This summer, Phinney/Bischoff Design House and research firm Ipsos conducted a study of marketing professionals. The study examined issues and opportunities marketers face within their organizations and the impact that rapidly evolving market conditions are having on the traditional roles of marketers. The results were very interesting as noted by David Miller in a recent issue of Communication Arts.

Highlights:

- A disconnect between executive management and marketers when evaluating performance measures. "Marketers believe they should be far more focused on the customer experience, and attendance to customer needs, while indicating that their executive team places far greater importance on marketing’s short-term financial metrics, revenue growth and margin."

- A "substantial gap between what marketers believe they could contribute to their company’s success, and their satisfaction with the execution of marketing in their own company. Somewhere between their responsibility and their authority to do marketing, there appears to be a significant organizational drag."

"The clearest finding from the study is the significant opportunity for marketers to acquire better tools and methods to measure and prove the business performance of their marketing efforts. The ability to demonstrate a return on investment (ROI) for marketing expenditures is firmly entrenched as the most pressing issue, as 63% of clients identify it as a significant challenge. It is also the most pressing issue identified by agencies."

See the full article.