Integrated Communciations Survey-20.05.2010_13

8/9/2019 Integrated Communciations Survey-20.05.2010_13

1/13

Vocus White Paper

1

Blurring Lines, Turf Battles and Tweets:The Real Impact of Integrated Communications on Marketing and PR


2/13

Vocus White Paper

2

Summary

Over the course of April 2010, Vocus surveyed 1094 public relations professionals about theirexperiences and views of integrated communications: a concept defined by Vocus as follows:

In the context of this survey, the term integrated communications means amanagement concept that ties all aspects of marketing communication, including, butnot limited to advertising, search marketing, sales promotion, public relations and directmarketing, together to function in a unified and comprehensive fashion as opposed tofunctioning in isolation or silos.

Key findings include the following:

The lines between PR and marketing are blurring. Marketing and PR have

formalised working relationships; however, formal does not necessarily meanfunctional. Seventy-nine per cent of marketing and PR professionals say they report tothe same boss, while 78% report formal working relationships to create a commoncommunications strategy. However, 67% of respondents hold cross-functional meetingsonly sometimes, with a further 19% answering rarely or never.

Turf battles still evident. Despite formalised processes or structures, 33% citedorganisational structures, functional silos, or turf battles as the single largest barrier tointegrated communications. The next largest barrier is budget shortcomings, cited by20%.

Ownership of social media and blogging still undecided. PR and marketing both

have a strong sense of ownership of social media. Forty-three per cent of PRprofessionals feel they should own social media, while 35% of marketers claim it forthemselves. Thirty-eight per cent of PR professionals think PR should own thecorporate blog, while 24% of marketers feel that it belongs to marketing.

Benefits and communication measurement provides common ground. Forty-eightper cent of marketing and PR professionals say that integrated communicationsincreases the overall effectiveness of their outreach programs. Out of six possiblefactors for measuring the success of an integrated communications strategy, sales andROI takes a clear lead with 48%.


3/13

Vocus White Paper

3

Introduction

Social media has reinvigorated industry discussion on integrated communications, a conceptthat has existed for several decades. Until recently, it seemed more idealistic than practical,with PR and marketing often functioning independently, reporting to different department leads,and ultimately measuring different results.

Traditionally, PR has focused on reputation, earned media, third-party validation, andawareness-building. Marketing has traditionally focused on advertising, sponsorships and lead-generation. In general, the conversation around integrated communications has centred on howthe two disciplines could be orchestrated to increase the overall effectiveness of outreach.

Now, social media is facilitating the marriage of the two, since it contains elements that bothdisciplines find appealing and complementary to their existing efforts. Consequently, the debatehas shifted towards who should own social media and, more importantly, how best to integrate

social media with broader marketing or communications channels.

Undoubtedly, social media has provided PR with the opportunity to obtain a more central role inmarketing, and there appears to be a trend for senior executives with PR backgrounds to takethe helm of the overall marketing organisation.1

PR agencies are taking an early lead in the social-media world, according to Simon Clift, chiefmarketing officer at Unilever who, in a recent interview with Financial Times, describes digitalPR as word of mouth on steroids. 2

However there are caveats to pinning social media responsibilities to one department, and toconsidering social media as a channel in isolation. Beth Harte, an adjunct professor and SeniorSubject Matter Expert, Digital Marketing at Serengeti Communications, believes that the term

social media marketing implies an independent channel, both separated from and replacingother or traditional marketing disciplines. In a recent blog entry, she argues that this way ofthinking silos social media from other marketing communications tactics and other marketing

disciplines.3

Like Harte, we are advocates of a collaborative and integrated approach to communications,and this survey is intended to illustrate and analyse the current state of integratedcommunications within the industry.


4/13

Vocus White Paper

4

Survey demographics

A total of 1094 respondents answered our survey, having been solicited primarily through e-mail. Respondents were almost evenly divided between PR and marketing professionals in the

discipline they most closely identified with,by a measure of 53% and 47% respectively(Chart A).

