WHERE TO START
Most leaders don't need an answer yet. They need to know which question they're actually asking.
Six decisions come up again and again: growth that's stalled, investment under scrutiny, customer value, marketing effectiveness, strategy, and knowing when you need an outside view.
Start with the decision you're facing.
- 01Growth has stalledUnderstand what is holding growth back and where the greatest opportunities may exist.Explore Growth Decisions
- 02Marketing investment is under scrutinyDetermine whether marketing investment is creating sufficient commercial value.Explore Marketing Investment
- 03We don't understand our customers well enoughIdentify which customers create value, where growth exists and where investment should be prioritised.Explore Customer Value
- 04Marketing isn't clearly contributing to business performanceImprove measurement and understand marketing's commercial contribution.Explore Marketing Effectiveness
- 05Our strategy needs to changeReconnect marketing with commercial objectives and future growth.Explore Strategy Decisions
- 06We need an independent perspectiveChallenge assumptions and gain an experienced external view before making an important decision.Explore Independent Advice
Six decisions. Start with the one that stings.
Read it
Each page sets out the signs, the misconceptions and a way through.
Test it
Take the questions into your next leadership meeting. See what they surface.
Talk it through
If it lands close to home, a conversation costs you nothing.
Short answers to common questions.
How do I know whether my marketing is actually working?
Start with what commercial outcome the activity was supposed to change, then ask what would have happened without it. Most reporting answers neither question.
Read the full decision page →Should we change our marketing strategy?
First check whether the existing strategy was ever properly resourced. A reset is expensive; an execution problem dressed as a strategy problem is more common than people expect.
Read the full decision page →How much should we invest in marketing?
Percentage-of-revenue rules are budgeting conventions, not commercial logic. The useful question is what the next increment of spend is likely to return.
Read the full decision page →How do we identify our most valuable customers?
By contribution after cost to serve, not revenue or volume. The ranking usually surprises people.
Read the full decision page →Should we change agencies?
Sometimes. But first check whether the brief, the decision-making and the measurement would defeat any agency you appointed.
Read the full decision page →Why has growth stalled?
Break growth into volume, price, mix and retention before looking at channels. The answer is usually in one of those four.
Read the full decision page →How should marketing demonstrate ROI?
By connecting investment to an agreed commercial outcome and being honest about incrementality, not by producing more dashboards.
Read the full decision page →What should a CEO expect from a CMO?
A clear commercial argument for where marketing money goes, what it's expected to produce, and what will be stopped to fund it.
Read the full decision page →How should businesses approach AI in marketing?
As a way to do existing work faster and to interrogate data better, not as a substitute for deciding what the business is trying to achieve.
Read the full decision page →