• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, July 5, 2022

Would advertisers who create a Chief Media Officer role at their companies be in a better position to improve media ROI and generally be more proficient in deploying media assets and expenditures?

Advertisers and agencies are increasingly convinced that the answer is yes, according to a new report from media and marketing consultant ID Comms.   

A survey fielded by the firm found that nearly three-quarters of those polled agreed that advertisers would greatly benefit from having a Chief Media Officer in place. That’s up from a little more than half of respondents who expressed the same view in a 2019 survey.

Respondents pointed to both the importance of media and the increasing complexity of the space as top reasons why the presence of a Chief Media Officer could provide improvement in advertisers’ media performance.

According to the survey nearly 80% of advertisers without such a role in place believe that their ability to “make media more accountable” is unsatisfactory.

The findings are based on 45 responses from media, marketing, and procurement professionals with a range of global, regional and local market responsibilities. Advertiser respondents have a combined annual global media investment in excess of $10 billion and include representatives from FMCG / CPG, retail, pharmaceutical, food and drink, entertainment, automotive, luxury, finance, energy and telecommunications.

The research also found that over half of respondents considered media training investment levels at their firms to be too low within their own organizations and across the industry. As in previous ID Comms surveys, the main reason cited was lack of budget, followed by an inability to find the right training opportunities and time.  

The most beneficial training, per the survey would be focused on KPI setting, followed by an understanding of what drives media ROI and evaluating agency work.

The full report, titled the 2022 Global Training Report can be accessed here.