New research from the Marketing & Media Ecosystem 2010 study reveals strategies and core competencies needed for marketers to drive industry growth and connect with the complex consumer landscape.

At this week's IAB Ecosystem 2.0 Conference, Christopher Vollmer, vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton, presented the latest results from the Marketing & Media Ecosystem 2010 study. The study, based on responses from more than 100 media company executives as well as interviews with over 75 leading marketers, agencies and media company senior executives, highlights the expanded services and changing operations of media companies as they try to respond to the evolving expectations of marketers and consumers.

According to Vollmer, the digital industry has reached a turning point: Online is no longer an experimental industry, although it is now characterized by massive fragmentation of advertising and media. While the industry is making great strides forward in areas such as search and behavioral targeting, there are many issues that need to be addressed -- such as the lack of true insight into consumers' behaviors and preferences -- before marketers can take a leadership position.

Fortunately, Ecosystem 2010 results indicate that marketers are already taking many of the necessary steps to accelerate the power and value of the digital industry. But they also suggest that marketers require a better understanding of the ways consumers use digital for information, and that they need to increase their view of media as a way to highlight brands in the marketplace.

Vollmer says that today's marketers generally "get it," but they need to make some concerted efforts in order to catch up to the level of the digitally savvy consumer.
"We need to cross the line between what is a commercial message and what is a conversation," he said.

Marketers are also challenged by how they have to face off against the agency world. Because of this, Vollmer suggests that the creation of a frictionless environment will be necessary before brands will willingly allocate more dollars to digital advertising.

Five themes for digital dominance
Vollmer then discussed five key themes that are emerging as critical to digital's dominance in the media and marketing industries.

Digital media DNA. What it means to be a digital media professional is shifting. So current priorities in this arena should revolve around:

• Increasing digitally savvy talent
• Restructuring ad sales teams to be more solutions-focused
• Increasing focus on growth from existing clients
• Allowing for more headroom for digital among the Top 50 and local advertisers

The need for more education and standardized metrics. Ninety-eight percent of media executives in the study recognized that a lack of standardization in digital media metrics is inhibiting marketer spending today and they are thus planning to expand their capabilities to educate clients by 2010.

Managing digital complexity. The changing media landscape is making management of digital media inventory more crucial -- and more complex -- for media companies.

The ecosystem redefined. The issues related to ecosystem complexity go beyond inventory supply. Yet, there is confidence that, through more direct media partnerships, online can be a powerful force to drive price and increase yield. This, in turn, should create new and stronger opportunities for agencies and marketers, particularly in roles such as creative services, communications planning and behavioral targeting.

Value through consumer insight. Media will be strengthened by cutting-edge consumer insights (CI), including the ability to gather more granular information on the consumer and to aggregate that information to create differentiation in the marketplace.

Closing out the presentation, Vollmer summed up the findings with an emerging agenda for digital leadership. Greater priorities need to be set for these key issues:

• Ongoing marketer education to help marketers "get it"
• Focus on metrics that matter the most -- those that are linked to business objectives
• Providing consultative services for key clients, rather than just selling ad space
• Proving the value of digital by translating media value into marketer ROI
• Greater knowledge of what drives consumer behavior, and enhanced abilities to turn this insight into marketer foresight.

Jodi Harris is managing editor at iMedia Connection. Read full bio.