The complexity conundrum

How marketers are rethinking integration to unlock their brand’s full potential — a Forrester Consulting thought leadership paper commissioned by Quad

September 29th, 2023

Forrester Complexity Conundrum 2023 report cover
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Today’s brands face an increasingly complex marketing ecosystem — from privacy to personalization, AI to identity, precision to persuasion, influencers to agencies.

To help make sense of it all, Quad commissioned Forrester Consulting to evaluate the state of brands’ marketing services and partnerships in 2023. Forrester conducted a survey of 355 marketing and media strategy decision-makers at U.S. brands — and found that though brands are continuing to increase their marketing ecosystem’s complexity through the adoption of more marketing partners and tools, many are now undergoing the journey towards partner integration, leading to more effective marketing outcomes, business benefits and more impactful customer experiences.

Find out how your marketing team compares to its peers in “The Complexity Conundrum: How Marketers are Rethinking Integration to Unlock Their Brand’s Full Potential.”

Among the key survey findings:

  • Complexity within marketing teams is at an all-time high.

  • Expectations of marketing teams are continually increasing.

  • Incremental integration steps can lead to significant value for the business and the customer.

  • Marketing integration is happening, but at too slow a pace for some brands.

Download our detailed PDF