The journal.
An ongoing field guide to the questions shaping marketing. Perspectives and sourced industry analysis, organized around the work we do.
Scroll to explore ↓Good questions make better work.
These are short reads for people making real decisions: what to build, where to focus, what changed, and what still matters. Find a subject below, then follow it back to the work.
Explore the archive ↘The archive.
All editions246 articles
Web development
Design the journey before the homepage
A business website works better when its architecture begins with customer decisions, sales realities, and the actions each page needs to support.
Web development
Every website integration needs an owner
Forms, CRM connections, scheduling, payments, and analytics are only useful when teams understand who maintains the connection and what happens when it fails.
Web development
Accessibility belongs in website acceptance criteria
Accessibility is easier to address when it informs content, design, and development decisions from the start rather than appearing as a final audit.
Web development
Core Web Vitals are a design constraint, not a launch badge
Google's documentation explains the user-centered Core Web Vitals measures; web teams should use that guidance to investigate slow or unstable experiences without treating scores as a guarantee.
Web development
Search AI features still depend on useful site foundations
Google's published guidance on AI features in Search emphasizes familiar search fundamentals, giving website teams a reason to prioritize clear, helpful, crawlable content.
Web development
WCAG 2.2 makes overlooked interaction details visible
The W3C's WCAG 2.2 recommendation adds success criteria that web teams can use to make authentication, focus, and touch interactions more inclusive.
Brand strategy
Different is not the same as distinctive
Brand differentiation earns attention only when customers care about it and the organization can substantiate the claim.
Brand strategy
The message system is where brand strategy becomes useful
A positioning statement matters when it can be translated into clear, adaptable messages across sales, service, and marketing.
Brand strategy
Brand consistency starts with decisions, not logos
Visual consistency matters, but it cannot repair conflicting descriptions of what a business does, whom it serves, and why its offer is credible.
Brand strategy
FTC endorsement guidance puts proof next to the promise
The FTC's endorsement guidance explains how endorsements and material connections affect advertising disclosures, an important constraint when shaping brand claims and proof.
Brand strategy
WCAG 2.2 is a reminder that brand experience includes access
The W3C's accessibility recommendation offers concrete criteria that brand teams can bring into digital identity and experience decisions.
Brand strategy
Google’s AI-search guidance reinforces the value of clear expertise
Google's documentation says familiar search fundamentals apply to AI features, a useful reminder to brand teams not to confuse distinctive messaging with obscurity.