Good morning. Traditionally, many CFOs viewed marketing as a cost center, but more are now seeing it as a growth accelerator.
CFOs often have a reputation for saying “no” to new marketing ideas, but Desroches has taken a different approach in his career.
Kenny agreed. “I’m working with Pascal to massively overhaul and transform the digital experience for customers,” she said. “None of that would be possible if Pascal was just saying, ‘No,’” she quipped. Desroches approaches every conversation, decision, and investment with an enterprise mindset—how do we help the company succeed? “But he also holds people accountable, which is exactly what you need your CFO to do,” Kenny added.
Desroches credits his customer-focused perspective to his 20 years in the media industry prior to becoming CFO of AT&T in 2021. Understanding and marketing to consumers was essential, he said.
AT&T’s marketing team provides insights that shape new products and services. Increasingly, customers prefer a single provider for wireless and broadband, Desroches said. “Kellyn and her team championed this, and our investments reflect their feedback,” he said.
Kenny works closely with both Desroches and is a direct report to AT&T CEO John Stankey, solving problems for each business unit within budget, he explained. “Her ability to deliver results within financial constraints has been incredibly impressive to watch,” Desroches noted.
One of Desroches and Kenny’s joint projects—the AT&T Guarantee, introduced in January—promises reliable connectivity, fair deals, and prompt service. If AT&T falls short, it takes corrective action, such as bill credits.
“We anticipated a certain amount of credits, but the actual need has been lower,” Kenny said. She and Desroches credit AT&T employees for reducing outages and keeping customer wait times under five minutes.
Since launching the AT&T Guarantee, the company has seen higher net promoter scores (NPS) following network disruptions. Finance and marketing teams jointly track NPS, “brand love,” and the share of customers who bundle multiple services. Other shared metrics include customer lifetime value, average revenue per account, and churn—which is decreasing among customers who’ve experienced issues, Kenny said.
AT&T also reported on Wednesday that it added 401,000 net postpaid phone connections in Q2, reflecting strong customer growth.
A finance person sitting at your leadership team table, “who is fluent in the practice of marketing and growth, goes a long way,” Kenny said.
Have a good weekend.
