McDonald’s CFO and CMO on working together in one of the world’s most famous C-suites

Good morning. When chief financial officers and chief marketing officers collaborate well, it can boost top-line growth.

This was the topic of a conversation I just had with McDonald’s global CFO Ian Borden and global CMO Morgan Flatley. We chatted after their panel session at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity on Monday morning.

"We used to think of marketing as a bit of a black box, or nebulous part of our business where it didn't really have good visibility, and didn't have good transparency," Borden said. In 2019, McDonald’s eliminated its global CMO role but reinstated it less than a year later, Fortune previously reported.

Today, McDonald's (no. 162 on the Fortune 500) "spends a lot of money on marketing,” he said. “It's, frankly, one of the most important growth investments we make.” It’s key to driving strong top-line growth, he added.

Flatley joined McDonald’s in 2017 as U.S. chief marketing and digital customer experience officer. In 2021, she was promoted to global chief marketing officer and became head of new business ventures in 2023. It's been under her leadership, Borden said, that marketing has really excelled.

Borden, global CFO since 2022, has spent more than 25 years at McDonald’s, leading markets and functions globally. His take on the evolving role of the CFO: You can't just be a pure, finance-focused CFO anymore.

“Certainly in my own career, the fact that I've run a market, worked and lived around the world, and I've run our entire international business, just the range of experiences I have, I think that's what helps you understand the breadth of the business," he said.

Borden continued: “When you're working together like Morgan and I do, in this relationship, you have a much deeper understanding of what your executive partners are trying to do, and what you can do to help support them.”

CFOs “always get a little nervous” when they can't see the work behind the output, he said. "My advice to CMOs is to engage with your CFOs and finance leaders," Borden said. Be transparent with data and metrics, he said.

As a CMO, Flatley explained, “You have to be a total business leader. I have to be able to talk about multiple areas of the business in order to be effective and respected in my job.”

She also pointed to the value of technology. “When I came into the marketing world a long time ago, there were a handful of channels that connected with consumers, and today there are hundreds of thousands,” she said. ”I've had to become a real student of technology and the digital landscape because that is how we're building relationships with consumers in the future."

Flatley added that it's a “CMO’s dream” to hear your CFO talk about the power of creativity and the importance of risk-taking. “I obviously feel very lucky to be in an environment where that's recognized and supported,” she said.

For more on how marketing is a vital engine to McDonald’s success, including the firm's key metrics, you can read the complete article here.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com