Marketing's Uphill Battle
Those of us in media and marketing have been feeling the effects of shrinking marketing budgets for some time. However, a new Accenture report "Onward and Up--How Marketers are Refocusing the Front Office for Growth," found that in addition to budget decreases, marketing organizations are also experiencing a shortage of skills and inadequate tools.
The study surveyed 400 senior marketing executives across Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America. Their top strategic objectives include improving operational efficiency, increasing profitability, and responding effectively to change. However, numerous barriers stand in their way.
For instance, only 23 percent of the respondents said their organizations excelled in customer analytics, innovation, customer engagement, and marketing operations. And 33 percent said they did not perform well in any of them.
Additionally, 43 percent said they were not making effective use of their online communities, 37 percent were not effectively using direct mail and telemarketing, and 34 percent were not using digital marketing effectively.
As ongoing economic uncertainty prevails, organizations must examine their marketing efforts across channels and make adjustments where necessary so that these shortcomings don't happen at the expense of the customer experience.
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