ORLANDO -- Characterizing marketers’ business results as “sluggish” and “negative,” Association of National Advertisers President and CEO Bob Liodice kicked off the association’s annual Masters of Marketing Conference today by calling on national advertisers to “take back the industry.”
Citing a “litany of concerns” including talent, diversity, metrics, privacy, ad fraud, ad blocking, viewability, and transparency Liodice described the current state of the overall marketing industry as “unproductive, unsustainable, and undesirable” and said U.S. marketers have effectively lost overall “control” of their industry.
Liodice did not provide a detailed plan of action, but called on attendees to establish new “parameters” to fix the problems.
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“In all candor, I don’t think creativity has ever been better,” Liodice said, throwing a bone to brand management teams and the agencies they work with -- but despite the relatively strong creative effectiveness, he said statistics indicated that U.S. sales over the past three years have slowed to “less than 2% growth annually.”
As has always been the case, Liodice hits the nail on the head. Bright shiny objects are no substitute for performance driven initiatives based on established marketing principles. Thank you Bob.
Large brands continue to rely on large agency partners, while smaller brands typically partner with independent shops. The latter may be benefitting from more of a 'co-manage/co-innovate' mindset w/ their clients vs. 'outsource/outcome' mentality of big brands. Shifting focus from procurement strategies to new business models and higher-value engagements will help the big brands reclaim share.
Co manage/co innovate/high value engagements and new business models is marketspeak and got us into the trouble we are in today. Proven performance driven initiatives exist that can work best.