I was wrong. I stand before you – well actually I am sitting as I write this, but regardless I am here before you to  beg forgiveness, to tell you I was wrong – dead wrong when it comes to integrated marketing or cross-channel marketing or omni-channel marketing or whatever other phrase you know it by.

Back in November of last year I scribed The Need For Marketing Integration – The Defense Rests. In that now ill-titled piece, I wrote of something I came across on MarketingCharts.com: Multichannel Retailers Struggle To Create A Seamless Brand Experience.

In my foolish exuberance I wrote the aforementioned “Defense Never Rests” piece thinking (or maybe not) that I had now presented enough evidence to prove my point which was integrated marketing is essential for today’s brands. In case you didn’t know, I have written numerous articles on the topic of integrated marketing with the one referenced above just being among the latest.

See I figured there was nothing left to say, no further evidence was required to make my case.

I was wrong.

Of course I was wrong.

What was I thinking?

The defense can never rest until every marketer in every corner of the world understands and truly comprehends integrated marketing, and why it is so important for their ultimate success.

I Give You Exhibit ???

I have lost count as to what letter of exhibits of evidence I am up to and quite frankly don’t even care anymore.

What I do care about is when I see something like the following:

Accenture Study Shows U.S. Consumers Want a Seamless Shopping Experience Across Store, Online and Mobile that Many Retailers are Struggling to Deliver

As you can probably tell (you’re smart enough to pick up on this) I am referring to something from Accenture. To be honest it could’ve come from anywhere – well maybe not anywhere, but just the fact I saw this headline on a press release from earlier this month caused me to scream aloud: Not again!

The opening line of the release read as follows:

“Retailers that deliver on their customers’ expectations and provide them with a seamless shopping experience – whether they are shopping in a store, online or through a mobile device – will win their loyalty and gain a competitive advantage that drives sales.”

By the way it appears we have a new word for integrated: Seamless. Fine. Call it kumbaya marketing for all I care. Just do it and do it right or don’t do it at all.

Anyway as you can see the opening line to the release drove home the point and need for integrated marketing. It is what consumers want for crying out loud so why wouldn’t you give it to them?

Oh right, you don’t know how.

From the aforementioned  MarketingCharts.com piece:

So, Mr. and Mrs. Marketer know what Mr. and Mrs. Consumer want. They simply do not how to give it to them.

That sounds like a problem to me, does it not?

Did I mention consumers want this?

The defense (never) rests.

Sources: Accenture, MarketingCharts.com

Named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review and a Top 50 Social Media Blogger by Kred, Steve Olenski is a senior creative content strategist at Responsys, a leading global provider of on-demand email and cross-channel marketing solutions, and a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing. He can be reached via Twitter, LinkedIn or Email.