As the sun sets on ProcureCon Marketing 2018, our Global CEO Yves Rogivue argues that the big talking points from the event call for new approaches to agencies, suppliers and the complex marketing mix…
Last week, I attended the annual ProcureCon marketing conference in London. Now in its 16th year, ProcureCon brought together 200 senior leaders from 45 industries across Europe.
It’s always an insightful event, but this year was particularly thought-provoking for both procurement and marketing specialists.
If you weren’t able to make it to London, here are my four key take-outs from the event.
A recurring theme throughout the conference was the importance of a positive relationship between marketing and procurement departments.
Over the years, there has been a common misconception that both parties have conflicting mandates and methodologies. However, with marketing departments under increasing financial pressure and procurement teams seeking to deliver optimum value for money; the functions must now work symbiotically.
Today, procurement and marketing teams need to speak to each other and learn the same language. Not least because effective collaboration between both sides can achieve significant cost savings – and allow marketing departments to consistently meet their performance targets.
One of the key themes to emerge from Tuesday’s talks was the need for simplification in today’s complex marketing landscape. Speakers talked about the evolution of the traditional agency model and the need to find opportunities for streamlining.
Currently, many businesses are utilising global creative agencies to dream up new campaigns, and using them to roll out the concept worldwide. The problem is, this can be a highly inefficient way of working. For example, when an idea conceived in London is applied in Italy, the Italian team may pull in their own local marketing agencies and reinvent the wheel to ensure the idea works in their own market.
So how do we streamline the process? Isn’t it more effective to take a creative idea and use an activation partner to transmit (and tweak) that message worldwide? These are the types of questions many businesses are now exploring.
Today, the rise of new platforms means marketers can connect with customers in more places than ever before. Undoubtedly, this provides a range of exciting opportunities, but as ProcureCon highlighted, it also has its problems too. Consistency being the number one concern.
If a customer is to enjoy the same brand experience at every touchpoint, marketers need to consider a multi-channel approach from the outset. Brands must find solutions that work across the board, so they can reach customers in a concise and consistent manner.
At ProcureCon, some of the world’s most innovative organisations highlighted the importance of having one consistent voice across all channels. Indeed, to truly connect with customers, brands must speak the same language, and offer the same experience on digital channels as well as offline.
In 2018, marketers have access to huge amounts of data and hundreds of digital metrics. However, with so much available, it’s easy to lose sight of what really matters – ROI.
The key to creating efficient and effective campaigns, isn’t just the data itself; it’s about being able to analyse it effectively.
To shape campaigns, and get optimum results, marketers need to dig deep into the data to see what’s working, and what isn’t. Only then can we really start measuring and building ROI.
These are just four take-outs from my experience at ProcureCon Marketing 2018. There were, of course, many other interesting topics that came up for debate over the five-day conference.
After such an insightful experience, I’m looking forward to more lively discussions and inspiring speakers at next year’s event. See you there!