• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, August 25, 2016

Home Depot’s marketing department had a ‘Hunger Games’ problem, according to Erin Everhart, Senior Manager of Media Strategy at the home improvement giant.

Whenever any money would be made available to achieve a goal, different teams -- search, social, etc. -- would all but kill each for their share.

The solution? “We’ve had to eliminate silos,” Everhart told attendees of MediaPost’s Brand Marketing Summit, on Thursday.

Now, “We’re not organized by the channel, we’re organized by the business line.”

Everhart doesn’t even like the term multichannel -- she prefers omnichannel, which, to her, suggests more “mixing” of channels.

The shift is increasingly critical as consumers’ attention spans continue to shorten as they sift through ever more content on ever more screens.

“We cannot be entertained by one thing at a time anymore,” Everhart said. “As advertisers, we’re competing with thing that have never been competition before.” Indeed, “We’re not competing for media placement -- we’re competing for attention.”

To overcome this immense challenge, it’s more important than ever for marketing teams to work together, Everhart added.