My Three Cents
Makovsky
Thursday, February 20, 2014I’ve always believed that art has much wisdom to offer those of us in the world of business.
Australian songwriter and performer Peter Allen — together with his writing partner, Carole Bayer — created one of my favorite songs of the seventies: the classic “Everything Old Is New Again.” You can listen to it here.
Among the lyrics, which evoke a timeless truth:
Don’t throw the past away
You might need it some rainy day
Dreams can come true again
When everything old is new again
How true! Integrated marketing communications (IMC), for example, has been a concern for agencies and their clients for decades now … ever since Y&R’s Ed Ney introduced the “Whole Egg” concept. After lying dormant for a while, IMC has become an issue of supreme importance to CMOs, who are desperately seeking a holistic approach to their marketing communications with consumers.
Surveys sponsored by Avidan Strategies and Econsultancy reveal the data underpinning that point of view:
- When asked what was the most important thing that they wanted from an agency, more than two-thirds (68%) of CMOs put integrated marketing ahead of “effective advertising” (65%). In fact, integration is a pivotal factor in selecting a particular agency in a pitch and among the top reasons that marketers dismiss one agency and look for a new one.
- Nearly three out of four marketers are unimpressed by the way traditional agencies are transforming themselves to adopt digital marketing capabilities. A typical comment from a respondent was, “I think they have given up adapting and are laying low. I see very little interest in changing.”
- A different global survey of business people (not limited to CMOs) found that, while the vast majority of responding companies dabbled in integrated marketing, only 12% of respondents report that they have a truly integrated approach to all campaigns, across all channels.
Pablo Picasso once said: “Everything you can imagine is real.” The deficits that exist today could well be the greatest opportunities we can imagine … If we’re willing to act holistically, across channel and geographies, to deliver the value our clients crave.