Marketing metaphors seduce us into wishful thinking and cage us in cliché. My latest newsletter. buttondown.email/Lowfalutin/arc…

Great strategy isn’t about working forwards from backward-looking data in the form of numbers. It’s about working backwards from forward-looking data in the form of ideas. buttondown.email/Lowfalutin/arc…

It's better to work backwards from forward-looking data in the form of ideas than it is to work forwards from backward-looking data in the form of numbers. Aka 'creative informs strategy as much as strategy informs creative.' Thanks again neilperkin. youtube.com/watch?v=jnZl2T…

A winning pitch makes sense. It makes sense to, and it makes sense of. Learning about sense-making by pitching in the audience's second language. buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/arc…

Finding your irresistible truth, being a truffle pig, and consulting to myself. buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/arc…

A post about the irresistible truths of Nike and Sex Pistols, inspired by dave dye’s conversation with Jim Riswold (RIP). buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/arc…

Fabulous writing.

A post about putting people and brands in boxes. Hapless boxing, malicious boxing, and useful boxing. buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/arc…

"No one likes being put in a box. It’s a judgemental process. Your complex identity is brutally oversimplified based on subjective criteria." buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/arc…

Lessons from the propaganda school of advertising. buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/arc…

Where creative consistency really comes from, and the irresistible truth of Levi's. buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/arc…

It has been a while since I was in this particular saddle.

Pivot has an R number (remember those?) much greater than 1. Every meeting, every email, every pitch deck is a pivot superspreader event. And the business community is incapable of developing herd immunity to clever-sounding words. buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/arc…

Strategic narrative. When doing business with you isn't just the right thing to do, it was meant to be. buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/arc…

I posted this on Day 1 of year 6 as an independent consultant. Five years on my own; you'd think I might have learned something. buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/arc…

Intelligent Artists > Artificial Intelligence buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/arc…

Some books that made me better. buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/arc…

Thoughts on the CEO's enthusiasm for brand strategy, and why taking one for the team isn't always a good thing. buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/arc…

Good questions. Burning questions. Sales questions. Interview questions. Strategy questions. buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/arc…

Much to learn from Robert Caro about not abdicating the insight/strategy/writing work that humans are uniquely qualified to do. buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/arc…