• by Cory Treffiletti , Featured Contributor, January 11, 2006

As you all know, last week was when the techno-savvy overtook Las Vegas and debuted an array of gadgets and gizmos that each of us will undoubtedly be pining for over the coming months. I know I heard of a few personal planned purchases for 2006, but while I was reading articles and clicking through sites featuring some of the hottest items, I became attentive, once again, to the concept of integration and how technology is forcing this to happen faster now than ever before.

You might think it's a stretch for me to chat about integration while checking out cell phones, computers and plasma displays. Integration is not a concept that starts with advertising; it is a concept that starts with the consumer. Integration is actually nothing more than a response to what the consumer is already doing.

True integration comes from education and empowerment--educating consumers on what their options are, and empowering them with information and the opportunity or the permission to find a new way of doing things. What we see taking place in the world of advertising and marketing is the need for agencies to find new ways of addressing the age-old problems of how to reach a consumer with a targeted, effective message. While the consumer has taken the step towards technology, with broadband becoming dominant and cell phones more ubiquitous than televisions, the advertising and marketing world has not responded in an effective manner. The industry is starting to take the right steps, but we have a significant way to go.

Integration will not be any less of a buzzword in 2006 than it was in 2005, but rather than continue to say, "This needs to be happening," I want to offer an explanation on how. After all, I was always told that you shouldn't bring up a problem unless you have a proposed solution.

The solution is as simple as what I said before---education and empowerment. Integration really doesn't happen from the top down. It happens from the bottom up. Integration will take place when your planning teams are educated on what is going on in emerging media and empowered to look into it and act on it. The challenge to integration comes from territorial disputes over execution and ownership of ideas.

The day-to-day planners don't care about these issues, and therefore they are oblivious. They typically just want to do what's right and what's good for the clients. If they're empowered, and most importantly if they're given permission to look into and act on these ideas, then integration is inevitable. The backroom negotiations that resolve issues over revenue recognition and allocation of resources are secondary; however, I'd guess that most companies start trying to integrate their teams by appointing task forces and committees to address the issue. This creates process paralysis and overcomplicates things. Why set up a meeting to talk about something when you could be using that time to do it?

As consumers continue to adopt new technology and move forward in a cluttered environment by multitasking through their days, the need for integration is only going to increase, and the speed at which new ideas will be proposed will increase proportionally. That means agencies and advertisers are going to have to jump on the bandwagon very quickly. My suggestion to you, as you read this article, is to ask around in your organization. Ask the people on the ground who are executing the work on a day-to-day basis. These people are more progressive than you might think, and more willing to integrate than they are typically given credit for. These are the ones who will be the primary point of contact in the coming years, so let them dictate how things should work between groups. Oh---and while you're talking to them, you also might see some really cool gadgets along the way.