Finding common ground - 3 key elements for a successful marketing and procurement partnership.

For more than a decade now, marketing has been driven by its ability to engage consumers via digital and social platforms, encourage consideration, elicit a response and measure success. This heightened focus on metrics combined with the explosion of channels and corresponding content needs, has changed the nature of the relationship between marketing, finance and procurement dramatically.

While collaboration between these departments has become more aligned and strategically driven around the subject of content creation in recent years, there are still disconnects. This is in part because each department often talks in different languages, and because genuinely alternative creative production options have been very limited.

Finance and procurement are laser focused on reducing wastage and inefficiency throughout the marketing process. If money can be saved then money will be saved. Meanwhile, marketers are facing an impossible challenge. How to save money, increase agility, and maintain quality all at the same time. Achieving all of this while broadening capabilities and diversity in order to ensure their brands are relevant and respected in a channel and cultural context.

In reality, the teams on either side of the procurement and marketing fence have been forced to battle it out over the age-old quality versus cost conundrum for a long time with little sign of things changing. Then COVID arrived and completely disrupted a marketing environment that to a greater or lesser extent had maintained its uncomfortable status quo.

And here’s where the traditional agency production model comes in. The last year has exposed just how far behind agencies are in being able to deliver on their client’s needs of more, for less. Decimated account management and creative teams, coupled with a traditional TV-first mindset was never going to work in the new world order. While most global advertising networks have slashed staff and costs to maintain their stock valuations, agile content first and tech-enabled solutions have catapulted in value.

Brand owners more than ever need strategic and creative thinking. However, the delivery and production of those ideas need to be more cost effective, and delivered with diversity, agility and velocity. Turning a 30” spot into a few short form videos and a couple of gifs with a six figure budget is simply not going to work as we move forward.

So what is the answer?

From a strategic perspective finance and procurement are seeking out investments in innovation, technology, and process solutions that deliver efficiency and savings. They also recognize that marketing is not a zero sum game whereby the lowest cost always wins. The art & science rule applies today as it always has done and ultimately it is the combination of precision targeting with high quality creative messaging that delivers results. Since March 2020 this equation has become even more pronounced.

The answer is yes. That is if your solution includes three key elements for success.

1. The first is the utilization of technology to streamline the process of finding, briefing, selecting and working with creative professionals.
2. Second, your professional creative network reflects the diverse cultural, technological and geographic demands of your client’s and their customers.
3. Third, access to people that exude an entrepreneurial mindset, willing to roll up their sleeves and focus on the clients needs, without the compromises created by a desire for industry recognition.

While marketing and procurement may talk different languages, one three letter acronym they both love the sound of is ROI. In content production terms that equation is very simple. Make sure campaign assets are of the right quality so they perform within each advertising environment, streamline the process of production so you can use them as quickly as possible, and finally, find ways to get them produced by professional creatives without the layers of cost and inefficiency.

If you’d like to find out how Genero can help you achieve these objectives and find that common ground with your finance and procurement teams, please do get in touch.