Essential Tips to Ensure Marketing Procurement Compliance

By: Octerra Team        August 7th, 2024        7 minute reading

Recently, a large customer requested access to the Octerra platform for an internal auditor to review several of their advertising production projects. As is often the case, the review was conducted to ensure compliance with company policies and procedures. A standard exercise made far quicker and less painful because all the necessary information was available in one place. Everything! There was no need for lengthy interrogation, digging, or searching. Everything was immediately accessible – who worked on the project, the original budget, which vendors were invited to bid, and the complete project history showing who (from their company, and their agency) did what and when, as it happened – in other words the whole truth.

A dirty and inconvenient truth

We have mentioned this before in a prior post, but it is worth noting again within the context of compliance: A marketer’s media spend is typically their largest expense, and as such, receives the most scrutiny and oversight. But production spending has always been more opaque. It's a highly manual process siloed inside various email inboxes of individual producers and managers who may or may not still be employed with the brand or its agency [insert record scratch]. You heard right – email.

Email is typically how companies still manage the sourcing of video and other marketing assets used in advertising.’No way, not in today’s tech-driven, AI-infused, hyper-competitive business environment.’ you say. ‘Well, “Way!”’ to borrow the words of Wayne Campbell & Garth Algar, from an era when email was [pause for effect] a groundbreaking technology.

The result of all this disparate, siloed information is that it is essentially rendered inaccessible. And the time and effort required to extract it out of email and various drives leaves marketers -- and those in charge of ensuring compliance -- at a severe disadvantage.

The importance of compliance in the procurement process

Marketing procurement is not just about the acquisition of goods and services; it's a strategic function that can significantly impact an organization's efficiency, reputation, and bottom line. So, it must be handled appropriately – with the right people, processes and technology. Some common questions that come up regarding compliance are:

• Are we treating all our suppliers fairly and how do we measure this?
• How do we regularly monitor and audit supplier compliance?
• Are we adhering to our internal policies regarding procurement best practices?
• How often are we triple bidding our projects?
• How often are we negotiating the bids that are submitted?
• How are suppliers vetted and selected to ensure compliance with our policies?
• What steps are in place to prevent conflicts of interest in marketing procurement?
• What measures are taken to comply with data privacy regulations in marketing activities?
• How are compliance activities and decisions documented for transparency and accountability?
• What records need to be maintained for audit purposes?
• What are the procedures for conducting regular audits of marketing procurement processes?

This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but you get the idea. Perhaps a more important list is that of the critical benefits of compliance in marketing procurement and how it helps your organization:

Mitigate risks (both legal and financial): Failure to adhere to certain laws, regulations and internal policies concerning how a company purchases goods and services can result in serious legal repercussions, including fines, penalties, and litigation. By ensuring that procurement practices align with regulatory requirements, costly legal complications can be avoided.

Enhance accountability and transparency: Conducting procurement activities according to established guidelines ensures that every transaction is documented, traceable, and justifiable. This level of transparency is essential for preventing fraud, corruption, and other unethical practices. It also fosters trust among stakeholders, including employees, suppliers, customers, and regulatory bodies.

Improve relationships with suppliers: When suppliers recognize that an organization follows ethical and legal procurement guidelines, it enhances mutual trust and cooperation. Compliance guarantees fair treatment of suppliers, unbiased selection processes, and adherence to contractual terms. This results in better negotiation outcomes, more reliable supply chains, and overall improved supplier performance.

Achieve operational efficiency: Standardized procedures and clear guidelines help reduce discrepancies and errors in procurement activities. An effective compliance program can expedite the procurement cycle, lower costs, and improve the quality of purchased goods and services. This operational efficiency can lead to better resource management and potentially enhances overall organizational performance.

Support Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Ethical procurement practices ensure that the organization sources goods and services from suppliers who comply with fair labor practices, environmental standards, and human rights. This not only bolsters the organization's positive image but also highlights a commitment to sustainable and responsible business practices within the broader community.

Facilitate better decision-making: Clear policies and guidelines enable procurement professionals to make informed decisions that align with the organization's strategic objectives. Analyzing compliance data helps identify trends, assess risks, and develop strategies for continuous improvement in the procurement process.

Enhance brand value and reputation: Stakeholders, including customers, investors, and partners, are more likely to trust and do business with a company that demonstrates integrity and accountability in its operations. This strengthened reputation can result in increased business opportunities and long-term success.

Tackling compliance through people, process and technology

A compliant marketing procurement process doesn’t just happen by itself. It takes several inputs to build a healthy program that’s right for your organization.

People: One of the most important and nuanced areas of compliance can be parsed into three sections: talent, training, and communications. The first step is to ensure that your compliance team has the resources and team members in place to execute your compliance policies.

• Talent: First, ensure that you have enough of the right people in place to support compliance at the level required to ensure the desired risk profile for your organization. If a talent gap is identified, you can hire talent in, or you can upskill your people.
• Training: Hiring or replacing talent is time consuming, costly, and carries some risk. Consider training as an option to fill talent gaps. This will increase loyalty from your team, enhance their path within your organization, and boost your recruiting success.
• Communications: You can have the right people, the best policies and training programs to support them, but if you don’t communicate effectively, success will be limited. Ensure that you have a communications plan that includes the initial launch of your policies, an understanding from all stakeholders how updates and changes will be communicated and executed, and the technology platforms in place to support those plans.

Process: Compliance requires strong policies. Start with developing or refining your compliance policies to the point where all stakeholders are in support of those policies. Then develop the processes required to adhere to those policies. Define the workflow, escalation and approval paths. Finally, ensure you have the technology platforms in place to serve as the foundation supporting your people and processes.

Technology: Consider implementing marketing compliance technology to help automate tedious tasks, significantly improve the scope of oversight, and streamline compliance efforts, allowing you to save time and resources that can be used towards other high-impact business objectives. This approach eliminates hard-to-scale solutions tailored to individual channels and instead offers a cohesive automation-driven system that delivers a depth of coverage that is essential for comprehensive compliance.

Discover how Octerra can seamlessly integrate compliance into your marketing procurement efforts by speaking to an expert.

Jumpstart your marketing procurement compliance with Octerra

The time to ensure compliance is now - not after a misfire. By following these tips, you can significantly improve compliance in your marketing procurement efforts, mitigate risks, enhance transparency, avoid legal entanglement and ensure that procurement activities align with your company’s strategic goals.

With Octerra, your organization can streamline the sourcing of video and other marketing production activities while improving overall compliance.

Speak with our team today to optimize your marketing procurement.