I thought the issue of Marketing Week (dated 17th December) was an interesting read, namely because it was the last issue of the year AND decade! Reflecting back over the noughties there have been highs; such as more recognition for women in business and politics, but also lows with (the global recession obviously springing to mind).

I opened my copy of Marketing Week on the 18th December and I waited with bated breath to see what the predictions might be for 2010. As a sales professional, working for a new business agency, I have often found the predictions given by the magazine at the end of the year to be extremely useful when speaking to marketing prospects in January. Let’s face it, if you are going to call someone then you had better have done your research and being able to demonstrate forward insight really works with prospects.

Last year, ‘Marketing Week’ decided to opt out of a full-length feature giving an overview of the year and predictions for next. Instead, they focussed on a subject, which has been topical for some time – namely ‘the bruised relationship’ between marketers and procurement.

The article explains that ‘value’ will be the buzzword of 2010 as businesses continue to keep a close eye on budgets. This is something we can relate to as a business development agency when we speak to marketing prospects on the telephone. The message is clear, marketing spend is there but companies will have to ensure that they achieve good value for money when deciding which agency to appoint.

This year, procurement will play an increasing role in achieving good value for their business. This does not mean cutting costs but genuinely growing the business through a value added approach. It is true to say that marketers have tended to eye procurement through suspicious eyes in the past, but the need for both sides to work together is paramount. Also, an understanding of each other’s roles will go some way to achieving this.

I will certainly consider this argument and when I next get directed to a procurement department, rather than fearing that I won’t get anywhere, I will ask them what measures they are taking to ensure a good turnaround of agencies with the right experience.

We’d love to hear about your experiences with procurement departments.

I read an interesting article in Design Week on 10th December.

This article gave a rough prediction on 2010 marketing trends and it picked out five key directions for this year.

I was extremely excited when I read that one of the key directions was going to be digital touch points in the retail environment. This subject is familiar ground for me as one of my clients that I help generate new business for is an ecommerce agency who are particularly forward thinking in this area.

Last year, I had the pleasure of introducing the concept of Instore Kiosks to marketing prospects. Instore Kiosks are essentially a robust, touch-screen version of an eCommerce store. It allows the consumer to search for products, colours, and sizes that aren’t on the shelves. This concept can also be applied to an offline store to save the customer time when browsing. Another area of interest has been mobile applications; online stores have come up with tens of thousands of applications to enhance the handset experience and this is potentially a great area for growth in the retail sector this year.

Of course, many of you will have already heard of these mediums last year, but the difference this year is that retailers will be under much more pressure to move with the times as marketing becomes more sophisticated and technical. What started off as a discussion last year will now be put into practice.

If you are a creative agency working in this sector, we would be interested to find out what your thoughts are on this subject.

There was a feature in Campaign’s Media section on 13th November which exactly mirrors our own experience of the market during 2009, particularly in recent months.

Cormac Loughran and Euan Hudghton, the new biz head honchos of Mediaedge:cia and PHD respectively are musing about the unprecedented number of new business opportunities that have come about as a result of the economic downturn (Cormac states that almost 10% of the market is at pitch).

And it’s not just the media planning/buying discipline that’s seeing this trend – it’s across the board. The logic to this is simple but obvious; in a tough economic environment all brand owners need to achieve the maximum value from their marketing budgets. They want fresh ideas and a streamlined service and they know that there will be plenty of agencies falling over themselves for the opportunity to prove they can deliver this.

Agencies that have rested on their laurels by relying on incumbent accounts may find themselves in a very precarious position going into next year while those with a coherent new business strategy will be reaping the rewards – and this is the message we’ve been sending out all year.