Many chief marketing officers believe their organizations are coming up short in terms of qualities they view as paramount for a brand’s success, according to a recent survey by London-based PR and ad group Dentsu Aegis Network.
According to the survey, 85 percent of CMOs believe that an ability to identify big, creative ideas that build emotional connections with consumers is critical to a brand’s future success, but only slightly more than half (54 percent) believe they’re currently delivering on these capabilities.
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A similar proportion (83 percent) cited the importance of a seamless customer experiences across channels, though only 60 percent believe they’re executing this capability adequately.
Finally, 84 percent of CMOs view data collection and management as necessary in driving customer insight, though only 49 percent think they currently deliver well in that area.
Additionally, fewer than half (43 percent) of CMOs think their agencies currently do a good job of providing fully-integrated solutions across all aspects of the marketing mix, and only slightly more than a third (36 percent) believe their agencies are good at business partnering in an effort to achieve long-term goals.
A majority of CMOs polled (50 percent) cited securing long-term investment as the number-one internal challenge they face when attempting to deliver on their marketing strategies. This was followed by an inability to transform their business quick enough (46 percent) and a lack of integration across all elements of the customer experience (41 percent). A lack of internal talent (40 percent), insufficient control over a company’s digital investments or programs (36 percent), a lack of integration from the marketing agencies they work with (28 percent) and competing agendas with other C-suite leaders (27 percent) rounded out the list.
Dentsu’s “CMO Survey 2019” polled 1,000 CMOs globally from a range of industries across ten global markets: Australia, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. The survey was conducted in May.


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