Respondents tended to have substantialexperience, with 69% identifying as seniorlevel or above and a further 20% as mid-career (Chart B).

The majority of respondents currently workfor corporations (46%). However, othersurvey takers come from diverse workenvironments including non-profits (20%),

PR agencies (13%) and educational oracademic institutions (10%). Government

employees and self-employed or freelancepractitioners made up 5% and 6% ofrespondents respectively.

Respondents currently working forcorporations or agencies (N = 643) wereasked an additional demographic questionon their organisations focus. A majority(62%) reported a business-to-business(B2B) focus, while 36% reported a

business-to-consumer (B2C) focus. Twoper cent reported a business-to-government(B2G) focus.

A matter of formality

At first glance, integrated communicationsseems to have substantial momentum: amajority of respondents say that theirorganisations have formal structures to

facilitate collaboration. However, assubsequent data demonstrates, despiteformally integrated structure andorganisation, there are strong indicators ofbarriers in execution.

Nearly 80% of respondents say thatmarketing and PR both report to the same


5/13

Vocus White Paper

5

department head in their organisations (Chart C). This is slightly higher than a previoussurvey, conducted by Forbes Insights in late 2009, which reported that 73% of CMOs say theyare responsible for PR.4

Both disciplines say they work together formally to develop or execute a commoncommunication strategy (Chart D). Its interesting to note that a majority of respondents believethis is the right approach that they buy into the concept as shown by a follow-up question(Chart E). We view this statistic as a positive indication - a step in the right direction - as,historically, marketing and PR have reported to separate channels and viewed theirresponsibilities as distinct.

When asked if their organisations were more focused on integrated communications this yearthan they were last year, 61% answered that they were, while 32% reported little change. Only4% said they were less focused, while 3% said integrated communications wasnt a focus ineither 2009 or 2010.

The data shows that the majority of PR and marketing professionals no longer report to

separate department heads; instead, they are being melded into a single team. As such, thissurvey supports the idea that, at least from a leadership standpoint, the lines between marketingand PR are blurring, making it harder to discern where one discipline begins and ends. In fact,wed go so far as to say the days of silos are waning.

As one respondent wrote in a representative open-ended response: The grey line betweenmarketing and PR is (rightly) diminishing, especially considering there are new ways to promoteyour company (one could argue that social media is part of both marketing and PR). Overall,marketing and PR have the same goal, and while they have different tactics to obtain that goal,their strategies need to co-align.


6/13

Vocus White Paper

6

A cautionary tale

There are some notes of caution in these results. Nearly one-fifth of respondents reported a lackof any formal structure in place for developing integrated communications programmes in their

organisation. For the others, its important to note that merely having a formal structure doesnot necessarily indicate successful integration. The challenge is to ensure that collaborationactually happens in practice.

53% of our respondents self-identified as PR professionals and 47% as marketingprofessionals. When we segmented the two groups answers, we discovered that negativesentiment towards integrated communications was more prevalent among PR professionalsthan among marketers.

For example, 14% of PR respondents disagreed that PR and marketing should report to thesame department head, while just 3% of marketers felt the same way. Eighteen per cent of PRrespondents and 10% of marketers said maybe.

Why do some professionals disagree with the idea of reporting to the same department head?Open-ended answers to this question provide qualitative insight. Here is a representativesample of responses from both groups.

PR Marketing

Why [Do you believe marketing and PR should have separate reporting channels]?

In our organisation, marketing has a moretactical focus, whereas PR has a more

strategic focus: messaging and positioning.

Difference between longview (marketing) andnear-future (PR) efforts make for difficulty in

streamlining efforts.PR and marketing are two separate roles. PRworks with and engages with the media.Marketing thinks everything a company doesis "newsworthy", when it's not.

Our PR group does PR for the entire companyand not per business [units]. Marketingdepartments focus on business [units] andproducts.

