iMedia's Agency Summit hosts a roundtable discussion on the challenges of integrating the many platforms of today's complex marketing campaigns.

Selling a product or service used to be easy. There were fewer product choices, and marketers had somewhat limited media options for targeting consumers with their product information. Furthermore, consumers accepted the familiar, one-way communication paradigm because it was the only option available to them. But with the rapid influx of emerging media, the constant evolution of more participatory marketing tools and techniques, and the demand for more personalized access to information by today's more sophisticated and demanding consumers, it is more of a challenge than ever to coordinate the many facets of the marketing campaign.

To help provide today's marketers with the tools to meet the challenges of using multiple platforms, and delivering consistent messaging on them, iMedia's Agency Summit hosted a roundtable discussion on integrated marketing.

The first question posed to the roundtable participants was what they felt were the biggest issues involved in making integration work. Lisa Bronson, associate media director at Avenue A / Razorfish felt that having a client who encourages the interaction among the different facets of the campaign was key to its ultimate success. Agreeing with Bronson, Blake Remer, account executive at CSTV.com, also commented on the necessity of getting all the client's media reps and agencies -- for online, radio, TV, print, et cetera -- to speak to each other. Remer also stressed the importance of determining, in advance, whose job it will be to coordinate the work of each faction.

Related to the issue of internal communication is that of competitive fear. Jill Griffin, SVP of digital and emerging media at Anomaly and the discussion's moderator, said that part of her job is to reassure the other groups and agencies working on a campaign that her group is not out to steal jobs from them, but rather to figure out how all parties can play to their own strengths and create synergy for the overall campaign.

For Ed Diller, who works on the publisher side as an account manager for Dow Jones Online, the challenge lies in explaining to clients that, "replication isn't necessarily integration." He remarked that part of his job is making clients understand when it's appropriate to use pre-existing assets and repurpose them for other media, and when it's necessary to develop creative assets that are specifically tailored to each medium individually. Diller also said that this can only be possible for publishers to achieve if they are provided with incentives to remain media agnostic.

Another participant, Keith Pape, VP of FrontGate Creative, finds that time is of the essence when it comes to integration. "It's about getting everyone to think far enough in advance to get everyone involved," he says. Furthermore, Pape stressed that it's just as important to determine what media to leave out as it is to choose what to use. "Not every product needs all parts of the mix." Diller agreed, adding that agencies must find a holistic approach to each category or medium.

When asked how they determine the right combination of multiple platforms, Bronson said, "It all starts with who your target is and what their goals are. Understand their behavior, and be aware that it may not always mirror throughout all media."

Next, the participants discussed how to keep campaign messages consistent and interesting while conforming to unique value proposals of each medium. All agreed with Bronson when she opined that there should be a common thread running through the entire campaign, even if some media did not use the same specific message. But while Bronson felt that the target would be the same throughout the media mix, Diller disagreed. He pointed to the example of credit card companies, which offer products with different levels of service, from standard cards to gold and platinum accounts. He felt that while the brand proposition may not always be the same for all its products, integration can ultimately still be achieved by tailoring the creative to each medium being used.

In closing, the group talked about the processes necessary to achieve integration. nFusion Group's VP Business Development/Client Services Mark Drosos stressed that creative must take the initiative up front to reduce costs and optimize cross-influence throughout the campaign platforms, while Diller reiterated the importance of being media agnostic, so the messages don't end up fighting amongst themselves. Remer added that each campaign should have an overall project manager, whose job it is to manage the flow of messages and strategies, and make sure everything is in sync.

While the entire concept of integration has the potential to get bogged down by the complexities of communication, media mixing and message design, today's marketers have one great advantage: digital has the power to push creative and media to work together to a greater level of success than ever before.

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