Quarterly news & updates
Q3 2023
It has been an incredible few months since our last Newsletter!
We attended a few industry events and have been meeting with a lot of clients in our outreach. The number one question is: What is the "raison d'être" of RAUS Global?

Well, we are glad you asked!

Understanding our Clients' Needs
Clients in marketing procurement have different needs. Some come to us with identified problems, seeking someone who can provide innovative, but tried and tested insights and effective and timely delivery. Some clients want help with developing and executing marketing procurement initiatives across a range of areas. Examples are how to manage a large portfolio of agencies across medium, holding company and countries in the best possible way or how to make sure transparency is delivered across markets and agencies.
 
As an independent advisor who speaks the language of marketing, legal, finance and operations, it becomes possible to help our clients identify their problems and find ways to solve them. This approach entails bringing in other partners to address various areas of concern, delivering one seamless approach to the client while educating them along the way.

Beyond the one time sale
In an industry where many vendors are focused on their specific products, such as auditing companies, production, or pitch management, there is often a push to sell their individual service. This can lead to a mismatch between what is being sold and what the client actually needs.It can also be difficult to create a full suite of tools without the strategic level view.
 
The real value comes from helping our clients decide where they can get the most significant benefit, innovation, and change. It's about finding the right fit for our clients' needs rather than simply trying to make a sale.

The landscape of marketing, procurement, and agency management is multifaceted and ever evolving. There's no one-size-fits-all solution. By adopting a client-centric approach that truly meets them where they are, it becomes possible to foster genuine partnerships and provide value that transcends mere transactions.
 
Whether it is solving for a specific project or helping those who come to the table with more strategic goals, this holistic and empathetic approach defines a new way of thinking that bridges the existing gaps and leads to more successful outcomes. It may indeed be a long answer, but it is one that resonates with us, working in an industry striving for greater connection and understanding.

Please take the time to read some of our and other industry leader thought leadership in this quarter's RAUS Global Newsletter. Thank you.

Christine
Nick
Breaking the Hamster Wheel: Unleashing Procurement’s Full Potential

by Christine Moore
With the US Labor Day (and therefore the unofficial end of summer) behind us, most organizations are going into planning for 2024 (or their own off calendar year fiscal version thereof). While most organizations have a structured approach to create plans for generating client revenues, there is a strong focus on managing the cost side of the business. Enter procurement. All category teams, including marketing procurement, are asked to present short term/ tactical as well as longer term/ strategic cost savings opportunities for their categories. The teams spend valuable time on identifying and building business cases for these plans. And yet, many of the projects are rarely funded. Funnily enough the teams are still asked to deliver the value, efficiencies, and savings to the organization. Without the investment.
I’m no marketing procurement expert but…

By Tracey Barber, Havas Creative

A bold title and confession, perhaps, to make in this article, particularly given I chaired a session at ProcureCon Marketing Europe recently.
It’s an event we’ve been involved in for each of the previous three years, yet we remain one of only a few agency networks to attend. If I’m no expert, you should see the other guys (hint: they were probably attending Cannes).

What I do know – and so do you – is that the client/agency model is broken. Havas research reveals that 50% of procurement professionals cite a disconnect between what they need and what their agencies are providing. More than half (56%) believe agencies over-promise and under-deliver. That’s embarrassing.
MPiQ publishes issue #2 of The Review digital magazine
The Value of Attending Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for Marketing Procurement

by Christine Moore
In the fast-paced world of marketing, staying ahead of the curve and fostering creativity is essential for success. This is true for everyone around the marketing table — and include marketing procurement as well.

The Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity stands as a global gathering of the brightest minds in the industry, showcasing groundbreaking ideas, inspiring campaigns, and innovative strategies. While attending such an event may seem more aligned with creative teams, marketing procurement professionals have much to gain from participating in the Cannes Lions Festival.

We explored the reasons why marketing procurement should attend this prestigious festival and how it can positively impact their role in driving marketing excellence. Here are the top four:

1. Insight into Cutting-Edge Marketing Strategies

2. Networking and Collaboration Opportunities

3. Strengthening Partnerships with Advertising Agencies and other Marketing Providers

 4. Inspiring Innovation and Creativity
Welcome To The New Normalized: Brian Wieser Updates His U.S. Ad Model
The bad news is long-time ad industry forecaster Brian Wieser has issued a 2023 forecast for U.S. ad spending that comes in at nearly half the growth rate of the Big 4 holding company consensus. The good news is that he projects marginally higher growth for 2024 (see chart above).

