The efficiency of the supply chain is vital, and executives worldwide could benefit from current findings from the global CMO Council online audit, "Define Where to Streamline," the first in a series of thought leadership programs by the Marketing Supply Chain Institute. This new think tank has been set up to assist executives drive performance improvements, operational efficiencies and cost reductions across their service provider value chains and agency ecosystems. The study was conducted in partnership with the Business Performance Management (BPM) Forum (www.bpmforum.org) and the Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM) -- a global academic-industry consortium run by Penn State -- to benchmark management effectiveness of marketing supply chains worldwide.

Sponsored by NVISION, a leading provider of specialized business, distribution and marketing services, the global online audit tapped the perspectives of 311 marketers from multi-national companies of all sizes across 23 different industry sectors. The goal was to provide the first comprehensive view of marketing supply chain demands, dynamics and deliverables, while also evaluating the productivity, value and level of integration and control in this vital marketing operational sector. The study also revealed marketers are challenged to better manage, streamline and automate a highly complex and disconnected process that is essential to go-to-market effectiveness and competitive advantage. Too few are taking a strategic look at supply chain responsive and business value, auditing cost components, analyzing procurement data, or regularly reviewing supplier performance and yield.

Some of the key findings are:

With 89 percent of companies indicating they are not generating real economies or efficiencies in their marketing supply chain process, marketers are further challenged as one third of respondents indicate they have no internal resource of expertise in supply chain management. In fact, 47.8 percent of marketers surveyed indicate that marketing supply chain management is an evolving functional area that needs more attention or a discipline growing in importance of value.

30.4 percent of respondents said they weren't fully realizing the value and potential of the Internet and instead are managing partners through traditional means while 30.1 percent clearly have adopted an online approach, saying they were seeing major improvements in workflow, collaboration, content access and digital asset management.

Auditing the effectiveness of producing, storing and shipping marketing consumables is the first step towards a more integrated, efficient and streamlined marketing supply chain. Executives are clearly recognizing that they can gain significant efficiencies and cost savings. The CMO Council study suggests that a trend toward greater sustainability and carbon footprint reductions may lead many executives onto the right path for gaining a deeper understanding of their supplier network and value chain. Delving into these areas will enable executives to exact cost-savings and efficiency improvements from many of the greatest areas of spend within their marketing supply chains.