Supply Chain and Marketing - More Similar than Dissimilar

July 2023

I grew up watching Sesame Street and enjoyed it again years later when my girls were little. One of my favorite segments was when one of the characters highlighted and sang “One of these things is not like the other.” The objective was to identify the outlier in the picture.

Last year I took an interesting pivot in my career and moved from 25+ years in Operations and Supply Chain to a Marketing and Strategy role for an end-to-end Supply Chain organization. I did not see it as the daring career change that most of my colleagues and friends thought it was. Marketing is just another seat at the SIOP (Sales, Inventory, and Operations Planning) table and I saw a great opportunity to round out my skill set and experience.

Over the past year, I have learned that Marketing and Supply Chain are way more similar than dissimilar:

1.      Customer-Centric Focus: Both fields prioritize understanding and fulfilling customer needs. Marketers research target audiences, while supply chain pros ensure customer satisfaction.

2.      Demand and Supply Alignment: Marketing generates demand, while the supply chain team aligns supply accordingly.

3.      Collaboration and Communication: Collaboration drives success.

4.      Data-Driven Decision Making: Analytics plays a vital role in both marketing and supply chain management. Neither function could be successful without a strong foundation of data.

5.      Continuous Adaptation: Both functions require adaptability to thrive. Trends and Customer needs change and drive changing demand. Marketing and Supply Chains must consistently adapt on the fly.

The next time you are sitting in a SIOP session arm wrestling with the functions seated around the table, keep in mind that marketing and supply chain share striking similarities, and strong collaboration will lead to success.