Why Your CFO Shouldn’t Drive Advertising Decisions

In the last decade, marketing budgets have been shaped by one big shift: the rise of performance marketing.

Return on ad spend (ROAS) became the holy grail.

If it didn’t have a clean, trackable metric attached to it, it got cut.

Brand campaigns?

Considered fuzzy. Hard to measure. Easy to deprioritize.

And for CFOs, that shift made perfect sense. A number you can plug into a spreadsheet always feels more secure than brand metrics that involve emotional connection, memory structures, or long-term favorability.

But here’s the problem:

Not everything that drives meaningful business value is immediately measurable.

The undervalued power of brand marketing

Brand marketing has often been positioned as the soft side of advertising—harder to justify, easier to trim. But it’s what allows brands to command pricing power, reduce their reliance on discounts, and create loyalty beyond the latest promo code.

If you’re in the CPG world, you know this intuitively.

Shoppers don’t just buy what’s cheapest. They buy what feels familiar. What stands out. What they’ve seen again and again.

And that only happens when you invest in brand.

The hybrid model wins: Brand + Performance

Fortunately, the case for a hybrid strategy isn’t just philosophical anymore.

It’s backed by data.

According to WARC’s 2024 study, The Multiplier Effect, campaigns that combined brand and performance marketing saw 60% stronger business effects than those that focused on performance alone.

That means stronger revenue outcomes. More pricing resilience. Bigger market share gains.

And it makes sense: performance marketing is great at capturing short-term demand. But brand marketing is what creates demand in the first place.

You need both.

Why CFOs are skeptical (and how to talk to them)

CFOs aren’t the enemy. They’re risk managers. And if your media plan doesn’t make the long-term case with clear evidence, they’ll default to what feels safer: measurable ROI.

That’s why brand managers need to come prepared with:

• Data (like the WARC study) that quantifies the impact of brand marketing

• Testing frameworks: regional rotations, brand lift studies, holdout markets

• Clear explanations of mental availability and how consistent messaging influences retail sales

In short: we can’t just say “brand matters.” We have to show how it works, and why it matters.

Final thoughts: Build for now and for later

The best marketing strategies don’t choose between brand and performance. They balance both.

They acknowledge the CFO’s need for numbers and the CMO’s instinct for storytelling.

If your brand wants to grow sustainably—especially in today’s noisy, promo-heavy retail environment—you have to invest in being remembered, not just being seen.

Want a media plan that delivers in the short-term and builds long-term value? Let's talk!

We specialize in media strategies that align your marketing instincts with your CFO’s expectations—so everyone wins.