CONTRACTS, REMUNERATION, AUDITS AND BENCHMARKING

We have a proven record of helping sophisticated procurement operations achieve their goals.

Unleashing talent through more intelligent procurement

Old-style procurement was about hitting suppliers hard on their costs and making the assumption that there was ‘fat’ in every contract. This has resulted in some wasteful grinding down of people businesses and the limitation of great ideas. New procurement practices are looking more intelligently at how marketing services that are employed by client companies can become the best in their field.

Procurers have woken up to the fact that their role will be to create an environment where the best talent is attracted to their own agencies and suppliers, and that the most liberating and business driving ideas are unleashed to consumers. This does not mean paying more for an agency.

Questions procurers are seeking to answer typically include:  

  • What inhibits cut-through creativity?
  • What is the optimal structure for an account team?
  • How can multiple brands be best managed from a single point?
  • How long does it take to have a good idea? (Answer: The same amount of time as it takes to have a bad idea)
  • What are the consequences (for my products) of media convergence?
Optimising your agency mix through agency auditing 

Many client companies accumulate agencies over time as a result of the differing requirements of their various brands and businesses. 

In carrying out an agency audit, our consultants interview the various marketing sponsors within your organisation, interview the agency representatives, and analyse historic costs and agency deliverables in order to assess whether the agencies are being used as efficiently and cost effectively as possible - and whether there is a need for all of them to be retained.

Global Benchmarking with more cities, more accuracy and more roles, better defined

We hold the most frequently updated benchmarking exercise in the world and keep records of agency charge-out rates: 

16 well-defined agency roles across 16 cities in the world with the full cooperation of the agency community. Beijing and Tokyo are included. We have also kept the 4As in the USA and the IPA fully aware that this exercise is taking place - and that it is being regularly updated. 

Our partners in the USA, Jones Lundin Beals, publishes a special report each year with the apt title ‘Agency Compensation’, and this has become accepted best practice as well as a must-read for any holiday!

Clients who wish to talk to us about our benchmarks on agency charge-out rates should contact Andrew Melsom

To see some examples of our work with contract, remuneration and global benchmarking, check out some of our client case studies, below:

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