The top concerns on the minds of senior marketing executives are “integrated marketing communications” and “marketing accountability,” according to a recent study by the Association of National Advertisers. Guess which one of these two jumped to #1 from #4 last year?
The ANA asked over 100 senior marketers to select from a comprehensive list of subjects to rank their top three issues that directly impact their marketing decisions and plans. Integrated marketing communications jumped from the fourth spot in 2006 to the top of the list this year. Marketing accountability, which had topped the list for the previous three annual surveys, slipped to second place.
“The results recognize that marketers are increasingly challenged by the proliferation and complexity of the marketing and media landscape,” said Bob Liodice, the ANA’s president and CEO, in a statement. “It is not a surprise to see this, particularly as marketing mix allocations have become paramount in the overall accountability and brand building equations.”
Guess which issue came in last? Attracting and retaining top talent. I can’t tell if this means there’s a large supply of talent out there, or senior marketing execs just don’t see it as an issue.
Here’s the list of issues. Which one would you choose as YOUR top marketing issue?
Integrated marketing communications
Accountability
Aligning marketing organization with innovation
Building strong brands
Media proliferation
Consumer control over what and how they view advertising
Globalization of marketing efforts
Growth of multicultural consumer segments
Advertising creative that achieves business results
Attracting and retaining top talent
Read the press release for more.
I’m going to have to say for me it’s “advertising creative that achieves business results”
Fixing customer service is #1. It directly affects marketing plans because it directly affects (1) retaining existing customers and (2) capturing new. That trumps advertising for my clients.
Silly me…it’s not even on the list of options. I’ll have to ask Will at ANA about that.
Elaine,
I agree with CK. The most important challenge we face is understanding who our customers are, what they want and need, and how do we serve them better. That should be a marketing responsibility and job 1.
Perhaps Tom Peters is right. Big businesses can never be great because they are incapable of inspiration, motivation and perspiration. (My words not his. Translation–they don’t get it!)
I think that Big Biz can get it…just needs A LOT of BPR to bring CS back in-house. “If you want to get it…get back in touch/reach of your customers.” is what I say. But far, far more easily said than done and I appreciate Lewis’s points fully (and Tom Peters’ points, too).
Sorry to make this a customer service thread but I really like discussing this topic with Elaine–and you smart marketers–and it is THE #1 issue. Hmmm. I think I can safely draw the parallel that customer service is to biz what obesity is to america. It’s an epidemic and just getting worse as we keep placing patches on it, not really fixing the growing issue.
To that end, I’m on the hunt for a great and recent book on how to fix customer service for the BC this year. It’s important to me that we cover it this year…can people send suggestions my way (Elaine do you know of any?).
I’m of the mindset that “Creative that achieves business results” trumps “Advertising creative that achieves business results”.
Now, expand the definition of creative and you’ll see what I mean.
In fact, here’s how I’ve described it before: “Creative is more than what traditional marketers would have you believe. It’s more than just headlines and images. It’s not only about awards and prizes. The best creative is about the effectiveness and originality of the idea itself.
Creative is about stepping outside of the norm, exploring, trying new things, being willing to adjust, coming back with a better solution, then fine-tuning and trying again.”
This doesn’t refer to creative as being about headlines, copy and images. It’s a mindset that encompasses every branch of the marketing tree – customer service, promotions, P.R., everything. In other words, it’s a must to be creative in every facet of the operation, not just when it comes to advertising or marketing.
Ideal world stuff? Maybe. But we’ve got to start finding new solutions somewhere.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see, if we were to look back 10 years, pretty much the same issues that marketers feel are important. One possible exception might be consumer control over what and how they view advertising.
Customer service should also be high on the list, but I suppose many companies, especially the big ones, don’t view it as a marketing function. I feel, as I wrote on my blog on 3/22, that companies should view customer service not as an expense, but as a marketing investment. It might change their mindset as to how they handle it.
Love this dialog! In a way, one could argue that it depends on the particular company and who’s answering the survey to determine what the top issue would be. But, the more I see the fallout of poor service, I’m with Lewis and CK. If senior marketers aren’t focused on knowing their customers and providing them with memorable service, they can market till the cows come home, but who’s going to purchase what they’re offering?
CK, I have a book entitled, “Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless” by Jeffrey Gitomer. It may not serve your purpose as a fix-it book, and it’s not even new, but it’s an amazing primer on customer service and loyalty.
What happened to generating new business/leads?
Seems like that really needs to be on the list.
Am I missing something.
We live in an era of fragmentation where people are pulled in 10 million different directions.
If they do not buy, all the marketing in the world is a waste.
Where’s the lead?
Mike
Michael, maybe the senior executives in this survey have trust in their sales teams and don’t think of it as an issue of concern? Or maybe not.
I work at a PR and business development agency where we have been hearing some of these exact issues from CMOs. We started a video library on our firm’s website that features CMOs speaking about their greatest marketing challenges and the strategies they use to meet them. Toni Lee Rudnicki, CMO of iDirect, describes achieving what she calls “surround sound marketing” as a top goal of her depratment. You can see the video and Ms. Rudnicki’s take on integrated marketing here:
http://www.gotostrategic.com/mediaLibrary/mediaLibrary.php