i3 - January/February 2016 - 89

CM s
BOB LIODICE

president and CEO,
Association of National Advertisers

hallenged."
That's how Bob
Liodice, CEO
of the Associa-

tion of National Advertisers
(ANA), sees the state of online
storytelling. It's his job to
take an industry-spanning
view of those challenges, as
ANA provides perspective
on issues from ad fraud to

OF THE FUTURE

AD BLOCKING
When asked about an industry trend he's watching from a distance, Liodice immediately mentions ad blocking.
"I think that can be a devastating trend if we don't figure out
how to arrest it. We're educating those who leverage the digital
platforms to turn us off and tune us out because we are making
their experience with our brands terrible," he explains. "They are
simply saying, 'You've given me way too much. You've made my
life miserable.' And it's something that we have to address."
A focus on native advertising may be part of the solution. But
although Liodice is enthusiastic about the potential for ads that
look like regular content, he remains uncertain. "Like everything,"
he says, "it's a question of how much does it fit? Are we prepared
to do it effectively across multiple platforms in enough scale that
it's going to move my business in the direction I need it to move?"

DRINKING FROM THE FIREHOSE

media transparency to digital

"The marketer is just hammered with alternative after alternative," says Liodice. "How do I balance the fact that my digital
investment may be compromised by digital ad fraud and transLiodice has seen huge changes in the industry and
parency issues where only 40 cents of my investment dollar may
he understands how hard it is to be a modern CMO,
be reaching the consumer? These are huge, huge challenges
facing challenges like integrated marketing, ad
that the marketer of today has to deal with that when I
grew up in marketing, I did not."
blocking and the constant struggle to stay
So what is the CMO of tomorrow to do, let
current.
alone the CMO of today? Adapt-or else.
"The world is changing so quickly-it'll
An alternate title
be
different next year than it is this year.
I N T E G R AT E D M A R K E T I N G
for 'CMO' in the future:
Part of the reason why some CMOs fail is
they may not be adapting quickly enough,"
As he surveys the marketing landscape,
Chief Engagement
Liodice says.
Liodice sees companies struggling to tell
Manager
"Some of that has to do with your skill set,
stories across different types of media.
your personality, and the way you do busi"We've measured the marketing communess, but a lot has to do with scarcer resources,
nity's greatest challenge and almost every time
especially time and skill development. Time is a
we do surveys of our members, integration is
precious commodity that CMOs have less and less
number one or near the top. For any mid- to largeof, and they're constantly being forced to be adaptive
sized brand, you have to be out there punching against
by having a gun to their head which often leads to less than
a wide array of consumers," says Liodice. "You just can't rely
optimal types of decisions."
upon one specific media or one specific approach if you're
Despite the uncertainty, Liodice and ANA are charging ahead
going to generate your short-term awareness and develop
into the future, doing their best to arm marketers with webilonger-term loyalty."
nars, trainings, conferences and other tools they need to rapidly
Some brands do get it, of course. Liodice points to the ability
learn and adapt. While Liodice may see a choppy ocean for
of brands like Progressive and Arby's to blend a strong core
marketers, he also sees a wide horizon of possibilities.
message with a variety of media types. "I'm talking about a
"The beauty of what's taking place is that it's so revolutionlevel of connectivity that has to work with all of the elements
ary that we're all learning on the fly," he says. "We're learning
in the marketing mix," explains Liodice. "When we do that
from trial and error but we're also learning how to dissatisfy our
effectively, it's been proven time and again that's where the best
consumers less and less, which is a good trend to have."
brand storytelling comes from."

measurement.

C TA . t e c h / i 3

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016

https://www.ana.net/ http://CTA.tech/i3

i3 - January/February 2016

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