Dive deep into business, brand and strategy.
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Why Most ‘Positioning Experts’ Don’t Actually Understand Positioning
Let’s break down what’s really happening here, because Sara and Fletch have fundamentally misunderstood positioning while claiming expertise in it. What Sara Thinks She’s Describing Sara believes she’s making a sophisticated critique of strategic narrative. She thinks she’s being practical and buyer-focused by saying companies need to explain “what you are” and “what your product…
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The $50B Homepage Optimization Scam Destroying B2B
The Beautiful Lie We’ve All Agreed to Believe Last year, B2B companies spent approximately $50 billion on website optimization, digital marketing platforms, and homepage redesigns. They hired consultants who promised “positioning breakthroughs” that mysteriously always culminated in a new hero image and a rewritten H1 tag. They ran thousands of A/B tests on button colours…
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Brand: Where Executives Hide from Hard Decisions
When Tribune Publishing renamed itself “tronc” in 2016, the internet collectively cringed. But the real tragedy wasn’t the name it was what the rebrand concealed: a newspaper empire bleeding $14.8 million quarterly while its CEO had secretly paid $2.5 million to hide a racial slur scandal. The rebrand lasted two years. The fundamental problems outlived…
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The Autopilot Corporation: Eight Warning Signs Your Company is Drifting
Your company’s doing fine. Revenue’s up. Stock’s steady. Everyone’s busy. So why does it feel like you’re all just going through the motions? I’ve spent years studying companies that seemed invincible, only to find out they weren’t. Kodak. Blockbuster. Sears. General Electric. Nokia. They didn’t fail overnight. They drifted into irrelevance while looking successful. I…
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The Autopilot Corporation: Why Most Companies Drift (And How to Take Control)
Most businesses run on autopilot. They hit their numbers, serve customers, and keep busy. But they’re drifting, optimized for what worked yesterday, blind to what’s needed tomorrow. This isn’t about bad execution. It’s about something deeper: companies that mistake motion for direction, tactics for strategy, and busy work for meaningful progress. They don’t own anything…
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Becoming: The Architecture of Identity-Driven Positioning
Becoming is the quiet engine that moves every person and every company. It begins as tension: “What I am now” pulls against “what I could be.” When that tension is acknowledged and addressed, growth begins. But this tension is more than discomfort. It’s the fundamental force that drives all meaningful transformation. In individuals, it manifests…
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Beyond the Positioning Facade: Why 95% of Companies Stop at Level 1
The Great Positioning Delusion We live in an era where every marketing consultant has become a “positioning expert.” LinkedIn overflows with thought leaders coining new terms for old concepts, calling storytelling “narrative positioning,” rebranding customer segmentation as “micro-positioning,” or confusing brand messaging with strategic positioning. The result? A marketplace drowning in positioning theatre while missing…
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What You Can Learn About Positioning from a Neuroscientist and Behaviour expert
For over two decades, I’ve taught that positioning is not what you say, it’s who you become. It’s not messaging. It’s not brand. It’s not storytelling. It’s the gravitational core of your business. The noun you own. The mental territory you occupy. The identity you help your customer step into. Now, along comes Chase Hughes,…
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What Other Regulated Sectors Can Teach Canadian Banks and Fintechs About POSITIONING
Canadian banks face a problem that balance sheets can’t solve. They hold the deposits, own the charters, and pass every stress test. Yet when you ask customers what each bank stands for, you get the same tired words: trust, convenience, innovation. Every player claims the same concepts. Nobody owns anything distinctive in the mind. This…
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Why EQ Bank’s Next Move Decides Who Owns the Customer in 2030
This article builds on the first one. EQ Bank began in 2016 as a low-cost deposit engine for its parent, Equitable Bank. High rates, no branches, clean app, good funding for the mortgage book, job done. Seven years later, the playbook feels crowded. Neo Financial, Tangerine, and even credit unions now copy the same perks.…
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THE mammalian brain
Most brands chase the wrong thing. They spend millions on awareness campaigns and wonder why sales stay flat. Then, they pivot to relevance. “We need to be more relevant to Gen Z!” Still, nothing moves. Here’s what they miss: Awareness and relevance are Level 1-2 games. Ownership is Level 3-4. And your mammalian brain (the…
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How Wealthsimple Wins Hearts, Minds, and Market Share
I spent months dissecting Wealthsimple’s balance sheet, product roadmap, and brand voice. I kept seeing the same pattern: every expensive decision pointed back to one word: simplicity. No side projects. No half-measures. That focus is why a company with no branches now holds $50 billion of Canadian assets, while most banks fight for the same…
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