11 marketing procurement executives to know

There’s always been some tension between procurement executives and marketing teams. And that tension has only intensified in an environment where marketing budgets are constantly being squeezed and scrutinized for financial performance. The job of procurement executives is to ensure money is being spent effectively, in line with the company’s policies, and that external vendors (including ad agencies) are being managed properly. Procurement duties can be handled in-house or outsourced to a consulting firm. Agencies and even some client-side marketing executives sometimes view procurement as creating unnecessary red tape, or they assume that the function’s only goal is to cut their spend down. Ad Age Tech Power List 2025 We’re looking for top digital innovators from agencies, brands, platforms, ad tech companies and tech startups Enter here Typically this tension comes from a place of misunderstanding, said PwC Director Thom Roose, who spent years working in marketing procurement for companies including IBM, Accenture and Procter & Gamble. Too often, procurement executives require their company’s marketing teams to engage with them, which creates “mutual resentment,” and leads to marketers viewing procurement “as a ‘check-the-box’ compliance effort,” Roose said. He added that only when both sides understand the “value” of each other, can the two departments work successfully together. It comes down to communication to resolve these issues. “Just talk to each other,” he said. “Education goes a long way. The more I learned about how the various aspects of marketing worked, the more I could build complementary sourcing strategies to support the marketing side of the business. Likewise, when my marketing counterparts understood the various ways we can help drive value, they then would include me in their planning and business processes.” When Roose was in the procurement business, he sought not only to work closely with his companies’ marketing team, but their external agency partners, as well. He was recognized for this approach when he was awarded a “Best of IBM” top 1,000 employees in 2017—at the time he said he was managing $2 billion in marketing spend across the company’s internal marketing procurement department, as well as outsourced marketing procurement investments. Ad Age asked consultants and ad executives who some of the most revered and respected executives are today on the procurement side of the business—both the people agency leaders should absolutely know and those who are bridging the divide between marketing and procurement. Below are 11 executives named by those sources, listed alphabetically, and their advice for improving the way these two departments interact. Kristi Boyd Senior director, The Coca-Cola Co. Kristi Boyd joined Coca-Cola more than 26 years ago, and climbed the ladder. She got her current title, senior director overseeing marketing procurement, in 2021. Key to her approach is “empowerment, agility, risk-taking and a people-first approach,” Boyd said. “My approach begins with active listening, followed by thoughtful collaboration, and finally offering solutions. I focus on identifying potential risks, ensuring compliance with policies and ultimately offering solutions that align with our mutual goals.” When asked how she views the tension between marketing and procurement, she said she actually sees it as “a positive” to “embrace.” “Healthy, fact-based debates foster balanced, well-rounded decisions that ultimately drive the best outcomes,” Boyd said. “I have worked my entire career to build and foster a positive relationship with our marketing community. The good news? This comes with ease because I enjoy learning from and engaging with these fascinating people. Therefore, our discussions are rooted in a strong respect of each other’s points of view and goals that ultimately drive the best decisions.” Although Boyd has a long history with Coca-Cola, spending time in various parts of the business, she said she’s only been in the role leading marketing procurement for three years. But she said she’s drawn “from various roles” to prepare her for the job. In the role, Boyd led a global capabilities assessment that ultimately resulted in the beverage giant consolidating its marketing account with agency WPP in 2021. And she was praised by some including consultants in the industry who spoke to Ad Age. “Kristi is the absolute OG of agency compensation,” R3 Co-Founder and Principal Greg Paull said. “No one invests more time with global stakeholders in marketing than her to help drive better outcomes.” Kim Harrison-Johnson Director of global strategic sourcing marketing events and travel, LinkedIn Kim Harrison-Johnson, who has been with LinkedIn since 2022, works closely with her marketing team to “identify opportunities for cost savings, efficiency and innovation,” she said. “This involves evaluating suppliers to ensure they align with both performance