Ask the community: the budget drops 30% on Monday. What goes first?

A question we keep landing on from different directions, and we would rather hear your answer than publish ours.

The marketing budget drops 30% on Monday. What is the first thing you cut — and what do you refuse to touch?

Why we are asking

Because the answer reveals what someone actually believes about how growth works, faster than any strategy document. And because the four answers we hear most often contradict each other completely.

"Brand first." It is the line item with no weekly number attached, so it is the easiest to defend cutting and the hardest to rebuild.

"Agencies and contractors first." Fastest to execute, no redundancy process. Also the fastest way to lose the only people who know why last year's campaign worked.

"Content and production first." Reasoning: the back catalogue can carry a few months. Sometimes true. Sometimes it is the moment competitors get quieter and you go quiet with them.

"Nothing — I cut frequency across everything." Keeps every capability alive at reduced volume. Or spreads the damage evenly so nothing works properly.

Our own bias, stated openly

We would protect the things that keep producing after the spending stops — the measurement you can trust, the person who owns the customer relationship, the assets you already own — and cut the things that stop producing the day the invoice stops. That is a preference, not a proof. It is also easy to say when it is not your quarter.

What we would like to know

• What did you cut, in a real budget cut, not a hypothetical one? • What did it cost you three, six, twelve months later? • What did you protect and later wish you had not?

Answer in the comments, or reply to us on LinkedIn. We will publish the pattern — anonymised, with the disagreements left in, because the disagreements are the useful part.