Why CFOs Need to Take Brand More Seriously

There’s a tendency in business to divide the world into hard and soft disciplines.

Finance is usually placed in the hard category. It deals in numbers, controls, accountability and measurable outcomes. Branding and marketing are often placed in the soft category, associated with creative judgment, perception and ideas that can seem difficult to quantify.

That distinction is increasingly unhelpful.

In my recent conversation on the CFO Access Podcast with Tracy Fryer founder and creative director of Design Studio Perth , we explored a topic that deserves far more attention from finance leaders: the commercial value of brand.

Tracy put it plainly. Many businesses believe they have a brand just because they have a logo.

They don’t.

A logo is one part of a visual identity. A brand is much broader. It is the combination of positioning, messaging, audience clarity, trust signals and the emotional and commercial associations that shape whether someone buys from you, works for you or refers you.

Why Branding Matters to CFOs

This distinction matters more than many CFOs realise.

When a business lacks brand clarity, several problems arise.

First, marketing becomes less efficient. If the business has not clearly defined who it serves and why it’s different, campaigns become generic. Messaging lacks relevance. The result is wasted spend and weak conversion.

Second, sales become harder. Prospects arrive less informed, less confident and less convinced. The sales team has to work harder to explain value, defend pricing and build credibility.

Third, pricing power suffers. A strong brand can support premium pricing because it communicates value clearly and consistently. A weak brand increases the risk of being seen as interchangeable.

These are not soft outcomes. They are commercial outcomes.

This is why I believe CFOs should broaden the way they think about brand investment. The question should not be whether a brand is harder to measure than a line item in the general ledger. The question should be whether the organisation is investing in the foundations that improve revenue quality, customer acquisition efficiency and long-term enterprise value.

CFOs in Marketing?

That doesn’t mean CFOs should become marketers. It does mean they should ask more strategic questions.

For example:

Who is our ideal customer, really?

Can our website, LinkedIn presence and messaging clearly explain what we do and why it matters?

Do we sound distinct from our competitors, or are we part of what Tracy called a sea of sameness?

Are we trying to improve lead generation and growth without first getting the brand foundations right?

Too often, businesses jump straight to tactics. They invest in SEO, social media, campaigns and content without first resolving the underlying brand strategy. That’s a bit like trying to improve the performance of a sales process when the value proposition itself is unclear.

One of Tracy’s analogies was particularly effective. She said marketing is asking someone on a date, and brand is the reason they say yes.

For finance leaders (even the married ones!) that should land.

Branding as Growth Infrastructure

If your brand is doing its job well, it’s reducing friction across the commercial engine. It is helping prospects trust you faster. It is supporting confidence in your offer. It is making your marketing and digital presence more consistent and more effective.

That’s not a creative luxury. It is part of the growth infrastructure.

Another aspect of our conversation that stood out was the role of personal brand for senior leaders. Tracy made the point that LinkedIn is not just for job seekers. It is a platform that can shape perception, build credibility and extend influence.

This is highly relevant for CFOs. The modern CFO is expected to do much more than manage numbers. They are expected to communicate, influence strategy, represent the business externally and often prepare for broader executive leadership roles.

In that environment, visibility matters.

A neglected LinkedIn profile, no professional photo, no clear narrative and no digital presence can work against capable leaders. By contrast, a thoughtful personal brand can support leadership credibility, attract opportunities and reinforce the organisation’s broader market profile.

Importantly, this is not about self-promotion for its own sake. It is about strategic clarity. If others are going to form an impression of you online, it’s better to shape that impression intentionally than leave it to chance.

Can’t I Just get AI to do Everything?

We also discussed AI, and, again, Tracy offered a perspective that many leaders would benefit from hearing. She doesn’t deny AI’s impact on the creative sector. In fact, she embraces it. But she sees it as a tool, not a replacement.

That framing has relevance well beyond marketing.

AI can increase productivity, reduce manual work and accelerate outputs. But if every organisation uses it in the same way, the baseline level of content and communication will become more generic. Tracy described this well when she said the basic will become popular, but the brilliant will stand out.

That’s a useful lens for finance leaders too. The strategic opportunity is not just to automate. It is to combine technology with judgement, creativity and a clearer understanding of where differentiated value comes from.

Finally, what made this episode especially compelling was Tracy’s own story. She started her business during COVID with a $4,000 nest egg. She built through uncertainty, self-doubt and daily setbacks. Her reflections on resilience, mindset and growth gave the conversation a grounded, practical quality that went beyond theory.

That’s one reason I think this episode will resonate with CFOs. It is not simply a discussion about design. It is a broader conversation about commercial judgement, strategic growth, leadership presence, and the often-overlooked drivers of performance.

The best finance leaders are not just guardians of cost. They are allocators of capital, interpreters of risk and partners in value creation.

In that context, the brand deserves a more serious place in the conversation.

If you are a CFO, finance leader or adviser who wants to think more broadly about the connection between brand, growth and commercial outcomes, I encourage you to listen to the episode on the CFO Access Podcast.

You may come away seeing branding in a very different light.