Marketers are spending billions of dollars producing, warehousing, and shipping marketing literature, packaging, documentation, point-of-sale displays, premiums, giveaways, signage, and handouts for all channels of market contact and engagement. The level at which this portion of marketing operations is managed and controlled can materially impact go-to-market effectiveness, as well as the optimal use of marketing dollars in creating business value and a competitive advantage.

While investments in traditional marketing channels have been decreasing over the past few years, marketing consumables still account for a significant portion of the marketing mix. According a recent Chief Marketing Officer Council study on the marketing supply chain, 30% marketers reported spending 20%-30% of their budgets on marketing materials. Printed collateral topped the list of materials produced.

While investments in traditional marketing channels have been decreasing, marketing consumables still account for a significant portion of the marketing mix.

At the same time, however, the marketing supply chain is broken. Marketers are facing significant challenges in creating, delivering, and tracking their investment in marketing materials. 78% of marketers surveyed by the CMO Council report having a closet or warehouse full of old materials, while 84% have sent outdated marketing materials because of slow or inaccurate internal supply chains. In addition, 33% had no form of inventory management and significantly more had no real-time access to inventory or utilization levels.

According to the CMO Council Study Promotion Commotion Study sponsored by NVISION, up to 50% of marketing consumables are deemed waste because marketers lack a critical view into provisioning, logistics, consumption metrics, and localized needs. The oversights in the marketing supply chain are resulting in overspending and missed opportunities for making a real impact on the sales and demand process. While the economy is improving and marketing personnel are beginning to reinvest in demand generating programs, marketers are not in a position to ignore the waste that is being created by an unchecked and unmeasured marketing supply chain.