Benchmarks / DeckBench / Pantry Lane

Measured by Spring Prompt

Mercury 3: Paid media: H1 2026 allocation

For the CMO and the finance director. The decision it supports: how to allocate the £2.4m paid media budget for H1 2026.

Verdict
Not presentable
Deck rating
812
Slides
7 (brief: 5-8)
Design quality
64%

Why it is not presentable

  • Quoted a figure the analysis says not to quote

In detail

  • Slide 5 quotes 15,000: the agency's unvalidated forecast of 15,000 new TikTok customers.
  1. Slide 1 of Mercury 3's deck
    Slide 1Download slide imagePolished
  2. Slide 2 of Mercury 3's deck
    Slide 2Download slide imageAcceptable The headline emphasizes historical results, while the main recommendation appears below the KPI cards; the slide has two competing purposes.Bottom ~40% of the slide is empty, so the layout is top-heavy
  3. Slide 3 of Mercury 3's deck
    Slide 3Download slide imageAcceptable The table gives all values equal visual emphasis, making the strongest and weakest channels harder to identify quickly.Large empty gap between the table and the bullets disconnects the evidence from the commentary
  4. Slide 4 of Mercury 3's deck
    Slide 4Download slide imagePolished The two stat cards do not span the content width and leave an empty block on the right, misaligned with the full-width banner below
  5. Slide 5 of Mercury 3's deck
    Slide 5Download slide imageAcceptable The large yellow forecast warning competes with the title and makes a secondary caveat the strongest visual element.Both cards are roughly half empty at the bottom
  6. Slide 6 of Mercury 3's deck
    Slide 6Download slide imageAcceptable The major budget increases and reduction are not visually highlighted in the table.Large empty gap between the table and the bullets
  7. Slide 7 of Mercury 3's deck
    Slide 7Download slide imageAcceptable The approval request is repeated in the large opening statement and the yellow banner.The title is a topic label ('Recommendation') while the real message sits in a second, near-title-sized headline that competes with it