3 Ways to Make Your CFO Happy
Sorin Patilinet
Global Marketing Effectiveness Lead @ Mars | Author of “Marketing Effectiveness - Applying Marketing Science for Brand Growth” | Wharton Guest Lecturer | Advisor | Engineer
An unspoken rule in many corporations is that the CFO doesn’t get along with the CMO. Despite working for a common corporate growth goal, the Finance and Marketing functions are staffed, in theory, with different personality types that inevitably tend to clash.
A well-oiled business is one in which marketers and finance people slowly get in sync.
But how can a marketer make a CFO happy?
Here are three ways of answering that puzzle.
PRESENT THE NUMBERS IN A NEW LIGHT
Finance people are in love with their numbers. They collect them, control them, , and know them by heart. But for Finance, a number is generally just a way to check progress against a target.
First, show them you have mastered your ROI/Performance numbers, and then you have permission for more. Tell them how, for marketers, a number could be a recognition of a real advantage in the marketplace, a deeper connection with many consumers, or permission to be bolder in your future communication strategy.
Tell a story! Do the job you thought you were hired for!
领英推荐
EVOKE MARKETING'S CONSTANT PROGRESS AND TRANSFORMATION
Don’t underestimate the level of awareness someone from finance has of what marketing looks like in the 2020s. Yes, their kids might be playing with TikTok or using Instagram, but you need to remind them what marketing looks like today.
How marketing moved away from good old TV and Print magazines into a multi-media, consumer-relevant, and incredibly diverse world.
Illustrate the transformations: show them how you better understand deep consumer behaviors using innovative technology, show them how people consume media today, and show your expertise in the advertising ecosystem.
FOCUS ON FEELINGS
At the end of the day, we are all emotional beings. And so is the CFO.
Take her on a journey away from the numbers into a world of experience.
Play a song, show an emotional ad, what moves consumers – should move a colleague too.
Could you make them experience your brands similarly to your consumers and bring that experience to the room?
Don’t be surprised when they look differently at the numbers in the future.
Founder-President @System1 Group PLC | Research Pioneer
9 个月Super-important & beautifully articulated Sorin Patilinet. My contribution would be a short piece of doggerel Tom Ewing, Orlando Wood wrote to capture the benefits of turning advertising emotion (or often lack of it) into the language of business...MONEY! Here goes: 'Spend on winners, say NO to waste, To put a smile on your CFO's face :-)'
Ian Whittaker you'll enjoy this, particularly with your 'language of the CEO/CFO' position.
Love it Sorin Patilinet. Perfect summation of the power of data storytelling, bridging the sometimes fire and ice worlds of narrative and numbers, stories and statistics; the CMO and the CFO. Can't wait for our episode of Data Malarkey - the podcast about using data smarter - which goes live next Wednesday 5 June. Will be in touch shortly and direct with the shatter content.
CRO | NED & Board Member | CPG, Media, MarTech | LinkedIN Top Voice | 25y track record as Sales & Marketing Leader | B2B & B2C Strategy | CEO Advisor
10 个月In one of my past marketing director roles we really invested in immersing non-marketing colleagues into the brand worlds. we created townhall meetings dedicated to specific brands within the portfolio to tell the fully story of that brand, their heritage, brand values and who their consumers are. this really helped finance teams to better understand why we prioritized certain actions and strategies
Founder @ Unmtchd. ?? THE community for founders & creators building brand IP → membership, strategy & resources ??? Speaker & Advocate for IP Ownership, Ecosystem Thinking & Legacy Building ??
10 个月I am a big fan of bringing people along on the journey, vs. just making them happy. CMOs and CFOs work on different topics but they have one common goal: build the brand and sell more. Bulding the personal relationship between the two is key, as well as understanding each other's perspectives. Getting the CFO to a campaign shoot or a social media planning meeting would be helpful too. And the CMO might want to go to a few of those internal accounting meetings where the team struggles to align numbers... just so everyone understands where the others are coming from. ??