Marketing strategy without the mythology
I help senior executives separate signal from noise in marketing strategy. My work is informed by years leading commercial teams across Europe and teaching rigorous analysis to graduate students.
What I work on
Strategy under uncertainty
Most marketing frameworks assume stable conditions. I work with executives who need to make consequential decisions when the playbook doesn’t apply—entering new markets, repositioning established brands, or rebuilding commercial models.
Building analytical rigor in marketing teams
Marketing suffers from shallow measurement. I help organizations move beyond vanity metrics to develop genuine analytical capability—the kind that influences resource allocation and executive confidence.
Marketing leadership as a commercial function
Too many CMOs operate in creative silos. I work with marketing leaders who need to operate as full commercial partners—understanding P&L implications, aligning with sales and product, and speaking the language of the business.
How this perspective was formed
My thinking has been shaped by repeated exposure to the gap between marketing theory and commercial reality.
I spent years in senior operating roles across European markets, responsible for teams, budgets, and measurable outcomes. That experience taught me what actually works when the PowerPoint ends and execution begins.
Teaching marketing strategy at the graduate level forces precision. When you have to defend frameworks to analytically-minded students, you quickly learn which concepts hold up under scrutiny and which dissolve into consultant-speak.
The combination—operating responsibility and academic rigor—creates a particular lens. I’m interested in what works, not what sounds good in a conference talk.
What I believe about marketing
Most marketing problems are actually business model problems
When marketing isn’t working, the issue is often upstream—wrong positioning, unclear value proposition, or fundamental product-market misalignment. No amount of campaign optimization fixes that.
Brand building and performance marketing are not opposing philosophies
The brand versus performance debate is mostly theater. Sophisticated marketers understand how both contribute to commercial outcomes and allocate accordingly.
Marketing strategy should be boring
If your strategy is exciting, it’s probably not strategy—it’s tactics dressed up. Real strategy is often obvious in hindsight, which is why it’s so difficult to develop and so powerful when executed consistently.
Measurement culture matters more than measurement tools
Every organization has access to analytics platforms. What separates high-performing marketing teams is the discipline to ask hard questions, design proper tests, and accept uncomfortable answers.
Marketing leadership requires commercial fluency
Marketing executives who can’t read a P&L, understand unit economics, or speak credibly about customer lifetime value will always struggle for influence. The creative part is table stakes—the commercial part creates authority.
Teaching as a natural extension
After years of consulting with senior teams and teaching in academic settings, I’ve observed that most marketing education falls into two unhelpful extremes: overly theoretical frameworks disconnected from execution, or tactical playbooks that don’t transfer across contexts.
There’s space for something different—rigorous thinking that acknowledges commercial reality. Programs that treat experienced executives as serious professionals capable of analytical depth, not prospects for motivational content.
The Learning Academy is being developed as that alternative. Small cohorts. Case-based learning. Real problems, not hypotheticals. No certification theater.
It’s a natural progression from individual consulting work—codifying what actually helps senior marketers make better decisions.
What’s coming next
CMO Lab
Applied Strategy Sprints
Essays and insights
Marketing doesn’t need more frameworks. It needs better judgment informed by analytical rigor and commercial reality.