Integration has surpassed marketing accountability (ROI) as the top issue confronted by marketers, according to the annual survey of the Association of National Advertisers.

Integrated marketing communications - which was in fourth place last year - is now top of mind for marketers, writes MediaPost (via MediaBuyerPlanner), citing the survey of 100 senior marketing executives. ROI came in second place, followed by "aligning the marketing organization with innovation" and "building strong brands."

The following is the comprehensive list of issues ranked in order of importance, and compared with how the issue fared in the 2006 survey:

"The results recognize that marketers are increasingly challenged by the proliferation and complexity of the marketing and media landscape," said Bob Liodice, President and CEO of the ANA, in a statement. "It is not a surprise to see this particularly as marketing mix allocations have become paramount in the overall accountability and brand building equations."