Marketing and Procurement have a relationship problem.

This isn’t because they have competing objectives, but rather because they often come at the same objectives from entirely different angles.

Marketing naturally gravitates towards growth, brand, and customer impact, whereas Procurement is more focused on value, governance, and commercial outcomes. It may seem like conflicting priorities, but it’s really a matter of perspective.

Ultimately, they’re both working towards the same goal: helping a business perform better.

The real challenge is an alignment of approach. This was a clear theme that emerged from our recent Spendshift webinar.

Marketing is only getting more complex as content demands continue to grow, channels continue to multiply, and expectations around speed aren’t easing. Organisations can no longer afford for Marketing and Procurement to operate independently of one another. They need to work as partners.

Marketing and Procurement need to align earlier

For years, the status quo has been for Procurement to enter the marketing process once the brief has been written and suppliers have already been shortlisted. But by that point, many of the most important decisions have already been made.

During our webinar, marketing procurement consultant Tina Fegent challenged that approach, arguing that Procurement creates far more value when it’s involved before the brief. This allows them to help shape decisions around capability, supplier models, and the best route to market. While this may sound like a subtle shift, it changes the conversation completely.

Instead of focusing on rates and contracts, organisations can start asking more strategic questions such as:

·      What capabilities do we actually need?

·      What should we build internally?

·      Where do specialist partners add the greatest value?

·      How do we create an operating model that supports long-term growth?

This helps organisations focus on capability and long-term value, rather than just purchasing decisions.

Rethinking collaboration for a changing marketing landscape

One of the key findings from the Spendshift Report 2026 is the continued shift of marketing spend towards production.

At first glance, this might suggest organisations are investing less in strategy. However, Anne-Sophie Guyader offered a different perspective in our webinar. She suggested that brands aren’t creating significantly more campaigns than they were a few years ago—they’re creating significantly more assets. Every campaign now needs to exist across multiple channels, markets, formats, and audiences. The challenge isn’t creating more ideas but rather scaling those ideas effectively.

This shift illustrated why the relationship needs to change. As Marketing needs partners capable of delivering consistency at scale, Procurement has a vital role in shaping the supplier model to make that possible.

Shared goals start with shared measures

One of the biggest sources of friction between Marketing and Procurement is measurement.

Marketing is often judged on brand performance, campaign effectiveness, and customer engagement, whereas Procurement is measured on savings, compliance, and commercial outcomes.

Each one of these metrics matters. But when teams optimise for different outcomes, collaboration naturally becomes harder. The organisations making the most progress are beginning to adopt a shared measure of success. The conversation is shifting from simply asking, “How much did we save?” to looking at the wider value being delivered.

That means asking questions like:

·      Have we reduced unnecessary production?

·      Did we deliver faster?

·      Was quality improved?

·      Did we make better use of specialist capability?

·      What additional value did we create from the same investment?

Because the goal isn’t simply to spend less, but to get more from every investment.

Better conversations make better decisions

To improve collaboration, organisations need to create the right conditions for it.

Throughout the webinar, one theme kept resurfacing: both Marketing and Procurement need a better understanding of each other’s world.

Marketing teams benefit from a stronger appreciation of commercial decision-making, supplier governance, and procurement processes. Equally, Procurement teams need a deeper understanding of creative development, production workflows, and what drives effective marketing.

Shared knowledge leads to better conversations.

Better conversations lead to better decisions.

And better decisions ultimately produce better marketing.

How Marketing and Procurement can better work together

Every organisation is different, but there are three actions almost every business can take.

1. Bring Procurement into the conversation earlier

Don’t wait until suppliers have already been selected. Involve Procurement while defining the challenge and exploring the right delivery model.

2. Measure outcomes together

Savings matter. But so do speed, quality, scalability, and effectiveness. Shared KPIs encourage shared ownership.

3. Invest in understanding

Whether through joint workshops, supplier reviews, or planning sessions, creating opportunities for Marketing and Procurement to learn from one another removes unnecessary friction.

A complete organisational restructure isn’t necessary—both teams just need to recognise that they’re stronger together than apart.

The future belongs to collaborative organisations

We said it before: marketing isn’t getting any simpler.

·      Content volumes continue to grow

·      AI is changing production

·      Supplier ecosystems are becoming more sophisticated

·      Expectations on speed, quality, and efficiency are rising

As a result, the relationship between Marketing and Procurement is becoming increasingly more important.

The organisations that succeed won’t necessarily be those with the biggest budgets or the largest supplier networks. It’ll be the ones where Marketing and Procurement stop behaving like separate functions and start making better decisions together.

It’s about creating the conditions for both Marketing and Procurement to succeed—because that’s where better marketing happens.

Want to hear the discussion firsthand?

This article was inspired by insights from our recent Spendshift webinar, where Tina Fegent, Anne-Sophie Guyader, Austen Donnellan, and Bérangère Fond explored how Marketing and Procurement can work more effectively together.

If you’d like to hear the conversation in full, you can watch the complete webinar on our YouTube channel.

▶️ Watch the full Spendshift Webinar now