Whereas I believe PR people understand howmarketing works for the most part, I havefound the opposite is rarely true.

The style of work and expertise required formarketing and PR is vastly different.

These remarks illustrate the fact that someprofessionals have strong and paradoxical

viewpoints. The first remark in eachcolumn is telling. The PR professional saysmarketing is tactical and PR is strategic.Meanwhile, the marketing professional saysPR is tactical and marketing is strategic.

When asked if they conduct cross-functional meetings to coordinate PR and

Chart F


7/13

Vocus White Paper

7

marketing efforts, the vast majority, 67%, said sometimes (Chart F) leaving us with adichotomy.

Some formal working relationships may indeed exist formally, but if cross-functional teams

rarely or only sometimes meet (81% of all respondents), they arent necessarilyfunctional.The statistics suggest a degree of lip-service, in which integration happens at a planning levelbut breaks down during execution. This finding mirrors anecdotal evidence we observe daily inclient feedback, discussions with practitioners and commentary throughout the industry.

Barriers and turf battles

Barriers and turf battles are perhaps the single most interesting finding in the study. Despitesignificant progress in aligning organisational structures, turf battles still exist. In fact, the battleover turf was by far named as the largest barrier to integrated communications, cited by 33% ofrespondents. Budget shortcomings were next (20%), followed by time (13%) and organisationalculture (12%).

These results underscore the point made previously: reporting to the same department headdoes not necessarily constitute integrated communications. Even though a majority ofrespondents report to the same department head and have formal mechanisms in place for anintegrated approach, the fact remains that turf is still a very real challenge. (Chart G).

A question of ownership

Turf battles became even more apparent when the topic of ownership of social media andblogs was introduced. We asked survey participants which discipline owns 11 differentfunctions including analyst relations, media relations, search engine optimisation (SEO), andspeaking engagements. As well as PR and marketing, the questions also offered the alternativediscplines of sales, customer support and product management as possible owners, althoughmarketing or PR were chosen far more often. We performed a cross-tab analysis of answers for


8/13

Vocus White Paper

8

the two functions for which marketing and PR professionals feel the strongest sense ofownership: corporate blogging and social media.

For social media, 43% of PR professionals feel they should own it, while 35% of marketers

claim it for themselves. Few cede ground: just 8% of PR pros say social media is a marketingresponsibility, while 11% of marketers say PR should own it. Forty-one percent of marketersand 39% of PR professionals view social media as a shared responsibility (Chart H).

As for the corporate blog, 37% of PR professionals think PR should own it, while 23% ofmarketers claim it. However, its worth noting that while only 6% of PR professionals saidmarketingshould own blogging, 13% of marketers said PRshould maintain control. Nineteenpercent of PR professionals and 25% of marketing professionals said that both disciplinesshould share the responsibility (Chart I).


9/13

Vocus White Paper

9

We must bear in mind that social media can mean different things to different people. Forexample, from a marketing perspective, social media could mean running the Facebook fanpage or a Twitter handle, while, to a PR person, it could mean multimedia press releases, oronline reputation and social media monitoring.

However, whats striking about the data is that less than half of respondents in either groupthink that social media and blogging should be shared. More importantly, a sizable percentagewithin each group claims exclusive ownership of them. The result: turf battles.

Its interesting to note that, until relatively recently, ownership of social media often tended to fallto whoever stepped up to actually do it. Our data suggests that this situation, if not already athing of the past, is changing fast as social media becomes more pervasive throughoutmarketing and communications.

The results for who owns blogging are also surprising. First, nearly a third of respondentsanswered not applicable which poses the question: are blogs coming or going? Secondly,there is less sense of ownership of corporate blogs among marketers, which was surprising

given the SEO value and lead generation results that blogs are proven to produce. PRprofessionals appear more inclined to claim blogging, which reflects the trend for blogs to beincreasingly viewed as an owned media placement, as opposed to an earned or paid mediaplacement.

