Procurement does Cannes

There was a discussion at one point with Sir Martin of WPP and Keith Weed of Unilever (Chief Marketing and Communications Officer). Below is an extract from it - I have highlighted the two sections where they mention Procurement.

"Continuing on the effects of the slowdown, Sorrell said that there’s a sense of procurement and finance function becoming more powerful than the marketing function and that’s led to decline of marketing as an entity. From a consumer goods point of view, Weed replied, there’s been no erosion in the importance of marketing as a function. “Our growth is driven by consumer demand and marketing is the key to fuel the demand.” Weed accepted that the buying side of marketing, that’s procurement, can become more professional. “But this improvement should deliver creativity and effectiveness,” he stated."

I agree with Keith Weed about marketing being central to meeting what the customer requirements are but not convinced about totally about the need to develop the professionalism of procurement.  I wonder what Unilever Marketing Procurement team have to say about that ?