The
accelerating shift to digitally-delivered media, high high interest in behavioral targeting, and the creation of brand advocacy through online community were some of
the recurring themes woven through the weekend’s ANA Annual Meeting that kicked off with a keynote from Microsoft’s Chairman Steve Ballmer declaring that
Microsoft’s business is about â€oeDigtal. Digital. Digital. Advertising. Advertising. Advertising.â€On the flip side of all this is marketers who
are wrestling with the day-in and day-out challenges of managing the multiple agencies and competencies needed to pull off marketing that uses conversation rather than one-way messaging as advocacy
trumps awareness.
Questions remain as to how to organize a budget when decisions are made with the consumer at the center. Perhaps summing things up best was Rebecca Saeger, executive VP and
CMO for The Charles Schwab Corp., who is putting more than 20% of her marketing dollars online and for some targets it's 50% of budget.
As all the giants scramble to build the best platform to
support the new digital ad world, Saeger asks for simplicity that's on strategy: "I hope there become really good ways to execute what we need to execute."
Saeger also wants a better solution for
managing the myriad capabilities needed to pull together marketing as media becomes increasingly fragmented requiring more and more specialists -- both internal and
external.
"Somehow we've got to get a handle on this because frankly, that's the thing that's going to drive me to drink."Â