• by Gavin O'Malley , June 15, 2009

A clear majority of senior marketers -- 67% -- are now running cross-channel campaigns, yet only 12% are integrating performance data across channels, according to new research from rich media purveyor Eyeblaster in conjunction with TNS Media Intelligence.

One reason? "Technology has hit a plateau, holding agencies and brands back," according to the March survey of 400 senior marketing executives.

A majority -- about 60% -- of marketers say they would like to integrate data more often, but rarely do because of a lack of confidence in the numbers.

Moreover, some 44% or respondents blame a lack of suitable metrics to measure impact, 37% blame lack of case studies showing cross-channel effectiveness, and 34% cite lack of technology.

Worse still, most marketers report feeling that clients fail to see the big picture with regard to digital, and generally speaking, believe that not enough money is being put behind it.

Indeed, over two-thirds of respondents say their clients know just enough to get by, or can use the term "Web 2.0" but really don't know what it means. On the other side, the majority of advertisers think that agencies know only about as much as they do, and that fully 15% of agencies only know enough to get by.

"We attribute this frustration to the fact that the market sits between reality and expectations, not moving fast enough and showing signs that we are still far away from a tipping point of both deployment and deep understanding of digital technology and its applications," according to the report.

In general, marketers are still in the early stages of cross-channel data analysis and comparisons with most marketers only comparing the effects of online comparisons for TV, mobile or outdoor, the report finds.

Obviously of particular interest to Eyeblaster, 63% of marketers credited interactive display rich media with driving both brand-building and response. Still -- showing the relative immaturity of the industry -- over 73% of respondents still cite rich media as "cutting edge," as opposed to "cross channel" at 48%.

Looking ahead, once enabled to accept digital advertising, respondents expect mobile and TV to be the top channels for branding and response, as well as the go-to channels for brand-response synergy.

Overall, respondents still expect total market spending to grow by 30% over the next two years, with a third of the market experiencing growth over 50%.