The CMO Council just published it Marketing Outlook 2008.

This qualitative study represents responses from the top marketing people at nation’s largest and most powerful marketing organizations, They covered strategies, issues, expenditures and trends.

Now I’ve just read the executive summary – the entire study is available for a couple of hundred dollars from CMO Council.

To me, two of the remarkable trends was the amount of turnover and, as I read it, paranoia in marketing’s executive ranks.

In 2007, the turnover numbers are these:

41-percent reported changing ad agencies
38-percent changed web design firms
26-percent had PR firm turnover

Then, 21-percent of the executives surveyed admitted that the value of marketing was either still being questioned by CEO’s, or it had lost credibility within their organizations.

The most challenging item on the 2008 agenda was qualifying and measuring the value of marketing investments with a 53-percent response.

One of the encouraging insights, however, was that strategy and branding were grouped together as if a single element. I’ve been adamant about the importance of branding as a strategic activity first, a “package” or a “name” second. Together, they appear to be vital in the minds of marketing execs.

Those are the highlights as one branding specialist filtered the executive summary. You might find other items of significance. Check out the Executive Summary at CEO Council’s web site. And I’d appreciate your comments about what you found most intriguing.

Martin Jelsema

Technorati Tags: agency turnover, Branding, CMO Council, marketing, outlook, strategy

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