Think about AI.

Sure, some people are figuring out how to make progress with it. Through repetition, they slowly develop competency in the current state of AI. But the “expert” in prompt engineering does not automatically become an “expert” with agents (agentic workflows). You must keep relearning and evolving.

Yet, most so-called experts are snake oil salespeople.

The same is true with GEO/AEO.

That is why I’m grateful for a community of marketers who don’t need to master it, but can figure it out together. That’s the entire “Job-To-Be-Done” of the Midwest Marketing Meetups: Help marketers make progress.

Next Friday, October 23rd, we’re having our first Live-Solve Expert Session on GEO/AEO. No experts, just smart marketers in the room to help each other make progress.

The ultimate goal of improving how you think about GEO/AEO.

Hope to see you there 🧡

Upcoming meetups

Sign up for October’s Expert Session 👉 https://luma.com/psb625by

Sign up for November’s Green Bay Coffee Meetup 👉 https://luma.com/psb625by

Sign up for November’s Fox City Coffee Meetup 👉 https://luma.com/8gs8wdzr

Sign up for November’s Expert Session 👉 https://luma.com/pgoxr2gd

Community Events

Remember the Element survey I shared a bit ago? You can find the results below 👇

Instead of riffing on the insights now, I plan to write a micro-essay exploring the themes, insights, and anything I see differently. Stay tuned :)

Read the reports → https://goelement.com/marketing-pulse-report/

(Old) Two threads from September’s Coffee Meetup

Enjoy the essay → https://paragraph.com/@jordanogren/2-threads-from-septembers-coffee-meetup

Recent podcasts

Listen to June's Expert Session → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/100

Listen to Aleesha → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/99

Question to ponder

What do I need to solve (make progress on) together, rather than alone?

— Jordan Ogren

I’ve read 300+ books over my decade in marketing. And the books that helped me do better marketing were rarely marketing books.

Now, if you’ve never read the classics like Scientific Advertising or Ogilvy on Advertising, start there. But after reading a handful of classics and new titles, you’ll find that reading more marketing/business books does little to your marketing abilities.

That’s because great marketers master both theory and their thinking/being.

I’ve found that to get better at thinking/being, you should actually read nonmarketing books. One area I’ve challenged myself to read more of is Fiction.

Here are five Fiction books I’ve read in the last 2 years that have helped me as a marketer:

1. The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout (2026)

2. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (2020)

3. The Overstory by Richard Powers (2018)

4. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (1993)

5. Stoner by John Williams (1965)

Fiction isn't just a nice escape; it also offers a lens for thinking about humans and society in ways marketing books can't. That is why I keep returning to Fiction books.

To do better marketing, one must think and be better. I find fiction helps on that journey.

Upcoming meetups

Sign up for THIS Friday’s Expert Session 👉 https://luma.com/lashr2bv

Sign up for October’s Coffee Meetup 👉 https://luma.com/qsy9gqsc

Sign up for October’s Expert Session 👉 https://luma.com/psb625by

Sign up for November’s Green Bay Coffee Meetup 👉 https://luma.com/psb625by

Sign up for November’s Fox City Coffee Meetup 👉 https://luma.com/8gs8wdzr

NEW Essay: Two threads from September’s Coffee Meetup

I love sharing the takeaways from our meetups. Check out September's essay → https://paragraph.com/@jordanogren/2-threads-from-septembers-coffee-meetup

Recent podcasts

Listen to Aleesha → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/99

Listen to Christine → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/98

Question to ponder

What am I neglecting (like Fiction for me) that could lead to more growth?

— Jordan Ogren

That was the funniest line from September's Coffee Meetup at Leaps & Bounds Café. It's also a perfect picture of how these go: we laugh a lot, and we still leave with something useful 😎

Here's the useful part:

Two threads from the conversation

I opened with a question: "It's planning season. What goal, project, or opportunity do you need to achieve in the following year but don't know exactly how?"

The answers split into two threads: (1) how to drive leads (influence sales) in 2026 and beyond + (2) how to get more done with a small team and fewer resources. Many marketers are trying to crack both right now.

