CMO Q&A: How do you manage costs and budgets for the marketing department?

In each issue of Franchise Update magazine, we profile franchise CMOs and marketing leaders, asking each the same set of questions. Their responses say a lot about who they are, their culture, their values, and where they're leading their companies.

Throughout the year, we'll be selecting one of those questions - and providing answers from recent CMO profiles. If you like what they say and are curious to learn more about these franchise marketing leaders and their thoughts on other topics, we've provided links to their full profile.

This week: How do you manage costs and budgets for the marketing department?

Michael Barrette, Chief Marketing & Sales Officer, Dippin' Dots & Doc Popcorn
My group and I are very focused on maximizing value from our marketing activities as well as from investments in other areas of our business within sales and franchising. We have detailed budgets that are created annually and reviewed monthly. We work closely with our partners in the finance area of the company and entertain any course correction mid-year, if necessary. We also have a process to request additional funding between budget cycles if a meaningful opportunity presents itself. A request that was not part of an original budget is presented to senior management for approval or not. Read the full profile here.

Kristina Van Bruggen, Vice President of Marketing, Sizzler USA
We have a very stringent planning process to develop realistic and strategic marketing plans annually. Sharing our budgets with agency and vendor partners empowers them to find savings and efficiencies whenever possible. Read the full profile here.

Denise Pedini, EVP Marketing/CMO, Pizza Inn
Our franchise board treasurer and vice president, Daven Acker, and I work together to ensure all marketing needs are met within our yearly budget. Read the full profile here.

Kieran McCauley, Vice President of Marketing, HealthSource
Through our annual planning, we allocate funds for each of the quarterly promotions. Some quarters are heavy media buy periods developed to drive more traffic to our clinics, which means we are spending considerably higher levels. Beyond the quarterly promotions, we devote a percentage of our budget to activities that are always on for brand awareness. In addition, we have minimized the number of vendor partners we work with, which makes it easier to track expenditures. Read the full profile here.

Katherine LeBlanc, CMO, Painting with a Twist
Dealing with budgets and how to best optimize them can be a challenge. But if you start with the foundation "What do I need to provide franchisees to make them successful?" you'll find that your budget comes into focus. Read the full profile here.