Episode
What Your CFO Really Thinks About Marketing
- Podcast
- The Marketing Architects
- Published
- Mar 17, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1921
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Summary
Only 2.6% of board directors have marketing experience. So how is marketing really being evaluated at the top? And what can marketers do about it? This episode, Elena, Angela, and Rob are joined by Marketing Architects CFO Brent Longwall to break down how finance actually evaluates marketing investments. They cover the root causes of tension between marketing and finance, what makes a marketing pitch credible to a CFO, and how to build a shared language across both functions. If you've ever struggled to justify a brand investment or earn trust with your finance team, this one's for you. Topics covered: [01:45] Marketing's shrinking influence in the boardroom [03:30] The core tension between marketing and finance time horizons [07:00] The three numbers your CFO checks every month [15:00] What makes a marketing investment credible vs. suspicious [23:00] How marketers can speak the CFO's language [25:00] What marketers should stop (and start) saying to finance To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter . Resources: Whitler, Kimberly & Krause, Ryan & Lehmann, Donald. (2018). When and How Board Members with Marketing Experience Facilitate Firm Growth. 10.1509/jm.17.0195?code=amma-site. Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.