From today's Inside Radio:
Marketers Seek Accountability
Do more with less isn’t just radio’s operating standard. A new survey shows two-thirds of marketers are being told by their companies to drive more sales with the same or lower budget -- and three-quarters say their marketing budget has shrunk this year. Facing that challenge, accountability has taken on a much greater significance.
The St. Louis Business Journal report the same trend in their article about ad agencies taking a hit from Anheuser-Busch spending...
Anheuser-Bush has changed it's "free-wheeling, let’s-give-it-a-try attitude" for a more "scrutinized and calculated" results-based approach.
From the article...
"A-B has always been good at listening to agencies with good ideas. But now you’ve got to do more back-end research,” Litwicki said. “The way they make decisions is a lot more mathematical. It used to be enough to do brand building and create an image that would ultimately drive sales. Now they also want to see the component that will actually incentivize the consumer to pick up the product. When you come in with those solutions, they are very receptive."
Measurable results are beginning to matter more and more to advertisers, and they are cutting spending with their agencies to find marketing resources elsewhere who can provide those results. As the article above states, when you have an idea that is based on delivering actual results (rather than just another branding campaign) companies are ready to listen.