For the rest of the hour, I listened, took notes, and asked questions. I wanted to get a feel for where these smart marketers are at. Now I'm ready to give my take on both:

Thread #1: Lead gen in 2026 and beyond

I dislike lead gen. Do we all need to "generate leads"? Sure. But the framing and focus drive me nuts.

A lead is a form fill. Demand (a better framing) is a person with a problem who's ready to solve it. I think about growing demand (aka future revenue) in two buckets:

1. Demand capture

2. Demand generation

Demand capture means meeting people who are already looking. Someone searches Google for a hoodie, your ad shows up, and you "capture" demand that already exists. It works great for sneakers, hoodies and NeeDohs. Branded search, retargeting, and review sites fall under the demand-capture umbrella.

But what about something that takes more due diligence (i.e., B2B)? Few click a Google ad and sign a $55,000 contract.

Here's the math that makes the lead gen obsession so frustrating:

Research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute estimates that about 95% of B2B buyers aren't in market at any given time. If all you do is capture, you're fighting every competitor for the same 5%.

So what about the other 95%?

That's where demand generation comes in.

Companies need to take creating future demand seriously, so they're in the consideration set when those buyers are ready to buy or switch. When their contract ends, their boss leaves, or their CRM (Hulu or otherwise) finally breaks, you want to be the name that comes to mind.

What does demand gen actually look like? Here are three places I'd start:

1. Create educational content that helps your audience make progress.

Podcasts, newsletters, PDFs, and videos all count. The format matters less than the goal: helping someone make progress on a problem they actually have. Not sure where to start? Ask your sales or service team for the 10 questions they hear every week, and answer each one publicly.

2. Publish original local research.

Data nobody else has is hard to ignore. A short benchmark report, like "How Northeast Wisconsin manufacturers are hiring in 2027," gives your audience something genuinely useful. It also gives press, partners and associations a reason to share it for you. It doesn't need to be fancy. A short survey of people in your market and an honest write-up of what you found beats another recycled trend piece.

3. Host regular/recurring in-person gatherings.

Private dinners, roundtables, and small workshops work well when hosted regularly. Few things keep you top of mind (i.e., in the consideration set) like sitting across the table from someone. A quarterly dinner for the same type of buyer compounds, because every time you show up, you get a little easier to remember.

You might notice that none of these require a big team or a big budget. That's intentional, and it's a nice segue into thread #2.

One more thing, because it's the first question I get: “How do you know demand gen is working?” Add a "How did you hear about us?" field with an open text box on your forms. Then watch branded search and direct traffic over time. It isn't as clean as a click, and that's okay.

Thread #2: Getting more done with a small team/budget

I work in a 17-person marketing department. Few have that luxury. I didn’t for the first decade of my career.

I spent my first 6 years as a marketer-of-one, then 4 years at agencies, trying to answer this question: “How do we get more ROI with less spend?”

I’m lucky I started with less, not with 16 other marketers and a half-million-dollar budget. It is much easier to leverage the efficiency and focus required to succeed with a small team than to start with a big org and struggle to drive results on your own.

Starting small (doing many things) and expanding offers greater rewards than the inverse.
Think about the marketer from a big org who cannot move the needle on their own in a small one.

So, using my past, here are the three most important things to get more done with less:

1. Ruthless prioritization and focus (what is most important?)

2. Velocity of objective feedback tied to metrics (knowing what’s working)

3. Willingness to do what others are unwilling to do

Let’s begin at the end:

Willingness to do what others are unwilling to do

As a small team, you don’t have many advantages (compared to bigger orgs). You have fewer resources, tighter budgets, and less market share (i.e., brand power). But you have one competitive edge:

You can do things that bigger/legacy brands would NEVER consider. And pivot faster to better tactics.

The sad part? Most small orgs act like big orgs in their risk-averse approach and slowness to pivot.

They don’t jump on TikTok right away, they don’t deploy Generative AI ads, and they definitely don’t dip their toes into the blockchain (as another revenue-generation lane).

Have the courage to play where others won’t/can’t.

Velocity of objective feedback tied to metrics

You don’t have the privilege (of resources) to pour money into a channel that isn’t effective. The faster you pivot and find a better channel, the better, because you can’t afford to burn cash.