expectations and our broader strategic priorities, such as sustainability and diversity.” Harrison-Johnson said she leaves marketing decisions to the marketing department, but she can help them make “informed decisions, optimize their budgets and focus on delivering impactful campaigns.” “There must be a balance between value and price,” she said. "The key to success in marketing procurement is knowing how to manage this conversation.” Harrison-Johnson has 15 years of experience working alongside marketers in procurement departments at major companies including Walmart, Truist and SunTrust Bank. She also owned a marketing consulting firm where she worked with clients such as Home Depot and United Healthcare. Harrison-Johnson attributed some of her success working with marketing from her experience having started her career on the advertising side. “I worked at an agency right out of college, so I know how the agency model works,” she said. Also read: 23 Gen Zers to know in advertising and marketing Keri Kokayi Managing partner and CEO, AdVise Worldwide Keri Kokayi has been the managing partner and CEO of his marketing procurement firm, AdVise Worldwide, since 2021. He prides himself on being an “advocate” to marketing teams. Kokayi said he supports marketing teams in a variety of ways, including leading pitches, setting compensation and process standards, evaluating agency performance and overseeing marketing transformation exercises. “I advise clients to set the tone by cascading to the organization that, as an advertiser, marketing is the lead actor delivering enterprise revenue,” Kokayi said, describing how he helps foster collaboration between procurement and marketing. “However, procurement is a supporting actor that, if engaged early, can power brands with process and financial efficiency. My recommendation is to wire both teams to operate by a joint mission.” Kokayi has worked in both marketing and procurement during his career, so he also understands the value in both. “Being able to see all sides helps me, as a unifier, build sustainable relationships between all parties,” he said. His background includes stints at IBM, where he worked with the tech giant’s holding company partners to figure out how to efficiently source creative, media and digital without impacting the quality of the work. In 2011, he directed media and creative reviews as a consultant for Cox Communications—while at Cox, he also helped The Home Depot write transparent media rebate language into its agency agreements some four years ahead of the ANA’s expose on media agencies’ non-transparent practices. Kokayi was poached by Coca-Cola in 2013 to transform its marketing procurement approach. He was appointed in 2017 to direct Campbell Soup’s integrated marketing pitch process, before leaving to lead AdVise Worldwide in 2021. On the agency side, he’s also advised top shops on how to win procurement-led deals. For example, he said he was hired by a holding company to help leadership “understand the role procurement plays in a pitch, procurement’s objectives, how compensation needed to be structured in agency proposals to be attractive to procurement while remaining profitable to agencies ... I introduced the ad holding company into to a prospective client via a global media pitch, advised the hold co through negotiations and ultimately won the award of AOR for a leading CPG,” Kokayi said. Chris Kredo Senior VP of global procurement, A&M, PepsiCo Chris Kredo is the senior VP of global procurement for PepsiCo’s advertising and media (A&M) department. He is a veteran in this space and has been with the beverage giant for about two and a half months. He previously spent 15 years running marketing and sales procurement for Mars. Kredo said he equates procurement to human resources, and takes tips from those professionals and applies them to his role to be successful. “Procurement outlines the process to bring in new suppliers ... like HR does for new employees,“ he said. “We ensure marketing is clear on the role they want their agency to play ... just like HR would be clear on what the job description is. Procurement helps marketing look into the marketplace to see what kinds of talents there are and advises on reasonable costs to acquire that new talent ... just Like HR would for new employees.” Read about all of the 2024 Marketers of the Year Kredo added that his involvment in marketing decisions is “low. Campaign decisions and budget allocations are up to them. Where I do insert myself is to ensure they are clear on their mission ... do the campaigns drive a positive ROI or set the foundations to do so?” He added that there doesn't have to be “tension ... a marketing procurement department that is focused on helping marketing get great work ... that works for the business and all at a reasonable cost will be the hero over a procurement team that focuses on lowest cost only.” At Mars, Kredo was known for driving “strategic value,” he said. “Multiple markets