# Case Study: The Budget Argument With No One Able to Settle It | Crank

Source: https://wearecrank.com/case-studies/consumer-leisure-brand-marketing-structure-2024

Brand and marketing competed for the same budget with no single owner of the profit and loss across them, so the split was settled by seniority, not by return.

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![Consumer leisure case study: The Budget Argument With No One Able to Settle It](/placeholder.svg?dpl=dpl_DzKS3KHkqdwxj68CH4uXeN4PoDZ6)

Consumer Leisure, 2024

# The Budget Argument With No One Able to Settle It

Brand and marketing competed for the same budget with no single owner of the profit and loss across them, so the split was settled by seniority, not by return.

Challenge

A large consumer leisure business had brand and marketing operating as separate functions, competing for the same budget with nobody owning the profit and loss across the two, and Crank's role here was advisory. A structure review named the problem plainly: most of the business's difficulties traced back to brand and marketing roles fighting for power over budget, rather than to a shortage of good ideas in either function. Budget decisions were being settled by whoever won the argument rather than by what returned most, with no single owner of the profit and loss, nobody could arbitrate between a brand pound and a performance pound on evidence, so the split persisted year after year regardless of what the numbers showed.

Approach

Recommend a single owner of the profit and loss for brand and marketing together, and a second for website and trading. Group the function into three capabilities, growth, content and brand, and set out explicitly which disciplines to hold in-house and which to buy in.

Outcome

The recommendation gave the business a route to make the budget argument answerable by one person against one profit and loss, instead of negotiated between two functions with competing incentives. Whether the structure was adopted, and what followed from it, isn't confirmed here.

01

## A budget fight with no referee

Brand and marketing sat as separate functions competing for the same budget, with no single owner of the profit and loss across the two. A structure review commissioned inside the business named the cause plainly: most of its difficulties traced back to brand and marketing roles fighting for power over budget, not to a shortage of good ideas in either function.

02

## What that cost, year after year

Budget decisions were being settled by whoever won the argument rather than by what actually returned most. With no single owner of the combined profit and loss, nobody was positioned to arbitrate between a brand pound and a performance pound on evidence, so the same split persisted year after year, regardless of what the underlying numbers showed.

03

## A structure recommended, not yet confirmed adopted

The recommendation was a single owner of the profit and loss for brand and marketing together, and a second for website and trading, with the function grouped into three capabilities, growth, content and brand, and explicit guidance on which disciplines to hold in-house and which to buy in. That gave the business a route to make the budget argument answerable by one person against one profit and loss, rather than negotiated between two functions with competing incentives. Whether the structure was adopted, and what followed from it, isn't confirmed here.

04

## What this means for you

If brand and performance report to different people with different targets, your budget split is decided by seniority rather than by return. That is an organisational problem, not a marketing one.

## What a budget fight with no referee actually costs

2

Separate functions, brand and marketing, competing for one budget, with no shared owner

0

Single owner of the combined profit and loss, before the review

3

Capabilities the function was regrouped into, growth, content and brand

Recommended

A single P&L owner for brand and marketing together, adoption not confirmed

Drawn from Crank's advisory work for this consumer leisure business in 2024\. Client not named.

## Want to know what this looks like in your own account?

These findings came from asking straightforward questions before any budget moved. We're happy to do the same for yours.

[ Talk to Wearecrank](https://wa.me/447457416922?text=Help%20my%20business)[Get in touch](/contact)

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