A recent study by McKinsey & Co. cited "the most important corporate resource over the next 20 years will be talent." The search for talent in advertising, promotions and marketing has become a real challenge.

Dell is perhaps the most high profile company to create an integrated agency, but many others have seen the wisdom of integrated communications. One of the real challenges of creating integrated agencies is finding the talent able to work across multiple media and platforms.While the overall market is tight right now, it is even more challenging to find the relatively few creatives with integrated expertise.

Tom Collinger, Associate Dean of Integrated Marketing Communications at the Medill School at Northwestern, was a recent panel member at the CMO Forum in New York. He said a number of really smart things, but a key comment was the challenge marketers will face in finding talented employees with the background and training in multiple marketing disciplines.

Tom and Medill are at the forefront of training the next generation of communications professionals. More and more, companies are voting with their salary dollars and competing for the school's talent. Medill also publishes the Journal of Integrated Marketing Communications which is available free online.

Pending research is showing that news coverage not only has a direct impact on business outcomes, but also has a strong impact on the effectiveness of various forms of paid media. This puts a whole new slant on integration and the importance of consistent messaging. Just as there is no substitute for good creative in advertising, there is no substitute for talented and capable people who can understand and manage the intersection of diverse communications methods. And just perhaps, having an integrated and customer-focused strategy is likely to attract the best and brightest talent.