What does your brand mean to the people buying it?
Explore the associations, memories and context behind their interpretation.
Browse by topic
Ideas, by topic.
Find a question that connects with your work.
Branding
Meaning, positioning, recognition and the promises a brand makes.
In development
Why choose your brand over the alternatives?
Positioning starts with the options and priorities in your customer’s mind.
AI imageRebranding without becoming unrecognisable
Decide what to retain, what to test and how to introduce the change.
Does your brand need a redesign?
How an audit can separate the symptoms from the changes worth investigating.
Would customers recognise you without the logo?
Assess which colours, shapes, words and sounds people actually connect with your brand.
Marketing strategy
Where to compete, how to bring an offer to market and the role of content and channels.
In development
Busy marketing. Unclear priorities.
Turn the diagnosis into choices about the customers, channels and work to invest in.
AI imageTake your offer to the right market
Choose a segment, a proposition and a route to your first customers.
A full content calendar. No clear direction.
Give the blog, social channels and distribution a defined role in the customer’s decision.
Messaging & persuasion
How people interpret a message — and what gives an argument its force.
Published articles
AI imageWhat makes expertise believable?
How people read the signals of authority — and what sits behind them.
AI imageWhat cognitive marketing actually looks at
Attention, meaning and the decisions that follow.
AI imageSeven principles of persuasion
The mechanism and evidence behind each principle, and where persuasion turns into pressure.
Why receiving something makes people want to give back
The urge to give something back after receiving something.
Why earlier choices pull on the next one
The pull to act in line with what we have already said or done.
When the price changes after the yes
How the low-ball technique works, and why it is a tactic to avoid.
In development
What buyers need from your website copy
Turn a description of the company into answers for someone comparing suppliers.
Your website and sales team tell different stories
Build a shared message, then adapt the evidence to each role and touchpoint.
When a stronger message makes people push back
Investigate whether the pressure, the promise or the offer itself is causing resistance.
Consumer psychology
Choice, uncertainty, perceived value and the way people read a price.
Published articles
AI image15 principles behind customer choice
What shapes comparison, perceived value and the decision to buy.
AI imageThe shortcuts behind customer judgement
An author-proposed map of eight processes — and what they can explain.
AI imageWhat should you measure before the sale?
Smaller customer actions can reveal progress and points of friction.
AI imageWhen a decision and a doubt collide
Cognitive dissonance before and after a purchase, and what can ease it.
In development
They see the benefits. Why are they still hesitating?
Map the uncertainty a customer needs to resolve before committing.
Is the price the problem — or how people compare it?
Look at reference points, packages and perceived value before changing the price list.
Attention & perception
What gets noticed, how it is perceived and what the senses communicate.
Published articles
AI imageIn development
What gets noticed — and what happens next?
A closer look at attention and the part it plays in marketing.
Culture & social influence
Identity, shared practices and the influence of the people around us.
Published articles
AI imageIn development
Same words. A different meaning in a new market.
Find the cultural assumptions that a correct translation can leave untouched.
Happy customers. Few recommendations.
Explore when people have a reason to mention a brand — and what recommending it puts at stake.
What gives a brand community a reason to exist?
Look beyond follower counts to the relationships and practices members value.
Marketing research
Consumer insight, useful questions and the quality of the evidence behind a decision.
Published articles
In development
What did your audience actually understand?
Test what people understand, believe and remember about a message.
What decision should your research help you make?
Choose the question, method and evidence you need before commissioning a study.
Is your survey suggesting the answer?
Examine the wording, order and scales that can shape what customers tell you.
Customers say buying is easy. Your funnel says otherwise.
Work through conflicting findings from interviews, surveys and behavioural data.
UX & customer experience
From using a website or product to onboarding, adoption and life after purchase.
Published articles
AI image
AI imageIn development
AI imageNew accounts, but no first useful result
Trace the barriers between signing up and doing the job the user came for.
The account is ready. The team still isn’t using it.
Find the dependencies between setup, individual use and adoption at work.
What happens when a customer tries to cancel?
Assess the clarity, control and consequences of leaving a subscription.
AI & personalisation
Trust, disclosure and the control people have over automated experiences.
In development
AI imageWhat helps people trust an AI system?
Which explanations help a user understand and assess the output?
What changes when an advert says “AI-generated”?
How disclosure can shape the interpretation of advertising.
Personalised to do what, exactly?
Start with the customer’s task, then decide what information would make a useful difference.
When personalisation starts to feel intrusive
Consider what customers expect you to know, how you explain it and the control they have.
Your AI assistant sounds certain. Is the advice reliable?
Test how people assess a recommendation, spot a mistake and correct the system.
Web design & development
Turning a visitor’s needs into a website that works, from design to implementation.
In development
AI imageWhat does your next website need to make possible?
Start with the visitor’s task, then work through content, design and implementation.
What evidence justifies a website redesign?
Distinguish a design preference from a reason to change the experience.
A template or a custom website: what are you paying for?
Separate the content, visual design and functionality that need an individual approach.
Two website quotes. Two very different scopes.
Compare the research, content, implementation and ongoing work behind the price.
An Astro website: who updates it after launch?
Plan editing, the CMS and maintenance around the people who will run the site.
Marketing analytics
Measurement, attribution and what the numbers can tell you about effectiveness.
Published articles
In development
What decision is your dashboard meant to support?
Connect the business goal to the events and measures that can inform it.
A funnel shows where people leave. Does it tell you why?
Use drop-off as the start of an investigation, rather than its conclusion.
AI imageDid conversions fall — or did the tracking break?
Check the quality of your GA4 data before diagnosing customer behaviour.
Why three channels claim the same sale
Compare attribution windows and models before adding platform conversions together.
Clicks, visits and leads: why the numbers don’t match
Connect Search Console, GA4 and CRM records while keeping their different definitions visible.
SEO & organic growth
Search intent, discoverability and attracting the right prospective customers.
In development
What should your SEO help the business win?
Choose organic priorities around the customers and enquiries you want to attract.
Find the need behind the search query
Keyword research that starts with what someone is trying to do.
Which articles are worth updating?
Use reader needs, search data and each page’s business role to set priorities.
Google traffic dropped. Where do you look first?
Separate seasonality, site changes and search performance before settling on a cause.
More traffic. Still no enquiries from the right companies.
Build B2B content around the questions people ask when comparing suppliers.
Published articles have verified dates. Topics still in development are marked separately.
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