GLOBAL: Two thirds of advertisers claim to have only “some understanding” of the role of their tech stack, while four in ten admit to using media technology ineffectively, according to research which highlights their dependence on their agencies in this area.

ID Comms’ 2017 Global Media Technology Report, based on responses from 229 marketing, media and procurement professionals representing companies spending over $40bn globally on advertising each year, found that no advertisers could claim a “full understanding” of their tech stack and how it serves the business.

Only 8% had a “good understanding”, a further 22% had “little understanding” and 3% admitted “no understanding”.

This failure to fully grasp what the technology involves was inevitably accompanied by a failure to use it effectively.

Only 15% of advertisers claimed to be doing so and none were doing so “very effectively”.

The vast majority of advertisers agreed with the statement “Advertisers inability to keep up with the rapid evolution of the tech landscape makes them over dependent on solutions provided by their agency”.

In total, 83% either “agreed” or “strongly agreed”. Even 37% of agency respondents agreed.

“What we find with these results is that marketers have a concerning lack of understanding about the precise impact that marketing technology is already having and will continue to have on their wider business, said Susy Pyzer-Knapp, Consultant at ID Comms.

“Marketers demonstrated anxiety over the rapid pace of change, anxiety about where to seek objective advice and an over-dependence on agency-provided solutions,” she added. “There has never been a greater need for marketers to get to grips with this area.”

WARC’s recent Martech: 2018 and Beyond report indicated that marketers are spending heavily on marketing technology – more than $34bn this year in the US and UK alone – but half of them feel they still don’t have all the tools they need.

WARC also found that agencies were critical of clients’ understanding of technology with six in ten saying clients were not fully utilising the martech tools they already have.

Sourced from ID Comms; additional content by WARC staff