BrandMaker 'Pulse' Reveals Financial and Workflow Management a 2021 Priority for Global Marketing Organizations

ATLANTA, Nov. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BrandMaker, the leading innovator in Marketing Operations solutions, today shared the findings of its second BrandMaker Pulse - a global qualitative study into the key issues affecting global marketing organizations. This latest 'Pulse' was conducted in October to capture 2021 priorities. Key findings of the BrandMaker Pulse include:

Achieve More with Less 

• Efficiency and ROI are top of most marketing organizations' agendas for 2021, with 50 percent of global marketing organizations stating they will need to achieve more with the same or less budget than 2020, and 60 percent of respondents reported a greater demand for quantifiable ROI on marketing budgets. 
• Marketing leaders (70 percent) also stated the improvement of campaign management as a budget and ROI priority for 2021. 
• Only 5 percent of respondents expect an increase in their 2021 budget over 2020.

Freedom from the Spreadsheet Madness and Improved Workflow & Collaboration

• Most marketing executives (65 percent) in global marketing organizations demand improved marketing workflow management for faster reviews and approvals, and real-time transparency on status across in-house teams and external agencies. 
• 65 percent of respondents want to be freed from mundane marketing tasks that they believe should be automated by now, and almost half (45 percent) want freedom from spreadsheet madness. 
• The good news is that 75 percent of respondents said they plan to increase investment in marketing operations for improved workflow and integration.

Marketing Operational Maturity High On 2021 Agenda  

• The fact that 75 percent of global marketing organizations plan to increase operational efficiency investments is timely and critical for success, considering that most companies have not achieved marketing operational maturity. 
• A quarter of respondents give their marketing efficiency a grade F stating an over-dependence on spreadsheets, poor collaboration and workflow tools, and difficulty accessing and sharing content, budget, or project status. 
• Just 10 percent of respondents gave their marketing efficiency a grade A where they have easy integration with CRM and ERP functions, enjoy real-time visibility and control of budgets, people, and marketing assets.

Hybrid office/home working is Here to Stay

• Hybrid work from home is set to prevail in 2021, with 65 percent reporting that they want to continue working from home and meeting in the office for workshops/team meetings because face-to-face collaboration is important.
• No-one said they want to return to the office full-time.

Said BrandMaker CEO, Mirko Holzer, "The pandemic has forced companies to become more agile, and CMOs now have an opportunity to double-down on this agility to meet the demands of 2021. Our pulse results indicate that marketing operational efficiency remains the cornerstone for marketing teams to provide high-quality customer experiences. It also highlights that martech systems will be central to freeing marketers from low-value, labor-intensive work, and enabling them to embrace agility to meet the new realities of 2021." 

Go here for more BrandMaker Pulse findings.

About BrandMaker

BrandMaker is the leading software provider for effective Marketing Resource Management (MRM). BrandMaker gives enterprise marketers visibility and control to optimize their marketing operations. The enterprise-level MRM solution turns marketing into a business-building powerhouse by letting marketing leaders get on top of their budgets, people workflows, campaigns, and marketplace performance. BrandMaker is made to tame the complexity of multinational marketing. With our European roots, equipping companies to work across borders, cultures, and silos comes naturally to us. Accordingly, independent research firms recognize BrandMaker as a leader in MRM. More than 300 leading companies, including Bayer, Daimler, and Avantor, trust in our solutions to increase their effectiveness in marketing planning and execution.

About BrandMaker Pulse:  Qualitative research into experiences and expectations of marketing leaders from 20 global marketing organizations of companies with revenues over $1 billion.

For more information contact:
On behalf of BrandMaker: [email protected] 
or at BrandMaker: [email protected]

SOURCE BrandMaker