I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the Promotions Marketing Association (PMA), better known for its core focus on sales promotions, wants to help their members achieve measurable brand-building goals by becoming a primary source for integrated marketing techniques. 

This effort will be led by PMA's new President, Bonnie J. Carlson.  Bonnie is no stranger to integrated marketing. She served as vice president of integrated marketing for ConAgra Foods until 2005, creating an integrated marketing plan and launching the shopper marketing program across all four divisions--a product range of approximately 70 brands, such as Hunt's, Peter Pan and Reddi-Whip.

PMA's programs offer a host of options to learn more about integrated marketing. They are: Consumer Promotion, Trade Promotion, Advertising, Public Relations, Database or Direct Marketing, Loyalty Marketing. Experiential Marketing, Sponsorships, Celebrity Endorsements/Product Spokespersons, Shopper Marketing, Cause-Related Marketing, Grass Roots Marketing, and Corporate Communications, such as incentive programs and employee communications.

In-store signage that electronically transmits product information to cellular phones and marketers experimenting with giving consumers perks for engaging at online sites like Facebook are just two of the new opportunities to integrate incentives and promotion into an integrated campaign. Kudos to PMA for recognizing this opportunity and developing tools to help their members take advantage of the power of integrated marketing and communications.

I love this comment from Nick Brien, CEO of Universal McCann. It's not about new media.
Trying to make every new medium a magic bullet will fail. It's about the way we interact with our customers and stakeholders. It is about new marketing.

Marketing has always been about communicating with our customers. But new tools and capabilities let us tell our stories in a richer and more relevant fashion than ever before. "In this new marketing model -- where media enhances personality -- brands have to become experiences and destinations and consumer insight has to be smarter." 

In his keynote address at Ad Tech in New York, Mr. Brien further states, "A brand is ultimately a promise..." and this promise is not ownable by a corporation any more.

We need to integrate all of the ways we can interact with our customers and reinforce that promise. Sometimes that will be traditional advertising. Sometimes it will be an event. Other times it will be a PR or image campaign. More often it will be all of these.

And each of these activities has to be coordinated and carefully orchestrated to communicate our messages. And measured in their entirety.

Ads for celebrity fragrances that conjure up images of cool and hip and sexy fall flat when the news presents that same celebrity out-of-control and anything but cool. Ads portraying utility companies as environmentally friendly and green do more harm than good when the news exposes them as giant polluters.

Advertising and news and all of the ways our brands are communicated to our customers become equally valid in this new marketing. We need to take an integrated approach and follow Mr. Brien's advice. It's not about new media, it's about new marketing.

As Rick Bird from the Cincinnati Post says, "We have seen the future of TV and it is...'Gossip Girl.'"

The CW teen soap is symbolic of how the traditional networks will judge hits and misses in the new media age.It also shows how the "traditional media" are learning how to use the "new media" and the power of integration.

As Rick points out, "'Gossip Girl' became the first new series to be picked up for a full season 22-episode order. At first glance that seemed mighty curious. It was averaging just 2.41 million viewers, one of the lowest-rated new shows, even below average by CW standards."

So why was it picked up?