creating the same things that could have been made just once and reapplied is an example" of how he helped marketing make smarter investments.” Trudy Lim VP of performance, digital and e-commerce, AdviseWorldwide Trudy Lim also works for marketing procurement firm AdviseWorldwide, where she leads the performance, digital and e-commerce practice. When engaging with clients, she said she finds “having a collaborative approach and gaining a mutual understanding of goals, budgets and pain points upfront works well.” “In 2025 we should continue to refresh our thinking; we have the same goals: enabling our teams to be successful,” Lim said, offering advice for other procurement executives. “Continue working towards common goals and fostering communication between teams” including “outlining next steps, timelines and deliverables, providing status updates in the process.” Lim is another executive who has “worn both hats,” she said. She was an e-commerce, digital marketing leader for more than 10 years before working in procurement. “Having sat on both sides of the fence, I bring deep industry knowledge and collaboration with marketing teams, bridging capabilities with long-term vision, not just finding savings but solutions to reinvest in innovation,” Lim said. Her past employers include Huffy Corp., Johnson & Johnson and Coca-Cola. Also read: Coca-Cola exec on response to its AI holiday ads Kevin McCollum Commodity manager, procurement, with a focus on media and omnichannel marketing, The Hershey Co. Kevin McCollum has been with The Hershey Co. for almost nine years, currently handling media and omnichannel marketing as a commodity manager, procurement. He also is a frequent adviser on procurement matters to the Association of National Advertisers, and is a member of the group’s financial management committee, agency relations committee and retail media working group. McCollum said part of his job is facilitating the process of choosing agency partners that provide the best value to the company. “I tell my stakeholders that my job is to ensure that they are successful in achieving their goals that move the business forward, mitigating risk, all while ensuring that they are being good stewards–making the most of the budget that the company has entrusted to them,” he said. Because he approaches his job from a place of trust and collaboration, McCollum said “my marketing stakeholders want me involved in everything that they are working on … I have little to no tension with my marketing stakeholders, but I know there is tension out there, or there wouldn’t be ANA reports on the poor state of the relationship.” Tom Denford, CEO and co-founder of consultancy ID Comms, said McCollum is “highly trusted by all sides.” He “tries to be objective, is strategic not tactical, understands value not just price. He is a big advocate of what he calls ‘servant leadership,’ which means he serves the company, but takes responsibility for innovating and pushing new ideas,” Denford said. McCollum noted his “servant leadership” approach. “In the realm of marketing, the focus needs to be on value, not price,” said McCollum. “However, that doesn’t mean that we sign up for a Ferrari when a Mustang will do. The key for marketing procurement is to know and understand the areas of marketing that are under our remit almost as well as our stakeholders do.” Al Pacile Head of procurement, marketing insights and creative, Unilever Al Pacile, head of procurement, marketing insights and creative for Unilever, has been with the consumer packaged goods company for 14 years. In his view, procurement is about “making it easy for marketers to be great at what they do, in the most optimal way possible from a commercial and operational standpoint,” he said. Among his accomplishments, in 2023, Pacile said he negotiated a “pioneering deal on generative AI digital content, allowing our team to be leaders in how we think and act around this new and exciting technology.” “Speed” is something Pacile said he’s become even more focused on in his role. “To compete, we need resources to come together very quickly to deliver unmissably superior brands. Marketing procurement plays a key role in this, and success requires partnering with our marketing colleagues at senior levels, including directly with CMOs,” he said. Pacile gave an example of what he might help a CMO with: “A need to deliver differentiated digital content at scale—we may identify a partner who can deliver high quality generative AI at a competitive cost, and together we test, learn and scale quickly to make it happen in partnership with the marketing team.” Something Pacile said he’d like to see in 2025 is agency compensation models based on deliverables, “while incentivizing for outcomes through a performance-based framework … The way I think about this is to focus on return on marketing investment through a framework that considers costs, as well as value from the perspective of campaign performance and improved