Marketing investment is on an upward curve and the role of marketing is strengthened by the use of data and targeting as short-termism continues to grip the industry, a survey of 1,000 global CMOs has revealed.
Technology CMOs are most likely to increase their budgets while food, beverage and automotive CMOs are most likely to slash marketing budgets, according to the Dentsu Aegis Network report ‘How Brands Win in the Digital Economy: CMO Survey 2018’.
Sixty percent of marketers expect to increase their marketing budgets, led by larger organisations where 43% expect to see increases of 5% or more.
However, the study also revealed a worrying trend – that short-term budgets are increasing but securing long-term investment is the biggest problem facing CMOs in their ability to deliver on strategy.
In other words, it appears there is money for short-term sales lift activities but not for brand building.
The global study also included 100 Australian CMOs. This group of CMOs cited insufficient control over digital investments or programs across the company as the biggest obstacle to delivering their marketing strategy.
A lack of integration across all elements of the customer experience ranked as the second biggest internal challenge, followed by an inability to transform the business quickly enough.
Seventy-one percent of Australian CMOs identify the evolution of data usage to reach real people as the biggest strategic opportunity over the next 2-3 years.
Data was also recognised as presenting challenges, with 68% of Australian CMOs agreeing that although there is now more consumer data available, extracting insight is harder.
“The outlook in Australia is largely positive, with marketers geared for growth and looking to build on the marketing function’s role in delivering business outcomes. The importance of working with the right partners to drive growth is reinforced also, with the complexities of data and the digital economy requiring specialist capability to maximise opportunities,” Dentsu Aegis Network ANZ CEO Simon Ryan said.
“It’s interesting to note that Australian marketers identify consumers’ intolerance for advertising as a major barrier to building better relationships with customers. As an industry we need to come up with new ways to engage consumers, and leverage data to overcome this by ensuring messages are genuinely relevant to the audience.”
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