According to the findings, a failure to understand cross-channel behaviour and uncertainty around optimising their media investment are the primary reasons.

The result in these disconnects is that many marketers are missing opportunities for growth, with 40% still using ROI measurement approaches that are primarily focused on short-term sales.

This is despite 85% respondents saying that the most important approach to ROI is a blend of both short and long-term measures.

Now in its fifth year, Getting Media Right examines the current state of marketing in a connected world and is based on the input from 468 senior marketers spanning advertiser brands, media companies and agencies globally.

It reveals an industry that continues to diversify its media usage and increasingly requires a better understanding of how ideas, content and media need to be activated in tandem to create holistic marketing that drives brand growth.

Key findings

While confidence has grown since 2017, less than half of advertisers are sure of their ability to create insights from data. Even within agencies and media, fewer than 20% are very confident, indicating the industry is struggling to manage all the data that is available.

Creating insights is dependent on pulling together the right information and tools to monitor and optimise campaigns, yet marketers are struggling to connect the dots on performance across channels. Seventy-eight percent of marketers strongly or somewhat agree that it is difficult to assess how well brands perform across channels.

Forty-seven percent of marketers say they have moved the optimisation process up earlier in their campaigns, with most now starting in the ideas and strategy phase. Female marketers are leading the charge on earlier optimisation, with 50% indicating it has moved earlier in the campaign lifecycle (versus 44% of male marketers).

Advertiser confidence in the media mix has grown slightly from 2017, but 45% are still not confident that their organisation has the optimal media mix, of which only 13% say they have very integrated media strategies.

Eighty-two percent of marketers believe they have integrated marketing strategies, but their efforts are not translating fully to consumers. Conversely, the recent AdReaction: The Art of Integration (January) study found that 58% of consumers see campaigns as being integrated.

"Marketers should aim for the best of all worlds: they need to create a framework to monitor impact on business and brand metrics while harmonising measurement tools and insights to improve performance across all channels," says Jane Ostler, global head of media, Insights Division at Kantar.

"The report is a clear indication that marketers are continuing to struggle with measuring and proving ROI, which is primarily due to their approach," Ostler adds.

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