In July 2022, the ANA published the results of a survey that was conducted earlier in the year with respondents drawn from marketing procurement/sourcing, marketing and agencies. Entitled “Procurement: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”, it provides feedback on perceptions of the performance and inter-relationships of clients' Marketing Procurement with the other stakeholders. Disappointingly, the results have barely changed since the first survey, 12 years earlier, in 2010.
For those of us that consult to and work with client procurement, none of the conclusions are a surprise.
What is a surprise is that only a few companies have actually done anything about it.
Let’s look at a small selection of findings as they relate to the relationship between procurement and the agency:
- 54% of procurement believe that their relationship with agencies is extremely or very healthy. Only 15% of agencies agree
- Procurement believe their definition of “Value” is maximum growth & impact. Agencies believe that procurement’s definition of Value is lowest cost
- 55% of procurement believe that they understand the economic value of successful marketing. Only 5% of agencies believe this to be true
- 49% of procurement believe that they are knowledgeable in advertising, compared with 0% of agencies that agree with this
Given this is our area of expertise, we thought we’d be knocked over in the rush of companies wanting to evaluate these inter-relationships while also working to provide training and mentoring of the procurement staff. Without wishing to diminish the work that might be involved, the road map is fairly clear.
However, as with many system or process improvements, no one has the time to recognize, then implement them. Everyone is already 100% occupied keeping up with their own job! Or, sometimes the dynamics of the relationships wont allow a consensus to be created.
That’s why you need a specialist adviser to be the coordinator and independent voice of reason, someone who is not part of the company politics.
By bringing in an external specialist, companies expect to see a financial benefit or ROI from the investment. However, a re-vamped, more efficient, effective and positive relationship between marketing procurement, marketing and the agencies will result in time savings for all parties as well as better understanding and control over the financial aspects of the contract. Priceless!
Let’s hope the next survey will prove that companies have taken some positive action!
