Controlling marcom costs: why stretching your budget isn’t a stretch

How much less are you willing to pay for higher-quality marcom?

And no, that’s not a typo—we’re talking about more for less. It’s not just the goal of marcom executives everywhere; for some of them, it’s a practical reality.

For example, HP, Google, and Symantec all have very big marcom budgets—maybe much bigger than yours. But they might be spending less per execution than you are—while still getting enviable creative and production quality. And there’s no magic, funny accounting, or alternative reality involved.

It doesn’t seem fair, does it?

At Harding Marketing we work with all three of those companies—and many others equally adept at controlling costs. So we know what it takes to achieve more for less. It takes a rigorous, systematic approach to marcom creative and production, that’s what. But that sounds awfully stuffy, so let’s call it:

The Mystical Secrets of
How to Cut Your Marcom Costs
Without Cutting Quality

Mystical Secret 1—Planning: Everybody plans their marcom, so that’s no big secret. The secret is to plan with cost controls built into the strategy, into the creative execution, and into the production.

But be careful. It’s not enough to say, “Hey, we can’t afford a four-color job,” especially if you really need a four-color job. That’s not planning; that’s surrender.

At Harding, we expect everyone in the place to do their job with cost implications in mind. That means the writers and designers as well as the project managers, web designers, and production experts. For example, it’s amazing how much a writer can cut costs on a Flash assignment simply by using one voice-over announcer instead of two.

Mystical Secret 2—Knowledge: Every medium is different, with different factors affecting costs. The same writer who saves money by using only one announcer for a Flash production might waste it on a website homepage. Unless, that is, the writer understands the medium.

Considering the variety of media we all use these days—print, Flash, InDesign, desktop, HTML, interactive Web design, and everything else—it’s a daunting task. And almost nobody knows everything.

At Harding, we have a handy way to undaunt ourselves: we talk to each other. With more than a hundred marcom professionals in San Jose, California; Grenoble, France; and various points in between, it’s almost inevitable that more than one of us knows the turf.

For example, Harding technical wizards know the Web so well that they built a kind of search engine Google uses for its own marcom efforts. Yes, that Google—home of the world’s premier search engine. It’s called NetMarcom, by the way. And if you’re an international marketer, it could very well save you a ton of money. In fact, it saved $1.3 million in just a year for one user.

Mystical Secret 3—Great sources: At Harding, we’re an international agency working for multi-national corporations. That means the world is not only our oyster; it’s our supplier shortlist, too.

Want an example? We have an award-winning source for Flash production in the Philippines. True, they work when most of us in the States are asleep. But no matter: Harding creative people are willing to check their emails—in the middle of the night, if necessary.

More important, our Philippine colleagues are very good. They’re also very responsive. And they are very–okay, not exactly cheap; let’s say reasonable. In short, a low-cost option with high-quality results.

All of which leads us back to the same question we asked at the beginning: How much less are you willing to pay for higher-quality marcom?

One way to find out is to talk with us about an upcoming marcom project. Even better, ask us to bid on it. Either way, there’s no cost at all to click michelle_contreras@hardingmarketing.com in San Jose, CA. Or to reach our office in Grenoble, click stephane_labartino@hardingmarcom.fr.