The next series of posts are going to be observations about the future of marketing.  The buzz word we hear most often is Marketing 2.0.  After spending some time scanning blogs and web sites, my conclusion is that the focus is directed toward Web 2.0 capabilities which include social networks, search, on-line research, dynamic targeting, etc.

The problem is that most marketers have not yet mastered marketing 1.0, if there actually is such a thing.  Key components such as integrated marketing and a 360 customer view is more talk than reality.  The large majority of marketers have not integrated their business or communications with the goal of achieving a greater return on investment.  Most still have customer data that is distributed across multiple channels and touch-points that prevents them from being able to measure ROI, LTV, customer vaue management, retention, etc.  Many are not collecting the righ data.

The obvious result is that  campaigns often create messages that lack consistency to the same audience both in and across channels.  This lack of integration also limits activites that are actually 2.0 such as behavioral targeting and dynamic personalization which are then implemented in a "channel vacuum" and the lack of integration with other channels creates the same or even more dramatic customer issues that plague traditional siloed communications.

My next post will explore some of the capabilities that I think should drive Marketing 2.0.

I welcome your comments and questions!