brand equity over time,” he said. Also read: Brands rethink agency compensation models Digyna Patel Director of strategic sourcing, Visa Digyna Patel, director of strategic sourcing for Visa, said she always engages with marketing “early; before the buying decision is made.” “In a world of ever-changing requirements, I am a huge champion of focusing on overall value to the organization instead of total price,” Patel said. “I believe it is much more meaningful to create visibility into the cost by challenging third parties to provide transparency into their cost build up.” She prides herself on the relationships she builds with different departments. “By far my biggest accomplishments in my career are the meaningful relationships I’ve built along the way with business partners, colleagues, agency partners, mentors, colleagues in the industry,” Patel said. “It’s in my DNA to solve problems and I believe that skillset has really [contributed] to my ability to navigate through some tough spaces and emerge as a role model, leader and trusted partner in this space,” she added. Kyle Peckens VP of commercial indirect procurement, Pfizer Kyle Peckens is a 20-year veteran in this space and currently the VP of commercial indirect procurement for pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, where he said collaboration is key to success. “We have a position to play on the field, and that position changes depends on what is needed: budget pressure, or speed over price, for example,” Peckens said. He said he brings to the table “data-driven discussions that articulate a balance of quantitative and qualitative tradeoffs” and help his marketing teams make decisions. “While we are seldom a decision maker, our business partners have a high level of respect for the information that we bring to the table to help them make the right decisions for their business,” Peckens said. For procurement executives trying to foster better collaboration with marketing, Peckens advised them to “listen first, seek to understand, communicate and execute.” “This is what builds trust,” he said. “Relationships matter. Treat each other like partners. We all want the same outcome: to perform better and solve problems to deliver solutions that benefit our patients.” R3’s Paull said Peckens is “the most balanced and thoughtful in the industry … he sees the big picture but is also into every detail as well.” Veronica Santiago Global commodity manager, marketing, Dell Technologies As the global commodity manager, marketing, at Dell Technologies, Veronica Santiago said she’s always found success speaking “marketing” first and “procurement” second. “For marketers, how procurement gets from point A to B is not as relevant as it is helping them find the right agency partners, mitigate risks and maximize total value in their marketing investments,” she said. In her role at Dell, Santiago oversees creative, production and public relations. She said her role is to simply provide data, facts and insights to marketing teams that help them “better plan, budget and select the right partners that can help deliver on business needs.” “Procurement offers so much more than just negotiating scopes and finding cost savings,” Santiago said. “Although these are important factors to achieve for any organization, it’s about defining what the ultimate goal is, understanding the value of what we want to achieve and ensuring a mutually beneficial partnership is achieved with agency partners.” She added that she has never treated marketing as a “commodity.” Santiago has more than 25 years of experience in both marketing and procurement roles. Prior to Dell, she held procurement roles at companies including Marriott Vacations Worldwide, Deloitte Consulting and Coca-Cola. Morgan Smith Director of global marketing sourcing, McDonald’s Morgan Smith is the director of global marketing sourcing for McDonald’s, where she’s been for the past 13 years of her career. She joined in 2011 as an analyst of U.S. restaurant development sourcing and climbed the ranks. Smith said she views her marketing team as a true partner. “We not only work together across all aspects of agency management—from agency selection, to annual scope negotiations and contracting, to ongoing relationship management—we also engage with the marketing team at a more strategic level on things like our agency model, approach to compensation and how we can continuously improve the way we our teams can work together,” she said. Smith said procurement and marketing always need to “recognize and respect what each brings to the table. Share your goals, find the commonalities and work to help each other succeed,” she said. “Morgan has done an incredible job at making McDonald’s a safe space for giant creative risks,” R3’s Paull said. “It’s because of her poise that agencies like Wieden + Kennedy and others have been able to flourish."

11 marketing procurement executives to know

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