The report found that CMOs who actively involve procurement in marketing sourcing enjoy a more positive impact on the overall maturity and quality of marketing sourcing decisions.

Given today's marketing pressures —such as tighter budgets, leaner staff, growth of digital marketing and MarTech — and higher expectations of increased and tangible return on marketing investments, smart sourcing has become paramount to successful modern marketing, according to the report.

Key findings from the report are as follows:
  • Only 26% of marketing leaders actively partner with procurement in the identification, selection and negotiation of marketing vendors. This represents a sizable opportunity for marketers to leverage procurement services.
  • Seventy-one percent of marketing leaders who limit or avoid procurement involvement say procurement doesn't understand marketing, particularly with creative agencies and services. This identifies a need for procurement professionals to learn how to better evaluate marketing vendors.
  • Seventy-eight percent of marketing leaders in "very effective" working relationships with procurement tend to also involve digital / e-commerce functional groups in marketing sourcing decisions. This points to a greater maturity in digital. 
The report indicates that marketing should aim to leverage procurement's expertise to evaluate and select the right agencies / vendors that can provide value to the brand and can align media buying and other activities to the larger business strategy.

"Think of procurement as a strategic partnership that spans planning, vendor analysis, selection and management, rather than a box marketers need to check in contract negotiations," says Donovan Neale-May, executive director of the CMO Council. "A rudimentary level of involvement will likely not generate any significant value for marketing."

The report says that CMOs should involve procurement to:
  • develop a global and local marketing sourcing strategy and establish sourcing processes
  • create a framework for identification and selection criteria and performance metrics
  • optimise MarTech planning, vendor evaluations and contracting for better integration and alignment with the overall digital transformation strategy
  • review the existing agency landscape and contracts, and
  • consolidate rates and spend.
"Considering the uncertainties in the current socio-economic environment, marketers are facing increased pressures to elevate performance and meet short- and long-term goals while facing added pressure on budgets and spending," says Jason Galloway, customer advisory leader and marketing consulting practice lead at KPMG LLP.

"Marketers can generate more value through a closer, more strategic partnership with procurement, leading to more robust marketing sourcing, management capabilities, and measures to assess performance," adds Galloway.

"In fact, the new CMO Council report shows that the majority of marketers that have an effective working relationship with procurement have greater maturity in digital and could potentially unlock revenue growth through MarTech," Galloway concludes.

The report is based on a survey of over 200 marketing leaders across B2B and B2C industries. Additionally, in-depth interviews were conducted with executives at:
  • E&J Gallo Winery
  • Commvault, and
  • Audacy. 
Individuals are encouraged to download the report here. 

For more information, visit www.cmocouncil.org. You can also follow the CMO Council on Twitter.