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 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.
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.
This shift illustrates 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.
Both teams can ask better questions:
- Have we reduced unnecessary production?
- 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.
Shared knowledge leads to better conversations.
Better conversations lead to better decisions.
And better decisions ultimately produce better Marketing.
How Marketing and Procurement can work better together
Every organisation is different, but there are three actions almost every business can take.
- 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.
- Measure more than savings. Savings matter. But so do speed, quality, scalability, and effectiveness. Shared KPIs encourage shared ownership.
- Create opportunities to learn from one another. Through joint workshops, supplier reviews, or planning sessions, both teams can remove 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
Marketing isn’t getting any simpler:
- Content volumes continue to grow.
- 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 important.
The organisations that succeed won’t necessarily be those with the biggest budgets or the largest supplier networks. They’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, watch the complete webinar on our YouTube channel.