With an Automated Scope of Work Program, Novo Nordisk Realized 37% Savings to Reinvest in their Brand

Decideware recently published a Q&A article, "Stacy Jensen on Scopes of Work,  Agency Performance, Breaking Down Silos and More" in the Industry Insights section of the ANA's Marketing Knowledge Center.  

The article discusses how one company, Novo Nordisk, gained insights needed for spend optimization by moving to a standardized method of managing annual plans; while a formal agency evaluation program has driven improvements in agency performance. These key benefits are significant on their own, but together they assist in unlocking the coveted ROI in agency relationships.

A sound scope of work is the backbone of any business. Ensuring that the implementation and management of the scope are done properly allows a business to optimize spend. If a scope of work is the foundation, then agency partners are part of the building blocks. Managing the relationship with agency partners through meaningful evaluation serves as the key to maximizing the marketing investment.

If both of these elements to marketing success are done in harmony, the outcome can be hugely beneficial. Some of the key elements discussed in the article include:

1. Former process - In order for proper implementation of scopes of work, alignment needed to be present — not only with the agencies, but internally. However, Novo Nordisk needed to have a better way of working. Without having a formal scope management process, the main challenges they faced focused around transparency, versioning, and cost optimization.
2. Current Process- By implementing an automated scope-of-work program, the business immediately saw efficiencies in the process. The new standardized process resulted in the transparency they needed in order to answer questions around spend optimization. They also benefited from automated benchmarking that generated insights they never received previously. With these greater efficiencies, they were able to see an overall 37 percent reduction in operation management and maintenance fees with their agency partners. This allowed their brand team to reinvest with the agency partners, enhancing the relationship and partnership.
3. Changes in Agency Performance- By implementing a formal agency evaluation program that was customizable to their needs, Novo Nordisk opened a new level of communication with their agencies, which ultimately improved the overall relationship. Using the insights from the evaluation, they were able to pinpoint where discrepancies existed, which allowed them to course-correct any misdirected efforts.
4. Results - Evolving their ways of working for both spend and performance has had a big impact on the business. Individually, each area has improved greatly. However, it is only when you look at how these processes have impacted the business as a whole that you see the full spectrum of benefits. One key benefit from both of these changes has been the insights they've gained. By joining both sets of data, they can now correlate spend and performance information on a single dashboard, allowing them visibility to the full picture of marketing ROI.

To read the article in its entirety visit Stacy Jensen of Novo Nordisk on Scopes of Work, Agency Performance, Breaking Down Silos, and More. 

(Not an ANA member? Contact Decideware at sales@decideware.com for a full copy of the article.)