The SC marketer must ensure that strategy, objectives and action plans are discussed and agreed with suppliers and suppliers' marketing teams, buyers, R&D teams, operations managers, factory or service providers, call centres, sales teams and vendors, so that campaigns match delivery schedules and fit the `'just-in-time" (JIT) requirements of the operations management. Horror stories abound of TV campaigns running with no stock in the retail trade, professional services direct TV campaigns with inadequate call centre staff to take the calls, and Websites crashing at vital moments.
To make the most of these attributes, the SC marketer needs to ensure that accurate and timely information is made available and input into the planning process. Examples of necessary capabilities are: Maximum resource utilisation through knowledge of marketing activity. Demand-focused and swift scheduling to meet marketing demand. Customer-driven supply focus - delivering to strategically most "needy" client/customer. Integration with the supply chain through intranet systems to build market- ing plan awareness amongst stakeholders. Just-in-time production that meets customer requirements with reasonable lead times in accordance with marketing plans.