It’s no secret that marketing has become heavily dependent on technology and that the number of marketing technologies has been growing at an exponential rate.

The inaugural (2011) version of Scott Brinker’s marketing technology landscape graphic contained roughly 150 solution providers. The 2020 version of the graphic includes 8,000.  This indicates the marketing technology landscape has grown by an astounding 5,233% since 2011.

Earlier this year, the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) published an important report on the current state of marketing procurement. The report is part of an ongoing initiative called “Project Spring” that is being led by the WFA Global Sourcing Board. The Project Spring initiative’s goal is to “transform the value proposition of marketing procurement.”

It’s no secret that marketing and technology have become deeply entwined over the past two decades. Largely because of digital technologies, the methods, tactics and channels used by marketers have changed dramatically.

As I am writing this article in late March, the full economic fallout from COVID-19 is not yet known and, in fact, will remain unknown for a while. However, two things are clear. The economic repercussions of COVID-19 will be huge and marketing spending is about to be put under the microscope in ways that we haven’t seen since the “great recession” of 2008-2009.