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Are procurement teams killing creativity or saving brands?

CIPS MENA's Sam Achampong calls for the industry to challenge traditional processes and reframe procurement not as a final checkpoint, but as an active partner.

Sam Achampong, Regional Managing Director, Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) for the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.Sam Achampong, Regional Managing Director, Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) for the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

In the competitive world of marketing and advertising, procurement professionals often find themselves at the centre of a longstanding debate. Are they the gatekeepers stifling creativity, or the unsung heroes safeguarding brands? The answer, as with many complex relationships, lies somewhere in between.

Agencies frequently view procurement as an obstacle; the middlemen who slow down processes, squeeze budgets and interfere with creative decisions. This perception isn’t entirely unfounded. Procurement’s role involves meticulous evaluation, cost management and ensuring compliance, which can be seen as opposed to the free-flowing nature of creative work.

However, this viewpoint overlooks th


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the authorAnup Oommen
Anup Oommen is the Editor of Campaign Middle East at Motivate Media Group, a well-reputed moderator, and a multiple award-winning journalist with more than 15 years of experience at some of the most reputable and credible global news organisations, including Reuters, CNN, and Motivate Media Group. As the Editor of Campaign Middle East, Anup heads market-leading coverage of advertising, media, marketing, PR, events and experiential, digital, the wider creative industries, and more, through the brand’s digital, print, events, directories, podcast and video verticals. As such he’s a key stakeholder in the Campaign Global brand, the world’s leading authority for the advertising, marketing and media industries, which was first published in the UK in 1968.