Many organizations want to implement an accountability program. Virtually all Internal Audit directors would like to extend that accountability initiative across the enterprise and most certainly want to provide coverage for categories with a significant spend, such as marketing.
Yet, in spite of the good intentions, U.S. companies have been slow to embrace independent compliance and performance auditing of their marketing supply chain partners. Ironically, the reason emanates from the answer to a very simple question, “Which departmental budget will be tapped to fund the initiative?” More often than not the answer to that question, in the context of a marketing and advertising spending review, is “Marketing.”
Given this dynamic, it is often a challenge for companies to implement an “unbudgeted” audit project once the fiscal year planning process has been completed, even if results dwarf its cost. Additionally, while many CMO’s have come to value the feedback and insights provided from the independent testing of supplier contract compliance and performance, there are others that still do not embrace audit or accountability initiatives. As a result, unless mandated by the C-Suite, independent accountability testing may never make its way into the budget, causing a huge assurance gap governing that company’s multi-million marketing investment.
There is good news however for procurement, finance and audit executives seeking to remove these obstacles and manage associated risks. Namely, that in addition to the opportunity for process improvements, performance monitoring, contract language enhancements and better controls, these engagements yield hard dollar returns resulting from various financial true-ups and future savings opportunities; far exceeding the fees necessary to conduct the review.
Positive financial returns aside, the costs associated with an audit of an advertiser’s agency network partners is miniscule when compared to the tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars being expended in this area.
Perhaps best of all, independent assessments of marketing agency compliance and third-party vendor billings sets a tone of the desired financial stewardship and accountability behavior that the client would like to see employed across its marketing supplier base. In turn, the very act of performing an independent audit, provides a powerful incentive for an agency to diligently self-police itself by tightly adhering to the processes and guidelines agreed to and memorialized in the Client/ Agency Master Services Agreement. In the words of the noted English author and speaker, Simon Sinek:
“Actions speak louder than words. All companies say they care, right? But few actually exercise that care.”
Interested in learning more about fielding a marketing agency network accountability initiative at your company? Contact Cliff Campeau, Principal at AARM | Advertising Audit & Risk Management at ccampeau@aarmusa.com to for a complimentary consultation on the topic today.