Insights · Arguments, not articles
Eleven things I believe about marketing that the industry mostly doesn’t.
These aren’t summaries of what’s trending. They’re positions — each one arguable, each one paid for with real budget, and each one honest about where it breaks.
Most marketing writing is a highlight reel with a lesson bolted on: here’s what we did, here’s why it worked, please hire us. It’s useless, because it never tells you the conditions under which the idea fails.
So every argument on this page ends with the strongest version of the opposite case — the reason a smart person would tell me I’m wrong. If I can’t make that case convincingly, I don’t understand my own position well enough to publish it.
An opinion you can’t argue against isn’t a position. It’s a slogan.
The arguments
The most expensive line in your budget is an assumption nobody checked
Every category agrees on something about its customer. That agreement is usually old.
The argumentBranding · ArgumentYour brand is a posture, not a personality
Brand personality decks describe. Posture decides how you stand when it costs you.
The argumentMedia · ArgumentAttention is a rental market, and the rent goes up every year
You can keep renting slots. Or you can own the room they’re standing in.
The argumentAI · ArgumentAI’s gift to marketing isn’t speed. It’s language
Everyone is using AI to make more. Almost nobody is using it to reach further.
The argumentLeadership · ArgumentMost marketing teams are organised around channels. That’s why they lose
An org chart that mirrors media formats can only ever produce media formats.
The argumentConsumer Behaviour · ArgumentPeople don’t do what they say. They do what’s easy
Stated preference is the most expensive fiction in marketing research.
The argumentFinancial Services · ArgumentFinance’s biggest marketing problem is what it refuses to talk about
Silence feels safe. It leaves the customer alone with the scammer.
The argumentStartups · ArgumentYou don’t have an awareness problem
Almost every startup that thinks nobody knows them has a different problem entirely.
The argumentEntrepreneurship · ArgumentA constraint is a message. Use it on purpose
The number on your price tag says something. Most founders never decide what.
The argumentPersonal Branding · ArgumentPublish the argument, not the highlight
Nobody trusts a feed of wins. They trust someone who shows their reasoning.
The argumentCareer Growth · ArgumentThe most underrated career move is staying
Optionality is overrated. Depth compounds; a CV of logos doesn’t.
The argument