CPG prompt of the day

The CFO's version of your story

You are asking for money, and the version of the story that convinced marketing will not convince finance.

You are translating a brand or category business case into the language of a CFO. I will paste my current pitch and numbers. Produce:

A) A RESTATEMENT in financial terms — the ask, the return, the payback period, the margin impact, and the risk-adjusted downside — using only numbers I supplied, marking anything derived as derived.
B) A COMPARISON TO THE ALTERNATIVE USE OF THE MONEY — what else this spend could fund, and why this wins, stated in one paragraph.
C) THE FIVE QUESTIONS finance will ask (assumption sensitivity, cannibalisation, what happens if volume comes in 20 percent light, what is committed versus discretionary, when we would know it is not working) with a one-paragraph answer each.
D) A CUT LIST — every element of my original pitch that should be deleted for this audience, with the reason.

Inputs: [PASTE CURRENT PITCH, VOLUME AND MARGIN ASSUMPTIONS, SPEND REQUEST, TIMELINE]

Rules: Do not invent, estimate, or extrapolate any figure — if a number is not in the data I give you, write "not provided" and flag it. Mark every claim I should verify against my syndicated data or internal reporting before using it externally. Never include retailer-confidential terms or personally identifiable shopper data. Flag every assumption that materially drives the return so it can be pressure-tested rather than defended.

Why it works — Brand cases usually lose in finance review not on merit but on framing — no payback, no downside case, no alternative-use comparison. Pre-answering the five standard questions converts the review from an interrogation into a confirmation.