“Syncing the components of your campaign is the difference between making an impact versus making a series of one-offs that nobody will remember the day after tomorrow. This has made integration the Holy Grail of the marketing world,” Tim Maleeny, Quad’s Chief Client Strategy & Integration Officer and President of Quad Agency Solutions, writes in a new Forbes BrandVoice article. Maleeny acknowledges the complexity today’s marketers face and illustrates how true integration requires a culture dedicated to fulfilling unique client needs. 

The integration promise that’s hard to keep

The idea of marketing integration isn’t new, Maleeny says. In fact, it can be traced back to the 1970s and ’80s, when big agencies promised an all-in-one, synchronized orchestration of marketing services. Today, claiming the power of convergence is a part of nearly every pitch.

“Unless their cultural DNA was designed around obsessive collaboration, big agencies are typically selling process instead of people, peddling a vague reassurance that they’ll be less of a pain to work with than those other guys,” Maleeny explains.

However, if a brand isn’t a large, top-tier anchor client for the agency, it will likely be relegated to less-experienced teams that provide mediocrity at scale, rather than original, breakthrough work.

How to deliver meaningful marketing integration

Many agencies and holding companies have forgotten the first rule of marketing: It’s not about you; it’s about your customer. According to Maleeny, delivering true integration is not about shoehorning smaller client campaigns into larger buys. It’s about providing strategies, concepts, deliverables and team structures built on a culture of obsessive collaboration and dedication to what’s best for the client.

“Most clients have been burned before, learning the hard way that the key to integration is constant collaboration, which only occurs when colleagues feel like family,” Maleeny says. “That’s not something you can force with a flowchart; it’s a cultural current flowing through the organization.”

Marketing integration strategy: Key takeaways from Tim Maleeny

  • True marketing integration requires the seamless syncing of data, strategy, media, creative, in-store activations, partnerships and more.

  • Even the most high-profile ads won’t move the needle for a brand unless they are incorporated into a well-coordinated, integrated campaign.

  • Large agency holding companies are often cooperative, but not always collaborative, so the burden of integration falls onto the client.

  • Experienced marketers will choose a constantly collaborative culture over predictable processes every time.

Maleeny’s full article is a must-read for marketing teams and agencies who want to build a culture of collaboration that runs on true integration. Read it here.   

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