Measurement finds common ground

The benefits of integrated communications begin to bridge the gap between PR and marketing.Both sides cite the most prominent benefits of integrated communications as: consistency inmessaging (56% of all respondents ranked it as being of the highest importance), increasedoverall effectiveness (48%), and being more strategic in overall efforts (45%) (Chart J). Theseviews make sense: from receptionist to CEO, organisations are more effective if they speak with

one consistent voice.


10/13

Vocus White Paper

10

One area where marketing and PR are aligned is in measuring results. A clear majority (48% ofall respondents), cited sales and ROI as the single most important factor in measuring the

results of an integrated communications strategy (Chart K). A cross-tab analysis shows that54% of marketers and 42% of PR professionals cite sales and ROI as the most criticalmeasurement factor (Chart L).

Again, we need another note of caution. While 36% of PR professionals cite visibility and buzzas the most indicator of success, just 22% of marketers share this view. While these disciplinesmay be working together, theres a danger of disconnection in execution due to different meansof evaluating success.

Its arguable that professionals focused on PR should measure by different metrics than thosefocused on marketing. Ultimately, however, both disciplines will best serve their organisationsby aligning their own, function-specific goals with larger, organisational goals such as sales,perhaps fundraising (in the case of a non-profit), or membership (in the case of an association).A properly-executed integrated communications strategy should boost the effectiveness of anorganisation enough to produce tangible results.

In your own words: Defining integrated communications

We asked several open-ended questions in this survey, and it seems fitting to conclude this

paper by sharing the responses. They highlight another common denominator of marketing andPR: word choice. We received 727 responses to the question: how do you define integratedcommunications in your own words and weve displayed the data in two ways.

Firstly, weve used the tag cloud tool Wordle (www.wordle.net), to analyse the words thatmarketing and PR professionals used to define integrated communications. We removedobvious phrases like marketing and PR, as respondents with backgrounds in both disciplines
http://www.wordle.net/http://www.wordle.net/http://www.wordle.net/http://www.wordle.net/


11/13

Vocus White Paper

11

used these words liberally as might be expected (Chart M). Comparing both, youll notice asimilar vernacular, notably: message,together,brand, and consistent.

Secondly, weve compiled a side-by-side comparison of some selected responses that are

representative of the entire sample. Ten responses from marketing and PR professionals areincluded.

Chart M

In your own words, how would you define integrated communications?


12/13

Vocus White Paper

12

PR Marketing

In your own words, how would you define integrated communications?

Using the full range of communications channels totarget audiences in a strategic way.

Branding messaging and strategy integratedthroughout the product line, e-communications, PRmessaging and marketing materials.

Integrated communications is the strategic use ofrelevant communications methods (i.e. PR,marketing, advertising, etc.) to achieve onecommon goal.

The perfect combination of all marketing vehiclesthat bring the desired results.

Advertising and PR groups working hand-in-handso that the target audience hears about yourproduct or services in both paid and unpaid media

outlets.

The communication strategy needs to take intoaccount and respond to global marketingobjectives, considering all media that are most

appropriate.An informed and multifunctional ability to bestpromote a brand, campaign or financial goal.

Integrated communications is the key to success inan organisation. Messages between sales,marketing and PR to provide ROI and increasesales.

Marketing, PR, advertising, sales all workingtogether with a common voice and messaging thatreflects the brand.

Kumbayah!!!

Ensuring that people follow the same strategy toreach the common goal with their various tools andpossibilities whilst liaising between the departmentsto increase the output.

Single message that provides opportunity forexposure in many (but selected) communicationchannels.

Bringing all disciplines of marketing and PR

together to form a cohesive strategy, executed ondifferent fronts but with a consistent message andin pursuit of the same goal.

An overall communications program that is

measured against a unified set of goals, and that isbuilt on consistent messaging.

