A global technology and SaaS company had digitised in fragments — 41 overlapping martech tools, agencies bolted on channel by channel, data trapped in silos. Spend rose every year while attribution and accountability fell, and a digital-first ambition was throttled by a model built for the old funnel.
VA fixed the operating model and data layer first, then rationalised the stack from 41 to 19 tools and the agency model to a leaner always-on configuration — with fees tied to measurable outcomes and an in-house capability centre to run it.
Chief Digital Officer, Head of Digital Transformation, Head of Marketing Operations
The strategic problem
Marketing had digitised in fragments: 41 overlapping martech tools, agencies bolted on channel by channel, and data trapped in silos. Spend rose every year while attribution and accountability fell, and a digital-first ambition was throttled by a model designed for the old funnel.
Diagnose & Design
VA conducted a marketing & production ecosystem audit and spend mapping & cost baseline analysis covering all 41 tools, agency relationships and data contracts; a gap & maturity assessment and market benchmarking quantified licence overlap, integration debt and the attribution gap against digital-first peers; operating model design then defined a target built around a single data layer that connects every source to plan and measure in weeks, not months, and governance design (RACI, KPI framework, scorecards) established the accountability structure, with AURA/FRC (Fulltime Ratecard Calculator) and the AURA/Scoping Tool supporting the assessment.
Ecosystem & Remuneration
VA delivered roster rationalisation & consolidation — reducing the stack from 41 to 19 tools and the agency model to a leaner always-on digital configuration — through vendor scouting & shortlisting against the VA 5,000+ supplier database; remuneration model design aligned agency fees to measurable digital outcomes rather than channel inputs; and scoping & SOW design unified the data layer as a single source of truth and stood up an internal capability centre, with AURA/BMT (Budget Management Template) disciplining licence renegotiations.
Rollout & relationship management
Contracting & onboarding formalised the renegotiated tool licences and revised agency terms; handover, rollout & commitment tracking then sequenced the migration, the agency transition and the academy that built in-house capability, with AURA/Planner back-planning to two go-live dates and relationship management sustaining the designed operating model through the full rollout so that accountability commitments survived the change.
Execution Oversight
VA ran briefing & estimate review and production cost validation & budget control on all significant digital campaign spend, ensuring the rationalised tool set was used as designed; wrap & final reconciliation closed each campaign cycle with licence costs and agency fees reconciled against the new model, read from the single data layer.
Performance Measurement
Martech and agency cost down 22% with 14% cost avoidance from retired and de-duplicated tools; stack 54% leaner [illustrative, to be confirmed]. KPIs and scorecards from governance design tracked via partner performance evaluation on a 90/180/360 appraisal cadence; cost saving and cost avoidance reported separately (today closure reports; full performance measurement on the roadmap).
Why VA
Digital transformation fails as a tool-buying exercise. VA fixes the operating model and the data architecture first, then consolidates the stack under accountable governance and builds the in-house capability to run it, so technology serves measurable outcomes rather than inflating the cost base.
Common questions
How do you rationalise a bloated martech stack?
By fixing the operating model and unifying the data layer first, then scoring every tool against need and outcomes — here from 41 to 19 — retiring overlaps and duplication, with licence renegotiations disciplined by a budget-management framework.
Why does digital transformation fail as a tool-buying exercise?
Because tools bolted on channel by channel inflate cost without fixing fragmentation; value comes from the operating model and data architecture first, then consolidating the stack under accountable governance.
How is agency accountability tied to outcomes?
Fees are aligned to measurable digital outcomes rather than channel inputs, on one unified data layer as a single source of truth — so agencies are rewarded for results and technology serves outcomes, not the cost base.