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ANA / MMA Study Finds Increased Collaboration Between Marketing and Finance, Despite Continued Dissatisfaction With Marketing Metrics

New York, NY and Wilton, CT (PRWEB) July 2, 2008 -- In their efforts to increase brand awareness and drive sales, marketers are still struggling to create accountability programs that effectively measure the impact of marketing efforts, according to a new study from the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) and MMA (Marketing Management Analytics). Although the majority of companies with a marketing accountability process tend to house this function within the marketing department, there is growing collaboration between marketing and finance. The 2008 ANA / MMA Marketing Accountability Survey, fielded by CoActive Marketing, surveyed 128 senior-level marketers in May 2008, following similar studies conducted together since 2005.

Overall, marketing accountability has a presence in nearly every company; however, a growing number of these programs are siloed within marketing departments. Forty-five percent of respondents indicated that their accountability programs were based within the marketing group, a jump of 14 points over the prior year.

Despite accountability programs becoming more entrenched within marketing departments, this year's survey showed progress in improving the relationship between marketing and finance. Thirty-three percent reported "full cooperation and an open dialogue" in establishing metrics and methodologies for marketing ROI - up from twenty-two percent in 2007 - and nearly half of respondents found "some cooperation." Increasingly, participants in the survey said they believed that marketing and finance "speak with one voice" or "share common metrics."

"In demonstrating the value of marketing as a contributor to business growth, it is important for marketers to engage their counterparts in finance, as well as throughout the organization," said Bob Liodice, President and CEO of the ANA. "We are pleased that marketers are moving in the right direction, but there is still much work to be done."

"To truly realize the value of marketing metrics, companies must move beyond backward-looking metrics to forward-looking insights that guide business decisions," said Doug Brooks, VP, MMA. "This requires making the analytics accessible, transparent, easy-to-use and timely for marketing, finance and research."

Goals for marketing accountability varied greatly in the survey:

?    Forty percent of respondents said that marketing ROI was based on internal benchmarks within the marketing department.

?    Approximately one-third reported that marketing ROI goals were closely aligned with overall corporate goals.

?    However, one-third indicated that there were no written goals for marketing in their companies.

Where marketers had established accountability metrics:

?    Sixty-one percent measured marketing's impact on sales, and 73 percent of them viewed them as useful in establishing marketing budgets.

?    Sixty percent looked at consumer attitude, but only 39 percent of them considered these metrics to be useful

Overall, twenty-three percent of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with accountability metrics.

Marketers are investing in accountability programs such as brand and customer equity models (53 percent); predictive models for direct response (43 percent); recency and frequency monetary value models (45 percent); and customer lifetime value models (27 percent). Importantly, over half (57 percent) use their marketing accountability programs as a factor in increasing or maintaining their marketing budgets.

Key strategic marketing accountability challenges are:

?    Understanding the impact of changes in consumer attitudes and perceptions on sales (45 percent)

?    Understanding the offline impact of online advertising (26 percent)

?    Understanding the impact of experiential marketing, such as event sponsorships, on sales (23 percent)

?    Measuring long-term ROI for a time period greater than one year (19 percent)

The complete survey findings, along with case studies from senior marketers, will be presented at the ANA's 2008 Marketing Accountability Conference, to be held July 13 - 15 at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, CA. Conference information and online registration can be found by going to http://www.ana.net/events/conferencemtg/MAC-JUL08.

About the ANA

The ANA's mission is to provide indispensable leadership that drives marketing communications, media and brand management excellence and champions, promotes and defends industry interests. The ANA is the industry's foremost and recognized source of marketing communications best practices. It also leads industry initiatives, influences industry practices, manages industry affairs, and advances, promotes and protects all advertisers and marketers. The trade association represents 400 companies with 8,000 brands that collectively spend over $100 billion in marketing communications and advertising. For more information visit www.ana.net.

About Marketing Management Analytics, Inc. (MMA)

MMA pioneered the use of marketing mix modeling to help companies plan, measure, validate, and optimize their marketing performance. Since that time, MMA has conducted more than 1,000 studies on hundreds of brands and businesses in more than 20 countries. MMA's clients include many of the most recognized marketers in the world. MMA has been a unit of Aegis Group, PLC, London (AGS.L) since 1997. For more information about Avista DSS and other MMA services, visit www.mma.com.

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