"Marketing accountability is still often an activity trapped within the silo of the marketing function," judges a report published by the Association of National Advertisers in the US.

 

Prepared by the ANA's Marketing Accountability Task Force - comprising twenty leading companies from diverse industries - the report notes that while marketing accountability requires a precise process involving multi-functional teams, only a small proportion of marketers use such a method.

 

The task force's findings underscore last summer's Marketing Accountability Survey, in which 60% of respondents reported no cross-functional involvement whatever within their company during the development and management of their marketing accountability programs.

 

Says Bob Liodice, ANA President/CEO: "These findings clearly demonstrate that there is still much work to be done to accomplish total accountability and we are pleased to provide concrete steps to help our members achieve that.

 

The task force report lists ten recommendations for "total accountability":

 

- Create a multi-functional internal accountability team;

- Agree on the expectations that the management team has for marketing;

- Choose metrics that align with expectations;

- Select predominantly leading indicator metrics capable of driving a causal model;

- Create a robust voice of the customer so you understand the target customer;

- Demand an explicit plan to build brand equity;

- Develop measurable objectives for 90% of marketing expenditures;

- Use a rigorous process to build integrated marketing plans;

- Analyze 90% of marketing expenditures using a who, what, how framework;

- Create an accountability budget sufficient to measure 90% of marketing expenditures.

 

"Creating multi-functional accountability teams within an organization will enable marketing accountability to reach the level that today's marketing landscape necessitates," concludes Bob Liodice.

 

Source: ANA, WARC

 

For more information on the activities of WFA’s National Association Member in the US, please visit the ANA website.