Blog
Notes on marketing leadership.
Field notes from inside fractional CMO engagements: what holds up under pressure, and what doesn’t.
What a layoff actually tests
A payments partner shut down without warning, and a lean team had to hold a customer base together. What the recovery actually depended on. Read
Fractional CMOs in higher education
Fractional CMO work is still rare in higher education. With graduate numbers past their peak, I look at what the model asks of an institution and why it may fit… Read
What AI is doing to marketing
A reassessment of AI in marketing from April 2026: what’s working, what’s being deployed without clear ownership, and why the limiting factor was never the tools. Read
Why expanding between similar markets is harder than it looks
I’ve led marketing across Australia, North America and Europe. Shared language makes those moves look easy, and the research says that’s the trap. Read
Why your funnel isn’t the problem
When conversions drop, teams usually look to the funnel. In my experience the funnel is often reflecting problems upstream, in positioning, targeting and go-to-market. Read
Why marketing feels busy but not effective
A Seattle realtor’s pipeline showed me why busy marketing stalls: activity without a defined job produces noise, and adding more activity makes it louder. Read
Hiring doesn’t travel any better than marketing does
International expansion tends to strain hiring and marketing at the same time. Why roles, structures and seniority translate less cleanly across markets than companies expect. Read
The go-to-market assumptions that don’t survive a new market
International expansion often stumbles for reasons that aren’t obvious at the start. The go-to-market assumptions that tend to break when a company enters a new market. Read
The quiet work of retention
Retention is marketing work, and in uncertain markets it may be the most important kind. How lifecycle strategy and value reinforcement keep growth steady. Read
