Marketing Procurement

Tina Fegent: The 7-point procurement manifesto

Taking Ownership

“It’s time for marketing procurement to step out of the shadows and take ownership of a role that has the potential to deliver so much”

1. We must challenge the view that we’re tactical cost cutters. Yes, the price of everything is going up and it’s only natural that businesses want to keep an eye on the bottom line. But using procurement to its fullest extent is about being a strategic enabler. Cost savings will come, but so will competitive advantage. We must get out there, bang our marketing procurement PR drum, blow our trumpet and build the reputation that we all so richly deserve.
2. It’s time for more forward thinking. Hard to do when, as a function, we’re flat out trying simply to stand still but if we’re going to deliver on that strategic advantage, we need to know what’s on the horizon. Attending events – industry wide ones, delving into new technologies, asking the difficult questions. Marketing procurement professionals aren’t just pens and deciding between blue or black. We reach across the whole of a diverse and fast-moving sector. We need that information to be able to plan out our categories, deal with risks and keep ahead of the competition.
3. Take time to train and mentor. Many of the issues marketing procurement face in the day to day can be put down to a lack of training or asking for expert support. Failure to run a decent pitch process, or understanding the importance of the stakeholder’s input – these need more insight and development than a couple of days a year watching presentations. From that, we can then gain better career progression. So many coming into the industry aren’t aware of the avenues open to them or how to get to levels of seniority. Mentoring and investing time in training is the answer to developing our own much needed talent.
4. Forget COP, procurement is at the heart of sustainability. This is no idle claim. Procurement should lead the agenda on sustainability. Most organisations tend to focus only on their raw materials, but marketing services can have a huge impact, whether it’s the carbon footprint of your website or the paper used in your direct mail. Do any of us really know where our marketing sits on the 2050 target for Net Zero in the UK?
5. DE&I is not dead in the water. Any marketing procurement professional worth their salt understands the important contribution DE&I efforts make within the business. Whether it’s dealing with London-centricity, which is choking the rest of the country, a lack of investment in female-founded enterprise or understanding how to market for a diverse audience, DE&I has to be right at the front of your thoughts when sourcing and managing your agencies.
6. Tools, techniques and technologies. Of course we must lead on AI. Anyone who is getting bored of that conversation is missing the boat. We’re dabbling, testing it with our agencies but not really taking the plunge and yet, this is where we could be making so many gains for our organisations. Used well, these tools and skills can transform workflows, improve employee experience, access new, enthusiastic, fresh talent. It’s the original no-brainer.
7. Who are we if we’re not focused on effectiveness? Let’s focus on the work that delivers the work. Why are you spending money when you can’t measure what it’s doing? It comes right back to point number one: As a strategic enabler you’re the facilitator for those effectiveness discissions. Perhaps we should even change our names? Gerry Preece had the right idea – aren’t we really marketing investment managers?

Hopefully by now, you’ll have noticed that there’s been very little said about cost-cutting. That’s the way it needs to stay. If delegates took away one thing from Marketing Procurement iQ Conference 2025, it’s that it’s time for marketing procurement to step out of the shadows and take ownership of a role that has the potential to deliver so much.

Tina Fegent Global Marketing Procurement Consultant, Chair of the CIPS Specialist Knowledge Marketing Group & Conference Chair and Speaker and Author of the popular weekly LinkedIn post #TinaTells