Integrated Marketing Communications and Consumer Control become major marketing issues

Once upon a time, not long ago, media was dominated by newspapers, television and radio. Advertising agencies made one advert and ran it many times. Life was easy, lunches were long and cheques were fat, but the proliferation of new media and the growing complexity of the media landscape is quickly becoming the biggest challenge faced by marketers. A survey conducted by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) polled 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,” says Bob Liodice, President and CEO of the ANA. “It is not a surprise to see this particularly as marketing mix allocations have become paramount in the overall accountability and brand building equations. The ANA will continue to provide marketers with insights and tools to navigate their brands through these critical times.”

Integrated marketing communications received 116 votes, while accountability garnered 114. “Aligning the marketing organization with innovation” surfaced for the second year in a row as a major priority for marketers with 89 votes, and “building strong brands” and “media proliferation” rounded out the top five major concerns for the industry with 75 and 49 votes respectively. The ANA will use these findings to help shape the content of its Masters of Marketing Annual Conference scheduled to take place October 11 – 14, 2007 in Phoenix, AZ.

ANA’s membership includes 375 companies with 8500 brands that collectively spend over US$100 billion in marketing communications and advertising.

The ANA strives to communicate marketing best practices, lead industry initiatives, influence industry practices, manage industry affairs and advance, promote and protect all advertisers and marketers.