by Mitch Golob

One of our Fortune 100 clients came to use with a unique request.  In addition to performing talent mapping and org chart development services, could Corporate Navigators obtain details outlining the Marketing and Communications budgets for some key competitors in the marketplace?

We had not worked on a project exactly like this before, so we were not sure if we would be able to capture the level of detail our client requested.  However, we were confident in our team’s abilities to answer these types of questions and provide similar intelligence on past projects.  With that in mind, we began our efforts to capture this information.  Online research provided a general framework around marketing and communications budgets through annual reports and other documentation.  But it wasn’t until we engaged with “live sources” within these target organizations that we were able to obtain and validate specific numbers around annual spend.

I’m proud to say that our team was able to deliver metrics around:

• Total (Annual) Marketing and Communications Budget, including specific figures for subfunctions:
  • Marketing
  • Public Affairs
  • Government Affairs
  • Philanthropy

This included data outlining total projected budget vs. actual spend from the most recent fiscal year for each company we profiled.  We had the privilege of presenting this report to the Chief Marketing Officer and Talent Acquisition leader at our Fortune 100 client.  Our project allowed them to compare the size / scope / composition of the relevant functional teams at these companies through our traditional mapping services.  And it also let them assess if their departmental budgeting is in line with these other companies.  It was a challenging endeavor, but one that proved invaluable to our client’s ability to make intelligence-driven decisions about their business.  For us, that is about as rewarding as it gets!