Advertising Law Tool Kit - Fourteenth Edition - 2026

Venable / 49 48 / Venable Marketing Technology Marketing technology (martech) consists of various tools and solutions that assist with marketing; each marketer’s unique combination of these tools is known as their martech “stack.” For many marketers, martech has become essential because of its ability to automate, enhance, and streamline marketing campaigns. Recent annual spending on martech solutions has exceeded approximately $125 billion on a global basis. As the landscape for martech expands, including the rapid adoption of AI-enabled functionality, so too does the complexity of the issues that arise from trying to implement disparate tools and solutions. However, many of these issues can be mitigated by thoughtful planning during the procurement, implementation, and renewal phases. Initial considerations: • Create a cross-functional team of key stakeholders who understand the technology, data flows, compliance requirements, and the integration process. • Assess your current stack (or visualize your new stack) and define your actual needs. • Have clearly defined objectives, a set of criteria that you will use to measure success (such as specific KPIs), and a clear understanding of how the new martech will integrate into your stack and broader data governance framework. Procurement and implementation: • Consider your nonnegotiables and use these to narrow down vendors early in the process. • Focus on interoperability early, as it is often a vendor blind spot. • Consider the extent and scope of AI use and how it and related outputs are addressed in the legal terms. • Pay attention to data ownership and termination rights. Ensure you own your data outputs and retain robust export rights. • Avoid fees tied to volumes. If pricing is tied to active accounts, be surgical about what this means and ensure defined usage metrics are precise. • Use a “tiger team,” i.e., a small group of in-house experts in charge of disseminating training knowledge regarding the tool. Training should occur no more than two weeks prior to receiving the tool to ensure relevance and adoption. Stack management and renewal: • Conduct a business review of the martech, ideally monthly (or at least quarterly). Include an evaluation of how well the tool has met your initial criteria and an evaluation of the vendor’s performance and compliance with contractual service levels and governance expectations. • Share these evaluations with the vendor and use them as a tool during renegotiation to refine pricing, support commitments, or integration assistance. Armand J. (A.J.) Zottola ajzottola@Venable.com