Marketing efficiency

Start by taking a hard look at where your company stands.

Break down your spend by channel, category, agency and market. Find out where the money is really going. Identify potential savings by benchmarking, tapping into expert insights and looking at best practices.

Then, find out what it will take to unlock those savings by mapping it all out in an impact/effort matrix.

Translate marketing savings and impact into a language the CFO cannot dispute.

Ensure that both the marketing and finance teams have a common understanding of what constitutes marketing success and agree on the metrics to measure it (e.g. savings and revenue generation).

Do not treat marketing spend as a necessary evil but as a strategic investment that must be backed by a solid business case.

Get crystal clear on your top priorities and lay out the exact strategy and tactics you will use to reach your target.

We see a significant upside when focusing on areas such as:

3.1 Agency consolidation and tender process: most agency contracts are set up without much incentive to cut costs, especially on media spend. This is where you can make real impact – optimise these contracts by renegotiating terms or, better still, run a tender process. We have seen companies cut agency fees by as much as 35 per cent, all without sacrificing performance.

3.2 Look for opportunities to cut your media budget: if you run a media agency tender, it is also a good opportunity to take a hard look at where your media money is going and trim the fat, as media budgets are often inflated by spending on underperforming channels. The key is to trim the fat without cutting the muscle, ensuring that your budget cuts do not jeopardise your long-term brand growth. Our experience shows that companies can cut media budgets by up to 20 per cent without jeopardising both long- and short-term performance.

3.3 Revamping the marketing operating model: when you are juggling multiple markets or brands, there is often gold hidden in plain sight – untapped potential to streamline processes, cut down on duplication and boost accountability. It could be about centralising key activities, or it could be about creating a rock-solid process and governance framework. Either way, the goal is to optimise and make every move count.

Read more about our marketing operating model framework here.

3.4 Embrace agility and speed: marketing organisations today need to embrace speed and agility as if their lives depended on it. This can be done by setting up a marketing “win room” – a lean and cross-functional team that meets regularly. The team needs the authority to make quick decisions and the agility to pivot quickly when the market demands it. The market shifts in real time – consumer behaviour, trends and competitive landscapes are all in constant flux. If your marketing organisation is still bogged down by bureaucracy and slow decision-making, you are missing out.

3.5 Leverage technology: automation takes care of repetitive tasks, freeing up your team to focus on strategy. Data gives you real-time insights so you can optimise campaigns on the fly. And generative AI? It is a game-changer that can deliver personalised content at scale, turning good marketing into great marketing, but it can also improve the creative process significantly. Bottom line: technology is not optional – it is your competitive edge.

Start executing on your road map by rallying the executive team and mobilising your troops. It is crucial to align the CEO and CFO on your top priorities and get their buy-in. We recommend setting up a strong task force with the right mandate to drive change.

As the team starts executing on the different initiatives, it is important to capture value/savings and report progress to the executive team.