A new report, just published by marketing production company Charterhouse, claims that "maverick" marketing spend is rife amongst Europe's top brands.  The report findings showed that 7 billion euros are wasted as a result of poor marketing procurement.

200 procurement professionals from 500 of Europe's largest businesses were interviewed.  42% said they were under pressure to reduce costs and 79% felt that marketing services could be bought more efficiently.

Only 13% described the purchasing of marketing services as effective.  The issues are described as a lack of control over spend and the absence of sophisticated purchasing practice.

Charterhouse suggest a significant part of the problem is the lack of control of production costs, as these are often bought-in by agencies.

The report also claims that 56% of procurement professionals believe they should have remit over marketing spend.  This view may not be shared by marketers as 30% of the procurement managers interviewed claim to have had conflict with their marketing colleagues, although only 17% say they have met resistance toward their involvement in marketing procurement.

Steve Antoniewicz of RAR comments, "Undoubtedly there continues to be tension between the roles of marketing and procurement.  One department is well placed to judge cost and the other value, so it's often going to be difficult to align these two motivations.  So many of the inefficiencies mentioned in the report can be improved simply through better communication and closer working practices between marketing and procurement.  I think there is a gradual improvement in this area and the increase of marketing procurement specialists within corporate businesses has also done a lot to reduce the distance between the two business functions."

The full report is published by Charterhouse here.

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