New IAS masterclass features UK-based procurement and marketing expert

Tina Fegent

Insight into the industry

"Navigating the murky waters of marketing procurement is something that Fegent is very comfortable with and it is a skill that every marketer inevitably needs to hone in their career. She is one of the pioneers of marketing procurement and has worked in this arena for more than 20 years, for both clients and agencies. Through this hands-on experience she has gained a unique insight into the industry," explains Johanna McDowell, MD, IAS.

"Marketers see procurement as meddling unnecessarily in their relationships with agencies. Procurement, which came in very late into the marketing function in many companies, sees marketing as undisciplined.

Fegent will be sharing her wisdom about how marketers and procurement people can work well with each other even if they don't always see eye to eye. She will discuss why procurement is here to stay, will offer innovative tips on how best to engage with procurement teams, build relationships and acknowledge and support their role and emphasise the marketing department's desire to maintain and increase quality and how to marry the two so as to avoid any inevitable conflicts that can arise.

Fegent was responsible for setting up and running procurement marketing teams for UK firms such as O2, GSK and Orange/France Telecom. She then joined Grey Advertising in London as its Commercial Director, negotiating with the agency's many clients before moving to Lowe Advertising, also in London. She gained an invaluable insight into how agencies work and their interaction with both marketing and procurement teams.

Wealth of experience

In 2006, she set up Tina Fegent Consulting in the UK that offers a procurement support service to both clients and agencies. She works in all marketing categories. She chairs the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) Specialist knowledge Group on Marketing Purchasing, supports CIPS on its Marketing Collection training programme and developed and ran the 'Procurement for non-Procurement Managers' course for the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA).

Fegent is a regular speaker on the global conference circuit and wrote the first blog on the musings of the marketing procurement world.

This will be the second masterclass in a series of eight scheduled for 2015. McDowell is the initiator and creator of this unique series, aimed specifically at corporate marketers that value exposure to thought leadership on local and global marketing trends and specialist teaching on best practice.