Essays & Field Notes
The Journal
Long-form thinking on the disciplines we publish, with our point of view in the open.
AI
The Skills Worth Installing Before Ours
Two public skill libraries every Claude user should install first, what each is for, the licence terms that matter, and what a marketing team still adds.
Marketing
AI Search Did Not Kill the Click. It Filtered It.
Search referrals fell by a third and most searches end without a click, yet AI-referred visitors convert best. How both are true, and what to do about it.
Marketing
Marketing Is Not Advertising (And What the Confusion Costs)
Advertising is one subset of one of the four Ps. Treat it as the whole discipline and you budget, hire and measure for ads while strategy disappears.
AI
Prompt Patterns That Actually Save Operator Time
Eight reusable prompt patterns for real business work, why each one works, and how to turn them into a shared team library instead of personal tricks.
Strategy
Strategy Is Not Planning (And Why the Difference Costs You)
Confusing strategy with planning is the most expensive mistake in management. Here is the distinction, a one-sentence test, and how to fix a plan-only company.
Strategy
How to Allocate Resources Like a CEO
Most companies re-budget last year with a small adjustment. Here is a reallocation method, the tests that expose sticky budgets, and how to fund real bets.
Retail Media
How to Measure Retail Media Incrementality (Without Fooling Yourself)
Attributed ROAS of 10x usually means you paid for sales you already had. Here are the test designs, holdout methods and rules that produce numbers a CFO trusts.
AI
How to Evaluate AI Tools Without the Hype
A seven-question buying test for AI software, plus the pilot design, the pricing traps and the exit checks that separate real leverage from an expensive demo.
Retail Media
Onsite vs Offsite Retail Media: Which Should You Fund First?
Onsite retail media is high margin and easy to measure. Offsite scales past your traffic ceiling. Here is how to decide which one gets your budget first.
Strategy
Deciding What Not to Do: A Practical Guide to the Stop-Doing List
Most teams are overloaded, not underfunded. Here is a repeatable process for killing work, the four kill criteria, and how to make a stop decision stick.
AI
Practical AI Workflows for Marketing Teams That Survive Contact With Reality
Nine AI workflows marketing teams actually keep using after the novelty fades, with the setup each one needs and the point where you should stop delegating.
Retail Media
What Is a Retail Media Network (And Why Every Retailer Suddenly Has One)
A plain-English explanation of retail media networks: what they sell, who pays, how the money actually flows, and why almost every retailer launched one.