Integrated means what exactly?

is there a universally accepted industry definition of Integrated Marketing? As the term is now being bandied around more and more it seems to be becoming blurred.

 The traditional definition requires that an integrated agency executes all disciplines in house but then by definition companies are integrated in certain areas so companies are specialists in different disciplines. 

This is not want I think integrated should mean. To me it means having an idea that you can transfer to any media using any discipline - to coin the phrase - an 'holistic' approach that starts with the idea and spreads out from there. I think integrated should also mean collaborative regardless of the size of agency or the scope of the network

Having sat alongside most types of specialist and generalist agencies in my time I think I know why it is that true integration as I see it doesn't really exist out there to  any great degree .... agencies don't really like working with each other.

Oh they try certainly (some more effectively than others) especially if they are part of an agency network. They must work together not because it provides the best solution but the most cost effective and clean one for the group and the client. This makes business sense but does it deliver the best results? 

There seem to be two ways that integration works  they both spring from the central point of the 'idea' - 

1) The agency with the primary idea manages all aspects of the campaign from origination to delivery

2) The agency with the primary idea manages all aspects of the campaign using partner agencies

In large scale multi disciplined campaigns is it likely that 1) is achievable? is it not asking a  lot of one agency no matter how big. 

2) seems to me to be the most exciting solution. Lots of different ideas, personalities,solutions led by different cultures all percolating around one strong central agency acting as a benevolent campaign leader, strong yet nurturing. 

No-one has to submit their companies' personality to the group and as the campaign develops so does their relationship and in so doing a more organic integrated agency network develops.


I'd really like to find out where instances of integration as defined by this thought work well or is it always the case that true collaboration is alien by nature to marketing agencies?