PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Marketing executives are failing to keep pace with the financial, customer and brand implications of information security in the digital age, according to the latest findings of a major research initiative by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council. With customer sensitivity, media scrutiny and public awareness about security escalating in every sector of the economy, companies must do more to develop contingency plans and brand strategies to address both the risks and opportunities associated with security, the study warns.

The research initiative, entitled Secure the Trust of Your Brand: How Security and IT Integrity Influence Corporate Brands, represents the most comprehensive study to date on how security is impacting business value and performance, customer confidence and retention, and brand reputation and integrity. In collaboration with Symantec and Factiva, a Dow Jones and Reuters company, the CMO Council study includes major surveys of corporate executives, marketers, and customers, including a survey of more than 2,000 consumers in North America and Europe conducted with Opinion Research Corporation, as well as in-depth discussions with 25 leading marketing executives on the study's advisory board. Other key elements of the research include extensive analysis conducted by Factiva of media coverage surrounding security breaches and issues and additional brand and business performance analytics conducted by the Zyman School of Brand Science at Emory University's Goizeuta Business School.

Secure the Trust of Your Brand demonstrates that information security issues, especially information breaches and lost customer data, are having a tangible impact on customer loyalty, company stock valuations and executive agendas. The study suggests that leading corporate marketers and brand managers should and will play a growing role in addressing security concerns in their companies. However, many companies have been slow to implement contingency plans, new corporate and product messaging, and other marketing and brand communications that address the security issues.

Among study findings:

o While both corporate marketers and business executives indicate emphatically that security concerns are rising for their companies and their customers, just 29 percent of marketers say that their company has a crisis containment plan in case of a security breach. Furthermore, although 60 percent of marketers believe that security and IT integrity provide an opportunity for brand differentiation, 60 percent also say that security has not become a more significant theme in their company's messaging and marketing communications.