Advertising. Public Relations. Marketing. Investor Relations. Employee Communications.

Each function working independently with little interest or concern for the efforts of their colleagues has been the business norm for years.  But I think I hear the proverbial fat lady singing!.

New integrated communications dashboards and new data showing the impact of Public Relations on the effectiveness of paid advertising are beginning to demonstrate how much money marketers are leaving on the table by not integrating their activities.  But as significant as these changes are, what may be having more impact is the emergence of social media.  The need for cohesive messaging and two-way communication with stakeholders is becoming more urgent for each of the traditional silos. Integration and collaboration among departments seems unavoidable.

Technology is clearly the catalyst for achieving a fully integrated communications strategy.  Integrated communications tools provide visibility to valuable data "owned" by multiple departments, enable sharing of customer and stakeholder data, and results in vastly improved messaging for all stakeholder groups without loss of core brand identity.

The fragmentation of media and the multiple vehicles for communicating will continue to put pressure on old ways of doing things. Marketers won't be able to cope without new tools that provide access to traditional media and social media, as well as insight as to how these impact our paid communications investments and enable us to best reach our customers and stakeholders.