In October of last year, I thought of starting a series of posts on ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐. I posted one a day for four days straight. This was the second one.
“๐๐ฉ’๐จ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐พ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐ข๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ง๐ ๐จ, ๐๐จ ๐๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐พ๐ค๐ง๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ง๐ ๐จ.”
๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ #๐ฎ
Whoever controls the budget gets to ask the questions. Understanding how to address the CFO’s priorities and concerns is crucial to securing marketing investment to fuel business growth. Hate the game, not the player.
๐ฐ ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐บ๐๐๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ&๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ณ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ โ If revenue or profitability don’t meet the plan, they must cut costs. Investing in marketing is investing in generating future demand, but meeting quarterly financial objectives allows the company to have a future in the first place.
๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐-๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ โ not only the cost of debt is tied to the stock value (which is often driven by revenue and profitability trends), but also is most of the executive compensation. Incentives are stacked against marketing when growth slows and interest rates increase.
โ๏ธ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ ๐ข๐ฃ๐๐ซ ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ซ – Marketing incurs costs in the present but drives future demand. Given the rapidly changing macro of the past 3+ years, investments based on backward-looking models can’t run months and quarters before proving their ROI. Marketing impact is not easy to isolate, quantify, and measure, but (timely) evidence will always be more persuasive than conviction.