Diagnosing a gap is never easy. It’s negative space. When you’re looking for a problem, you want to see a problem. (Which is why we’re happy when we hear we have pneumonia. At least you know what’s wrong.) In the absence of a clear issue, it’s easy to point to the creative. But if you’ve  … Read more

The trouble with explainers—whether videos or articles or whatever—is that they’re written by people who know what they’re writing about. That sounds like a good thing, and it…

We’re not sure who named it a “brief,” but they sure had a great sense of humor. Our creative team has seen briefs longer than a CVS receipt or a proud grandmother’s camera roll, and still felt as if they couldn’t quite get inside the audience’s heads. But that’s how a brief works, right? It’s  … Read more

I’ve been hearing a lot about “growth mindset” from my kid’s school, and the expectation that through hard work and the right guidance, they can tackle just about anything. It’s not a new…

A recent meme made me spit coffee across my keyboard. Not only because it was funny, but because it encapsulated so easily what has always frustrated me about audience personas…

There’s a window in April and May that most marketing leaders don’t use. It’s not large. By June, the push to close H1 gets loud enough that structural thinking goes quiet. But right now—while Q1 is visible and the H2 pressure hasn’t fully set in—there’s space to ask a harder question than “are we on  … Read more

When a marketing team hits a capacity wall, something always gives. It’s rarely the deliverable with a name attached. Those stay on the list because they have owners and deadlines. What disappears is the other stuff—the work the team knows matters but can’t defend in a meeting because it doesn’t have a due date or  … Read more

The logic seems airtight: team is underwater, work is piling up, bring in help. A freelancer. An agency retainer. Someone to take things off the plate. It works. For a while…

With all the incredible stats about email marketing (it’s highly effective and relatively low-cost), it’s understandable that businesses are eager to adopt the tactic. But we’ve said it before…

I’m a diver. I learned early on that scuba is a great fit for me—the less effort you expend, the longer your air lasts and the more you get to see. You get rewarded for taking it easy…