ORLANDO, FL: US marketers have made great strides in embracing new forms of creativity to build their brands, according to the head of the ANA, but he also warned that they need to address a variety of issues that have led to them losing control of their industry.
Bob Liodice's remarks came at the opening of the Association of National Advertisers' 2016 ANA Masters of Marketing Conference, where he said that "brand building has become much more than simply talking about your brand".
It is now about "making deeper, emotional connections with your consumer in the most meaningful and enduring way", he declared.
"Marketers are beginning to rediscover their primary role, which is driving business growth. They're stretching their brands in unique, creative, and imaginative ways to transform their relationships with consumers and customers."
And he praised brands as diverse as Valspar, Vaseline, Pepsi, Best Buy and Under Armour for the way in which they have embraced new technology and communications platforms to create campaigns that are "opening up doors to reach our consumers and customers with engaging, immersive marketing".
But he also highlighted the many concerns facing the industry, including talent supply, diversity, inadequate metrics, privacy, ad fraud, ad blocking, viewability and transparency. These, he said, have left the current state of the overall marketing industry "unproductive, unsustainable, and undesirable".
And he advocated the establishment of new parameters of leadership that would allow marketers to "take back the industry".
More specifically, he invited all CMOs to join a new initiative called the ANA Masters Circle.
"The purpose of the Masters Circle is to unify individual CMO agendas and create a powerful leadership force to transform the industry," Liodice said. "CMOs can no longer let others do the heavy lifting for the industry. If CMOs want something, they have to lead the way."
Bob Liodice's remarks came at the opening of the Association of National Advertisers' 2016 ANA Masters of Marketing Conference, where he said that "brand building has become much more than simply talking about your brand".
It is now about "making deeper, emotional connections with your consumer in the most meaningful and enduring way", he declared.
"Marketers are beginning to rediscover their primary role, which is driving business growth. They're stretching their brands in unique, creative, and imaginative ways to transform their relationships with consumers and customers."
And he praised brands as diverse as Valspar, Vaseline, Pepsi, Best Buy and Under Armour for the way in which they have embraced new technology and communications platforms to create campaigns that are "opening up doors to reach our consumers and customers with engaging, immersive marketing".
But he also highlighted the many concerns facing the industry, including talent supply, diversity, inadequate metrics, privacy, ad fraud, ad blocking, viewability and transparency. These, he said, have left the current state of the overall marketing industry "unproductive, unsustainable, and undesirable".
And he advocated the establishment of new parameters of leadership that would allow marketers to "take back the industry".
More specifically, he invited all CMOs to join a new initiative called the ANA Masters Circle.
"The purpose of the Masters Circle is to unify individual CMO agendas and create a powerful leadership force to transform the industry," Liodice said. "CMOs can no longer let others do the heavy lifting for the industry. If CMOs want something, they have to lead the way."
Data sourced from ANA; additional content by Warc staff
