New Survey Shows Marketing Executives Expect Deeper Diligence From Marketing Services Agencies

NEW YORK, April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Gerson Lehrman Group, the global marketplace for expertise, today released a report authored by a member of its expert network that uncovers a significant gap between the expectations of marketing professionals and the actual performance of the marketing agencies they hire. The report, Closing the CMO / Agency Gap: How Agencies Can Win Business and Build Stronger Client Relationships, is based on a survey of more than 80 senior marketing executives from a range of industries who are members of Gerson Lehrman Group's expert network. The survey examines the knowledge that marketing professionals expect from their agencies during both the pitch process and after agencies are hired.

"The overarching finding of this report is that marketing executives expect agencies to do significantly more research into their markets and unique business strategies," said report author Alexander Sharpe III, a management consultant who is part of Gerson Lehrman Group's network. "But research isn't necessarily better research—marketing executives expect agencies to invest the time and energy to develop the right insights throughout all stages of the relationship."

The survey results, released for presentation before the 2010 Mirren New Business Conference (http://newbusinessconference.com/home), highlight two categories that are key to an agency's success: sales prevention, or characteristics that dissuade buyers from choosing an agency; and customer intimacy, or deep understanding of a client's business. Analysis of the results shows that knowledge of a client's market and business strategies is key to winning new business, outweighing knowledge of a client's product—and that agencies expect that research to continue even after business is won.

"As social media, new paths of customer engagement and a new focus on growth have put CMOs in the spotlight, the relationship between CMOs and agencies is more critical than ever," said Pete Krainik, Founder of The CMO Club, member of the Gerson Lehrman Group expert network, and author of the foreword to the report. "CMOs can't deliver strong results without meaningful support from their agencies. Marketing services firms must take early steps toward closing the knowledge gaps in their relationships with CMOs. the firms that do can greatly improve their relationships, and be more successful at winning new business."

The report is available on the Gerson Lehrman Group Web site: www.glgroup.com/marketingagencies

About Gerson Lehrman Group

Gerson Lehrman Group provides technology and services to support a marketplace for expertise. Since 1998, its platform for consultation and collaboration has helped the world's leading financial services firms, consultancies, corporations, and nonprofits find, engage, and manage experts in a broad range of industries and disciplines. Gerson Lehrman Group's unparalleled network of the world's leading expert consultants, known as the Gerson Lehrman Group Councils, includes more than 250,000 subject-matter experts who educate and provide insight to decision makers through a wide range of consulting methods, including telephone consultations, expert surveys, and seminars. Gerson Lehrman Group has invested in one of the world's most sophisticated infrastructures for expert recruiting and compliance. For more information about Gerson Lehrman Group, please visit www.glgroup.com.

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SOURCE Gerson Lehrman Group