicking buttons in the UI. It is a strategic and tactical playbook for implementing, analysing, and governing Adobe Analytics at global enterprise scale. Key Book Capabilities Chapters Overview The Adobe Analytics: A Champion’s Handbook is organised into nine chapters, each covering a critical competency area. Read them sequentially to build comprehensive expertise, or dive into […]
- [TagScanner - Find Out What Tracking Tools Are on Your Website](https://leocwlau.com/tools/tagscanner-find-out-what-tracking-tools-are-on-your-website/): What Is TagScanner? Many websites utilise tracking tools such as Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and other marketing tags to collect visitor data. But how do you know what tools are actually on your site and where they’re located? TagScanner automatically crawls your website and identifies all tracking tools present. It gives you a clear report showing: Perfect for marketers, developers, and privacy officers who need to understand their site’s tracking landscape. How It Works TagScanner uses a three-layer architecture to scan websites and detect tracking tools: The Scanning Process Getting Started You’ll receive an email when your scan is […]
- [Tools](https://leocwlau.com/tools/)
- [MarTech Maturity](https://leocwlau.com/knowledge-hub/martech-maturity/)
- [Knowledge Hub](https://leocwlau.com/knowledge-hub/): Welcome to the Knowledge Hub — a curated collection of frameworks, guides, and best practices designed to help enterprise marketing teams build, optimise, and scale their MarTech capabilities. What You’ll Find Here The Knowledge Hub is organised into Pillars — comprehensive topic areas that cover the full spectrum of MarTech strategy and execution. Each Pillar contains in-depth articles, practical frameworks, and actionable checklists. Pillar Status Description MarTech Maturity ✅ Complete A strategic framework for assessing and advancing your MarTech capabilities across 4 stages of growth Adobe Analytics ✅ Complete Deep-dive into Adobe Analytics implementation, governance, and advanced analysis for enterprise teams MarTech Maturity […]
- [Self-Assessment Framework: Where Do You Stand?](https://leocwlau.com/knowledge-hub/martech-maturity/self-assessment-framework-where-do-you-stand/): How to Use This Assessment This self-assessment framework is designed to help you evaluate your organisation’s MarTech maturity across the 5 components introduced in The Concept of MarTech Maturity: The Foundation: Data Collection (The Bedrock of Integrity) — Everything builds on this The Four Pillars: Analytics & Reporting, Data Platform, Marketing Automation, Testing & Personalisation Instructions: Time required: 30-45 minutes for an individual assessment; 2-3 hours for a team workshop. Who should participate: Include representatives from Marketing, IT/Digital, Analytics, and Marketing Operations. Different perspectives will reveal gaps and alignment opportunities. Assessment: The 5 Components The Foundation: Data Collection (The Bedrock of Integrity) The bedrock of MarTech maturity. Without […]
- [The Bottom Line: Connecting MarTech to Business Value](https://leocwlau.com/knowledge-hub/martech-maturity/the-bottom-line-connecting-martech-to-business-value/): The Million-Dollar Question: What’s the ROI? Every CMO, CFO, and CIO has asked it: “We’re investing millions in MarTech. What are we getting back?” It’s a fair question. But it’s also the hardest one to answer—because MarTech ROI isn’t like manufacturing ROI. You can’t measure it in units produced or defects reduced. The value is indirect, distributed, and often invisible until something breaks. The challenge: MarTech creates value in three ways: Most enterprises measure #1 (imperfectly), ignore #2 (because it’s invisible), and only notice #3 when it fails. This chapter gives you the framework to connect MarTech investment to business outcomes in a way that […]
- [Enterprise Pillars: Governance & Scalable Architecture](https://leocwlau.com/knowledge-hub/martech-maturity/enterprise-pillars-governance-scalable-architecture/): The Enterprise Challenge: Scale Without Chaos For multinational organisations or any enterprise managing dozens of brands, the MarTech challenge is exponentially more complex than for a single-market business. You’re not just managing one website, one analytics implementation, or one automation workflow. You’re orchestrating: The fundamental question of enterprise MarTech is: How do you maintain global standards while empowering local execution? Get this wrong, and you end up with chaos, fragmented data, inconsistent customer experiences, compliance violations, and wasted budget. Get it right, and you unlock unprecedented scale: the ability to launch campaigns across 20 markets in days, share learnings instantly, and leverage […]
- [The 4 Stages of Growth: From Foundations to Personalization](https://leocwlau.com/knowledge-hub/martech-maturity/the-4-stages-of-growth-from-foundations-to-personalization/): The Four-Stage Maturity Model Not every organisation starts at the same point, and that’s by design. The MarTech Maturity Model is built on the understanding that growth is incremental. You cannot build a skyscraper on a foundation meant for a bungalow. Similarly, you cannot implement AI-driven personalisation without first establishing reliable data collection and governance. This framework defines four distinct stages of MarTech maturity. Each stage represents a measurable combination of technical capability and organisational readiness. Progressing through these stages is not about acquiring more tools. It’s about deepening your strategic command of the tools you already have. Stage 1: Fragmented […]
- [The Concept of MarTech Maturity](https://leocwlau.com/knowledge-hub/martech-maturity/the-concept-of-martech-maturity/): The Paradox of the Modern Marketing Stack In the current digital landscape, we are witnessing a strange paradox. Organisations have access to more sophisticated marketing technology than ever before. Cloud computing, real-time data processing, and AI-driven insights are theoretically at the fingertips of every CMO. Yet, despite the billions of dollars poured into these platforms, Adobe, Salesforce, Google, and beyond, many enterprises report a diminishing return on their MarTech investments. They find themselves “data rich but insight poor.” They possess a fragmented “Franken-stack” where tools don’t talk to each other, data is trapped in regional silos, and the promise of a […]
- [Toolkit - Adobe Analytics](https://leocwlau.com/toolkit-adobe-analytics/): A simple web application to provide useful and consolidated information for Adobe Analytics administrators with lots of report suites to manage. It uses Adobe Analytics API 2.0 instead of sunsetting API 1.4, so a lot of administrative information is missing. However, it should be good enough to provide a good overview. There are large tables for showing combinations of report suites and dimensions/metrics. Please use a desktop computer and monitor with adequate resolution, instead of a mobile device. Log in with your Adobe ID at https://app.leocwlau.com/toolkit-aa to start. All information is stored locally in the browser as an IndexedDB, nothing will […]
- [Contact](https://leocwlau.com/contact/)
- [About Me](https://leocwlau.com/about-me/): Welcome to my blog! Every website seems to require an About page and here it is. I am a marketing director, web developer, and enterprise data architect with an extensive background navigating the intersection of marketing technology and digital analytics. As an Adobe Certified Architect, an Adobe Community Advisor since 2023, and a member of the Adobe Analytics Champions 2022, I am deeply embedded in the global analytics ecosystem, actively contributing to and helping shape the best practices that power modern data-driven decisions. A builder at heart, my expertise spans from frontend development and automation workflows to advanced marketing analytics architecture. […]
- [Privacy Policy](https://leocwlau.com/privacy-policy/): Collection and Use of Personal Information We may collect personal information from you when you voluntarily provide it to us while interacting with our blog site. This information may include your name, email address, and any other details you choose to provide when submitting comments or contacting us directly. We will use this information solely to respond to your inquiries, manage your comments, and provide you with a personalized experience on our blog. When you leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the IP address and browser user agent string to help […]

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