Predictive testing for campaigns. Do you or your clients still do this in 2021?

I’m 45 years old, and I’m hiring a personal figure skating coach so that I could test into higher levels. This must be midlife crisis.

If you’re of two very different ethnicities, this is the time of year when your parents make you their favorites, and your fridge winds up smelling like this… Lithuanian kugelis and the spiciest of Sicilian sugu. Two great smells…that don’t go great together.

Says man who does not have children and lives in a city of 825 people who also do not have children. 🤔

Strategists, what are you learning about these days? Topics? Subjects? New disciplines?

Say you’re a strategist without saying you’re a strategist. Go!

Pet peeve of the year so far: Agency and client-side people who say they are data-driven “xyz” experts, but really mean they once looked at an analytics dashboard : /

Do you think any of these will be mostly replaced by automation in the next 2 years? And while you’re at it—add your comments.

“Being oppressed means the absence of choices.” - bell hooks

My team at Merkle B2B is hiring strategists at all levels. Reach out here or on LinkedIn.

Made from nightmares…

I’ll never forget riding my bike to Marquette Park at age 8, and Michael Madigan pointed at me on the sidewalk, and with a serious face said, “Kid. Tell your parents they vote Madigan. Got it?”

To my fellow 40-somethings, this season of our lives is quite the carnival. Aging parents, young children, a Pandemic, big career responsibilities, buying gutters, colonoscopies. I see you…and I’m sorry I judged those who went before us because this is real.

So, Simon Sinek is a bot, right?

Talk to me about hashtag strategy and how you tell clients “no” when they ask for one.

All. Day. Long.

Someone heard my impassioned rant about why I only drink Chicago tap water. Thank you.

I love being a strategist. And campaign work bores the shit out of me. Advice on how to coexist peacefully with those two sentiments?