The new forecasts are part of an extensive update by Wieser, who previously ran the forecasting and market intelligence units of two of the Big 4 -- GroupM and IPG Mediabrands' Magna -- before launching his own publishing and economic analytics business, Madison and Wall.
Pitch procurement: The winning game plan
By By Hasan Arik, Chief Product Officer and Founder, Redmill Solutions
Pitching can be a long and arduous process, Hasan Arik of Redmill Solutions explores does the pitch need to be ditched? Or can it still prove useful and effective in the modern age?

While the call to ‘ditch the pitch’ has rang loud in certain corners of the advertising world for a number of years, this industry staple has yet to disappear. Though often gruelling and time intensive, it is seen as a necessity by advertisers and their agencies to forge relationships that are productive for both partners.
The cries to look for a new way to approach these relationships have grown louder as the macro-economic situation has become more unpredictable in recent years. According to Forrester’s Ditch the Pitch report, US agencies alone spend $12.5 billion a year on pitching.
Can Marketing Procurement help CMOs sleep better at night?

By Christine Moore, Managing Partner, RAUS Global
Reflecting on the article “what keeps CMOs up at night”, published by Joe Mandese for Media Daily News on May 8th (link posted below), we believe that least five of the top ten concerns for CMOs can be addressed by partnering closer with Marketing Procurement.

We have reviewed the above key concerns and identified with a ☑ are the concerns where marketing procurement can (and should) be a strong ally for CMOs in terms of reduce their lack of sleep.
The ANA Programmatic Study: How Procurement can provide the answers

By Nick Manning, Non-Exec Chairman, Media Marketing Compliance (MMC)
The long-standing subject of media transparency bubbled back to the surface at this year’s Cannes Lions Festival, with the release of the latest study into the opacity and complexity of the online advertising market.

Today, the complexity of the programmatic supply-chain is worse than ever and it requires the forensic skills and contractual expertise of Marketing Procurement to unlock the potential of data-led audience targeting that improves relevance, the original promise of programmatic.

The long-standing subject of media transparency bubbled back to the surface at this year’s Cannes Lions Festival, with the release of the latest study into the opacity and complexity of the online advertising market.
The US Association of National Advertisers (ANA) announced the top-line findings of their ‘Programmatic Media Supply Chain Transparency Study’. This has taken 18 months so far and has encountered numerous roadblocks, in common with previous studies of its kind.
The study included data from 21 advertisers but 46 others who wanted to take part were prevented from doing so by contractual barriers that prevented data-sharing. This in itself is a finding; advertisers do not typically have access to the full data of their programmatic campaigns, rendering tracking, measuring and reporting all but impossible.
WWW.RAUS-GLOBAL.COM

Visit our website to learn more about our team and the different areas of marketing procurement that we serve.

You can also find news and articles as well as our quarterly newsletter.
What we have learned over decades about top performing partnerships and how to achieve long-term success

By Bruno Gralpois 
Partnership for Success…. and Survival
In this increasingly complex, interconnected, demanding world we live in, if there is one certainty, it is the following: no one can or will succeed alone. In 2010, for the 100th anniversary of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), I was invited to write an article for their magazine that I titled “Relationship Capital.” There was no better, more symbolic time than this historic milestone to emphasize that. Following years of economic progress driven by human knowledge and intellectual capital, the next phase of progress was going to be in well-managed “partnerships” or “relationship capital.” Ten years later, that vision is now a reality. Let’s review together what it will take to partner for success in years to come.
Upcoming Events
See what's happening in 2023
Procurecon Indirect EAST
September 11-13, JW Marriott, Orlando, FL

EMEA Marketing Procurement and Financial Management Summit
September 19, London, UK

APAC Marketing Procurement and Financial Management Summit
October 19, Singapore

Procurecon Asia
July 11-13, Equarius Hotel, Singapore

Procurecon Marketing
November 6-8, at Hilton, Tampa, FL
Transparency. Delivered.