WARC Report The Marketing Challenges 2023
Marketers need to get better at linking creativity to business metrics is one of the key findings of “The Marketing Challenges 2023” report by LIONS, WARC and The Effectiveness Partnership, which describes the perceptions of marketers globally on the challenges facing the industry today. The report is based on responses from 187 senior marketers (50% at CMO level or equivalent) in brand-owning organizations in seven marketing sectors around the world.Some 92% of marketers surveyed said they can find it difficult to link creativity to business performance, a ‛shocking statistic’. Report author Warwick Cairns, strategist at The Effectiveness Partnership, said this “puts our industry at a huge disadvantage when it comes to making the case to the board for continued investment in tough economic times.””Marketers face a whole range of challenges that make strategic planning more complicated and investment decisions riskier. Some of these challenges are global and inexorable, but others are within the power of these specialists to do something about, if they know how and have the necessary resources and support” Warc highlights in a press release.The report also highlights that 80% of marketers see five main challenges to strategy development: economic uncertainty, new developments in technology and artificial intelligence, marketing effectiveness, budgets and resources, and talent management. “These put multifaceted pressure on their technical, organizational, diplomatic and persuasive skills. “Also, more than 80% have difficulty evaluating large amounts of incompatible data, making it difficult to prepare and present a coherent business case. While channel usage is strongly related to the ability to calculate ROI, which presents an opportunity to expand the role of measurement.Marketing effectiveness was cited by 64% of respondents as a major challenge, second only to economic uncertainty, referenced by 72% of respondents.The report recommends taking advantage of the opportunities of current technologies, expanding the scope and competence of the focus on measurement, and instilling a culture of effectiveness throughout organizations, and in this way marketing can help turn the greatest of challenges into the greatest of opportunities.
