There is a disconnect between senior marketing and information technology executives despite an acknowledgement by both parties that technology is critical to gaining needed marketing insights, according to a new survey by Accenture.
According to the study's findings, 77 percent of CIOs and 57 percent of CMOs believe that alignment between the two functions is important, although they have different priorities for collaborating. CMOs rank customer insights as the biggest reason for working with IT while CIOs rank it third. Improving the customer experience is tops on the CIO list.
"With today's multichannel consumer seeking highly relevant experiences and with digital and analytics platforms emerging to help companies respond, marketing and IT executives must work more closely together," said Brian Whipple, global managing director of Accenture Interactive, in a statement. "C-suite decision makers face a variety of challenges when collaborating, ranging from a lack of trust to differing business goals. These issues must be resolved to turn a company's digital marketing capabilities into a platform for market differentiation, business growth, and profitability."
Perhaps not surprisingly, CMOs and CIOs are not always happy with the results of working together. Accenture reports that 36 percent of marketing execs claim that IT fails to deliver the desired end result when the disciplines engage. Forty-six percent of IT execs say marketing fails to provide the necessary level of detail to succeed.
"The good news is that CMOs and CIOs agree technology is important," said Mr. Whipple. "Now they must work together to agree on how technology can be most appropriately applied to drive their company's specific marketing needs, and how it can ultimately result in increased brand affinity, loyalty and sales growth."