Sam Page
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Marketing says brand.

Marketing1 min readSam Page

Finance says profit.
Funny how they’re both chasing the same thing.

This chart reveals why it can be so difficult for marketing teams to demonstrate effectiveness in ways that resonate with financial decision makers.

At first glance, their top priorities appear worlds apart. Marketers focus on brand building, while finance leaders focus on profitability.

But there's a shared thread: long-term growth is the second highest priority for both.

And brand building is so important to long-term growth.

It's also encouraging to see transformation and AI emerging as a shared focus. Both sides definitely recognise the importance for investment to drive change. And of course, profitability is also important to marketers.

I can't help but think when you strip away language differences, marketing and finance leaders are actually more aligned than we think, and driving towards the same outcomes.

It "simply" comes down to creating a shared language and ways to measure that translate one perspective to another.

Problem solved?

Source: The Effectiveness Equation Report by Google (2025)

First published on LinkedIn.

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---
title: "Marketing says brand."
url: https://sam-page.com/thinking/marketing-says-brand
date: 2025-10-10
author: Sam Page
type: Post or article
categories: [Marketing]
reading_time: 1 min
summary: "Finance says profit. Funny how they’re both chasing the same thing."
first_published: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn%3Ali%3Ashare%3A7382414634558996480
---

# Marketing says brand.

Finance says profit.  
Funny how they’re both chasing the same thing.

![](https://sam-page.com/img/thinking/marketing-says-brand-li1.webp)

This chart reveals why it can be so difficult for marketing teams to demonstrate effectiveness in ways that resonate with financial decision makers.

At first glance, their top priorities appear worlds apart. Marketers focus on brand building, while finance leaders focus on profitability.

But there's a shared thread: long-term growth is the second highest priority for both.

And brand building is so important to long-term growth.

It's also encouraging to see transformation and AI emerging as a shared focus. Both sides definitely recognise the importance for investment to drive change. And of course, profitability is also important to marketers.

I can't help but think when you strip away language differences, marketing and finance leaders are actually more aligned than we think, and driving towards the same outcomes.

It "simply" comes down to creating a shared language and ways to measure that translate one perspective to another.

Problem solved?

Source: The Effectiveness Equation Report by Google (2025)