A survey of WFA members found that 80% considered IMC to be a top priority this year while companies with an average annual ad spend of between $500m and $2bn per year are most IMC ready.

Those companies that spend more than $2bn a year were the second most ready while smaller companies were most likely to struggle.

The complexity of a company’s brand portfolio appeared to have little impact on IMC readiness according to the research but companies in durables and semi durables tended to perform best, followed by non-durables such as FMCG and pharma products.

Stephan Loerke, managing director of the WFA, said: “Delivering integrated marketing in today’s complex media and communications landscape may not be easy, but is increasingly seen as critical. The results show that most companies still have some way to go before they have all the tools and talent in place to deliver truly integrated marketing communications.”