Case 9: Spending Spree In Marketing Department
Topic
Marketing, Financial Control
Company
A subsidiary of a large corporation
Problem
The marketing costs is very high, marketing spending is very high.
Facts known
Marketing spending purchases has never been audited.
Audit process
Interview and field observation
Findings
- Marketing team never search for lower-price contractors.
- The same contractors are used again and again without review
- Marketing team spending for exactly the same product was about 3 times the costs of the same product bought by sales department
Suggestions
- To conduct review on the contractors used by marketing team
- Re-assign the purchasing of marketing product to more reliable people.
- Conduct impromptu price audit for past projects
Follow up
- Suggestion 1 and 2 was implemented and the company saved more than IDR12Billions just from carefully choosing contractor for 1 project.
- Suggestion 3 was not implemented due to insufficient staff in internal audit team.
Engagement
4 weeks
Case 16: First-Ever Store Branding in the Industry
Topic
Marketing, Sales
Company
A Global Decorative Company
Problem
Marketing investment at the consumer level was quite high but because the consumer journey takes a rather long time from awareness to actual purchase due to the infrequency of need for the product. Therefore, the company needs a way to ensure that customers stay aware of the product and consider the product at the point of purchase to increase probability of purchase.
Facts known
- The brand is a very trusted brand.
- Customers are aware of the brand but it is less suggested by the store due to premium pricing
Audit process
- Interview about the marketing strategy to see if there is a hole in the plan.
- Store visits
- Discussion with stores and sales managers
- Stores are owned by independent entrepreneurs and sell multiple product lines and multiple brands.
Findings
- There is no ‘reminder’ of the brand in the stores
- Stores are willing to have their stores branded by the brand
Suggestions
- Full-store branding with the average cost of IDR10,000,000/store
- Do it quickly all over Indonesia so that competitors do not have time to a counter-action the move.
Follow up
- Company implemented the suggestions and 440 stores were branded fully in 4 months with the cost of almost IDR4billion.
- Sales of the product in the stores increased from 15% to 66% in the next 3 months.
- The company took over one of the leading competitors in market share in the following year.
Engagement
4 months