You bring the symptom. Finding the cause is our job.

You probably arrived with a symptom rather than a diagnosis. Here are the five we hear most often, what usually sits behind each one and what we’d do about it.

Back

Marketing feels busy but isn’t working

Plenty of activity. Rather less to show for it.

Sounds familiar if

  • Your team is flat out but nobody can say what’s actually working
  • You’re on every channel because it felt rude not to be
  • Your reports are full of numbers that never change a decision
  • New ideas get added. Old ones never get stopped

What’s usually going on

Activity has quietly taken the place of strategy. Without a clear view of who you’re for and what you want them to do, every channel looks equally worth doing. So everything gets done a little and nothing gets done well.

What we’d do about it

We look at everything you’re doing against what it’s actually for. You stop whatever isn’t earning its keep and put your effort into the few things that move the numbers you care about.

Back

Not enough enquiries

The inbox is politely quiet.

Sounds familiar if

  • People say lovely things about your work but don’t get in touch
  • Visitors arrive, have a look around and leave
  • The enquiries you do get aren’t the ones you want
  • Referrals are carrying the whole business

What’s usually going on

It’s usually one of three things. The right people can’t find you. They find you but can’t tell quickly enough whether you’re for them. Or there’s no easy next step when they’re ready.

What we’d do about it

We trace the path from someone’s first glance to their first conversation with you, find where people drop away and fix the leaks in order of how much they’re costing you.

More often than not, the fix starts with what you say and how clearly you say it.

Back

Messaging isn’t landing

You know exactly what you do. Everyone else seems less sure.

Sounds familiar if

  • You explain it brilliantly in person and struggle everywhere else
  • Your website says what you do but not why it matters
  • Everyone in your team describes the business slightly differently
  • AI assistants describe you as something you’re not

What’s usually going on

Your business has grown faster than its story. What made sense to you now has to make sense to strangers in seconds. It also has to make sense to the AI assistants they increasingly ask for recommendations.

What we’d do about it

We find the plain sentence at the heart of what you do, build your positioning and messaging around it and make sure it reads the same on your website, in your pitch and in an AI answer.

Back

You need senior marketing thinking, but not another full-time hire

A marketing director’s head without adding one to the payroll.

Sounds familiar if

  • Marketing decisions keep landing on your desk
  • You have people who can do the work but nobody setting the direction
  • A full-time marketing director feels premature or out of reach
  • Agencies keep asking for a brief you don’t have

What’s usually going on

You’ve reached the point where you need senior marketing judgement before you can justify a senior marketing salary. Without it, a good team works hard in slightly different directions.

What we’d do about it

We step in as your senior marketing lead for as long as you need us. We set the direction, write the briefs, guide your team and suppliers and hand over properly when the time comes.

Back

A launch or raise is coming

Something big is in the diary and the story needs to be ready first.

Sounds familiar if

  • There’s a date in the diary and a story that isn’t finished
  • Investors, customers and press all need to hear slightly different things
  • Your brand was built for the business you used to be
  • You’d rather get it right once than fix it in public

What’s usually going on

A launch or a raise squeezes months of thinking into a few moments of attention. If your story isn’t clear before that moment, no amount of activity afterwards will make it clear.

What we’d do about it

We work back from your date. We sharpen the story, get your brand and materials ready and plan the launch so it lands with the people who matter to you.