“We’re at an interesting point—CMOs can achieve more success now by showing growth versus cost cutting.” This quote comes from the former CMO of a leading global brand and reflects a broad desire in businesses to turn marketing into a bona fide engine for growth. An important way to make that happen is to free up dollars and funnel them into high-growth opportunities.

However, finding those dollars can be challenging when it comes to media spend. This is because many companies don’t have a clear view of where their dollars are going and what impact they are having. This lack of clarity means that a significant portion of media spend—in the form of fees or rebates—isn’t recouped by the marketer. In our experience, marketers can address this issue and fuel growth by increasing transparency between advertisers and media agencies, which decide where consumers should see marketing messages, and then purchase the needed ad space from broadcasters and digital platforms.

Read the full McKinsey & Company POV here.