Seventy-eight per cent of client-side marketers say the industry is getting better at demonstrating return on investment (ROI), according to new AAR research.
This development is down to procurement’s increasing involvement in marketing pitches, which now happens in almost all (98 per cent) of cases; and 84 per cent of clients and agencies are pleased procurement is focusing more on marketing.
Meanwhile, 64 per cent of clients agree that marketing is increasingly being recognised by the rest of the business for the value it can add.
Kerry Glazer, CEO of AAR, commented on the findings: “Procurement has always been involved to some degree in buying indirect services, including marketing services agencies, on behalf of businesses.
“You can understand why it has been characterised as a ‘difficult’ relationship in the past. Agencies have had to put a value on what are essentially intangible concepts such as ‘creativity’ and the intellectual capital they offer whilst client-side marketing and procurement teams are forced to navigate a maze of hourly rates and results that can’t always be guaranteed.”
