Is brand a balance sheet asset?

With headlines like; “Companies where the CEO places marketing at the core of their growth strategy are twice as likely as their peers to achieve > 5% annual growth.” (McKinsey & Company) and; “How CFOs and CMOs can team up to drive long-term growth.” (Yahoo Finance), most CFOs will agree that brand matters. However, in practice, it is still often treated as a cost, rather than a lever for margin, growth, or market expansion. This means that most CFOs are sitting on one of the most under-leveraged growth levers in their business: brand.

If you’re a CFO or Finance Director, your job is to protect and grow enterprise value. That means you’re responsible for more than just financial controls – you guide both short-term and long-term performance. Investing in aligning your brand with your business strategy is where that long-term performance really shows up.

Brand strategy vs. business strategy: what’s the difference?

Business strategy defines where the company is going – the market it’s playing in, the commercial goals, and the competitive edge it wants to hold.

Brand strategy defines how the business presents itself to communicate what it stands for, and how it builds emotional and reputational capital with its audience.

In simple terms, a business strategy sets your targets and how you are going to achieve them, and a brand strategy ensures people (that’s both your team and your customers) believe you can do it, and trust you while you’re achieving it. They are different, but they must be aligned.

What happens when brand and business strategy don’t reflect each other?

In short, you lose money – let me explain via a rather extreme example! If the business strategy emphasises scaling, premium, and innovation, while the brand conveys safety, affordability, and standardisation.

This can impact people in a couple of ways.

Mixed signals

The business sales teams spend hours speaking to the wrong types of customers. Those who aren’t looking for that innovative service and are certainly not willing to pay a premium for it. They want the cheap standard service, so feel taken aback by your higher fee’s or bamboozled by the innovation you are offering them.

Misaligned expectations

The flipside of mixed signals is when your go-to-market story promises innovation, but your product feels legacy (dare I say old-fashioned). This will affect how people perceive you – it will impact their trust. Employees and customers will disengage because the story they were sold doesn’t match the one they’re living.

This also works in reverse. There are many customers out there – some want a budget-friendly and easy service or product – they know they won’t get the perks! Look at the success of categories in B2C, such as Primark or Jet2 airlines, or why people choose Target and Amazon.

It’s about taking a stand on what the business strategy is and then matching it with the brand strategy and experience.

What happens when brand and business strategy are aligned?

When brand and business strategy are aligned, the impact is transformative. A brand that truly reflects the business’s ambition creates clarity across the organisation, ensuring everyone knows what to prioritise, where to focus, and how to articulate that all-important elevator pitch with confidence.

It also strengthens pricing power, reducing the need for discounts because customers recognise the value and believe the business is worth it. At the same time, alignment lowers customer acquisition costs, as people arrive already warmer, more receptive, and quicker to convert.

Why brand strategy belongs on the CFO’s as well as the CMO’s agenda

If the idea of brand still feels intangible, ask yourself:

• Are we attracting the right type of customer?
• Can we justify a premium price?
• Are our campaigns converting efficiently?
• Are we retaining customers, or constantly re-buying growth?

If the answer is “no” or “not sure,” chances are the brand strategy and business strategy are not aligned. If you are someone who loves data, you can track performance indicators such as CAC (customer acquisition cost), CLTV (Customer Lifetime Value), churn rate, margin, and valuation to see where you stand.

What to avoid vs. what to do

Keeping it simple, here’s some top line guidance you can follow:

What to avoid:

• Treating brand as a campaign
• Underfunding brand because the ROI feels “soft” and too “long-term”
• Letting internal confusion dilute external impact
• Using generic templates that sound like everyone else

What to do instead:

• Treat brand as a strategic lever for growth
• Align your brand story with your business objectives
• Use brand as a filter for prioritisation and investment
• Make the customer experience feel as sharp as your ambition