Chapter 3 - Charlie - The Budget Slayer
The Interrogation Continues
Mary Marketing lay motionless on the boardroom floor, her pulse weak. The evidence was mounting.
Victor, the VC, had pushed her to exhaustion, demanding short-term returns at the expense of long-term growth. But he wasn’t the only one with blood on his hands.
Sitting at the far end of the table, adjusting his tie with the calculated precision of someone used to holding the power, was Charlie, The CFO. Known to many as “The Budget Slayer”.
Charlie didn’t need a gun. His weapon of choice was the spreadsheet.
One glance at the balance sheet and Mary Marketing’s fate was sealed. Budgets slashed. Teams downsized. Strategic investments vetoed.
His defence? “If it can’t be measured, it doesn’t exist.”
The room fell silent as Ivor opened the next case file. The evidence against Charlie was overwhelming.
"Marketing isn’t a priority—it’s a problem," the CFO stated flatly, adjusting his tie. "When margins shrink, when P&Ls are under pressure, where do you think we cut first?"
The detective looked down at his notes.
UK and US markets had stalled. Trading gaps had widened. NI costs had risen. The financial pressure was real.
"You don’t understand," the CFO continued. "When every pound needs to be accounted for, marketing becomes a luxury. Not an investment."
Had Marketing been killed by efficiency measures? The long-term sacrificed for the short-term?
Exhibit D: The Slow Strangulation of Marketing Budgets
Mary had once been trusted to build brands that endured for decades. But under the CFO’s rule, everything had been reduced to a quarterly ROI calculation.
The CFO stared at the figures, unimpressed. “It’s our job to maximise profitability. Marketing needs to prove its worth like every other function.”
Ivor pulled out Exhibit E - A page ripped from Mary’s diary.
Ivor noted that Charlie’s demands had reshaped Mary’s priorities:
Cut brand-building efforts; if it doesn’t drive leads or revenue this quarter, it’s a luxury.
Shift everything to performance marketing. PPC, demand-gen, retargeting, anything that can be measured instantly.
Kill experimental campaigns unless they have a forecastable, guaranteed ROI.
Reduce agency spend. Internal teams must do more with less.
Ivor cast his mind back to a previous case he had investigated.
A major global retailer had cut its brand marketing budget by 50%, shifting investment into digital performance marketing.
Within a year, foot traffic had declined by 14%, and long-term customer loyalty metrics fell to their lowest level in a decade.
The company's CFO declared the shift a “financial success,” but within three years, competitors surged ahead, requiring brand investment to be rebuilt from scratch.
The CMO had warned them. But they didn’t listen.
Ivor tapped his pen on his pad and stared at the CFO. He wasn’t done here. He had more questions.
To be continued……
To catch up on previous scenes and chapters:
Chapter One - The Opening Scene
Chapter One. Scene 2 - The Crime Scene
Chapter Two. Scene one - Victor the VC.
Chapter Two: Case File 1. Victor, the Venture Capitalist. The Growth-Obsessed Investor
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Place: The Boardroom, 2025. The Interrogation Begins
Chapter Two - Scene Two - Case Files
Chapter Two: Case File 2. The Branding Blackout & The VC Playbook
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Brand-building has been cast aside in the VC world. Long-term marketing strategy? Irrelevant.