A holistic approach to communications that bringstogether inbound and outbound programs, onlineand offline channels under consistent strategy andmessages.

Simply, all sides pulling together, sharing ideas andcommunicating as a whole for the betterment of thebusiness.

Getting the best out of the component departmentsto provide the best potential growth of thebusinesses and their clients.

Using all professional tools of communication inorder to boost a brand or business and achieveindividual results that live under the umbrella of oneoverall goal.

A unified effort by all players involved in external(and internal) communications around a common

set of goals, executed according to each group'sarea of focus, and coordinated to best achieve thecommon goals.

Integrated communication is a tapestry. Each typeof communication offers it's own color and texture,

but for the best effect they need to be woventogether to create the finished product.


13/13

Vocus White Paper

13

Find Vocus on these Social Media sites:

Twitter: @Vocus www.twitter.com/vocus

Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/Vocus

LinkedIn:http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1928001

YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/user/vocus15

SlideShare:http://www.slideshare.net/Vocus

About Vocus

About Vocus VOCUS, Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: VOCS) is a leading provider of on-demandsoftware for public relations management, helping organisations of all sizes fundamentally

change the way they communicate with the media and the public, optimise their public relationsefforts and measure their impact. The web-based software addresses the critical functions ofpublic relations including media relations, news distribution and news monitoring, and providesthe critical capability to monitor and analyse social media conversations from virtually anysource and track results compared to key competitors. Vocus is used by more than 4,000organisations worldwide and is available in seven languages. Vocus is based in London, UKwith offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visitwww.vocus.co.uk

1Advertising Age, How PR Chiefs Have Shifted Toward Center of Marketing Departments, September 21, 2009:

http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=139140

2Financial Times, Warning over lost generation of marketers, April 5, 2010http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/14a1d65c-40cd-11df-94c2-00144feabdc0.html3Harte of Marketing, The Dichotomy Issue: Social Media Marketing vs. Classic Marketing, March 15, 2010:http://www.theharteofmarketing.com/2010/03/social-media-vs-classical-marketing.html4Forbes | Insights, The role of the CMO: Marketing Strategies for 2010, November 2009:

http://www.slideshare.net/anatinge/cmo-survey-results-forbes-insights
http://twitter.com/Vocushttp://twitter.com/Vocushttp://www.twitter.com/vocushttp://www.twitter.com/vocushttp://www.facebook.com/Vocushttp://www.facebook.com/Vocushttp://www.facebook.com/Vocushttp://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1928001http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1928001http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1928001http://www.youtube.com/user/vocus15http://www.youtube.com/user/vocus15http://www.youtube.com/user/vocus15http://www.slideshare.net/Vocushttp://www.slideshare.net/Vocushttp://www.slideshare.net/Vocushttp://www.vocus.co.uk/http://www.vocus.co.uk/http://www.vocus.co.uk/http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=139140http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=139140http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/14a1d65c-40cd-11df-94c2-00144feabdc0.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/14a1d65c-40cd-11df-94c2-00144feabdc0.htmlhttp://www.theharteofmarketing.com/2010/03/social-media-vs-classical-marketing.htmlhttp://www.theharteofmarketing.com/2010/03/social-media-vs-classical-marketing.htmlhttp://www.slideshare.net/anatinge/cmo-survey-results-forbes-insightshttp://www.slideshare.net/anatinge/cmo-survey-results-forbes-insightshttp://www.slideshare.net/anatinge/cmo-survey-results-forbes-insightshttp://www.theharteofmarketing.com/2010/03/social-media-vs-classical-marketing.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/14a1d65c-40cd-11df-94c2-00144feabdc0.htmlhttp://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=139140http://www.vocus.co.uk/http://www.slideshare.net/Vocushttp://www.youtube.com/user/vocus15http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1928001http://www.facebook.com/Vocushttp://www.twitter.com/vocushttp://twitter.com/Vocus

Documents

Integrated Communciations Survey-20.05.2010_13