The key here, and what a member shared at the Coffee Meetup, was to use KPIs and other metrics to ensure a tactic/play is working and to build a stronger case to leadership. Often, you may find it hard to prune a channel that leadership likes. Data will help you build a case for pivoting to a better channel.

The key is to set up and monitor your metrics quickly, then evaluate them within your entire marketing system to decide when to make small tweaks or big pivots. Balance speed with the patience to let a new channel play out—especially if it’s a new channel bet.

Ruthless prioritization and focus

What are your higher aims? If you can’t answer that, you’re likely being pulled by the loudest and hottest tasks/projects, and not the “right ones.” Again, you can’t afford to work on low-leverage tasks.

You must be ruthless in defining the higher aims—the things that matter most because they either bring in customers at a good price or retain the good clients you have. And then put your time and energy into them, repeatedly. Until a new higher aim arises and you must pivot.

Most of us suck at keeping the higher aims the higher aims in our life. And it’s no different at work—it takes a lot of work. But in the end, you’ll achieve progress as you’ve never done before.

The kids (marketers) will be alright

Some days my optimism for the state of marketers in the Green Bay/Fox Cities region is null.

I’ve seen recent hires of “marketers” for solid roles at reputable companies, and I laugh, because I know that person doesn’t get marketing. And I’ve had many conversations with “marketers” that make me find the nearest trash bin, as I can’t stomach how little they know about marketing.

These Coffee Meetups restore my optimism that not all marketers are lost.

The “marketers” who attend are curious, courageous, and trying to master marketing. They inspire me and give me optimism that marketers will be okay and thrive in the future. And ultimately, they’ll help local companies grow, resulting in strengthening our region’s economic power.

I can get behind that 🧡

Even the comments quickly called it bullshit.

To make it better, Inc. ran a story on it with the subhead: deep trust beats massive reach.

BS.

Most people don't want deep emotional trust with a brand. They want utility (I.e., progress in some manner).

We ask customers for a loyalty we'd never give a brand ourselves. Then we wonder why we fail.

James Hurman said it best in the comments of a LinkedIn post:

"Loyalty has little to do with marketing and almost everything to do with brand size and category."

Brands grow by reaching new and bigger audiences.
Not by squeezing their existing (small) audience

The rest of the article shares old marketing tactics as new, “anti-marketing” tactics.

Example: Slate started a Slack channel for social media managers. That's not anti-marketing; that’s community building.

Don’t fall for the illusion that small is the way.

Sure, small isn’t bad (😉), yet it’s not always the better way to grow.

You don’t grow by deepening “loyalty” with those in your ecosystem.
You grow by adding more people to your ecosystem over time.

Onto upcoming meetups where we get into juicy debates like this:

Upcoming meetups

Sign up for "September's" Expert Session 👉 https://luma.com/lashr2bv

Register for October's Coffee Meetup in Appleton(!) 👉 https://luma.com/qsy9gqsc

Sign up for October's Expert Session (our first-ever live-solve) 👉 https://luma.com/psb625by

Recent podcasts

Listen to On Marketing #79 → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/98

Listen to Book Review #4: Marketers are from Mars, Consumers are from New Jersey by Bob Hoffman → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/97

What I’m reading/watching/listening to

(Podcast Episode) The end of the spectrum by Seth Godin — Seth preaches reaching a minimum viable audience, which could seem contradictory to my opening; I don't see it that way. Listen to this fun episode where he shares a core truth about media, plus a few other sprinkles of marketing wisdom.

(Newsletter/email) Create Better Videos with Kristian Altuve — In a past life, I had a daily newsletter. I interviewed a super smart marketer/videographer, and he shares solid insights on creating videos that are still relevant 5+ years later.

(Music/video) Saturday by Benjamin William Hastings — This song has helped me get through many "Saturdays," and I thought if one person finds solace in it, I'm glad I shared.

Question to ponder

Who has helped you recently make progress by giving you an opportunity (of sorts)?

Did you thank them? Maybe it was someone a long time ago, and that opportunity still pays you dividends. Wouldn't it be nice to let them know of their impact?

Recently, I thanked someone for an opportunity they gave me, as my life has greatly improved (I.e., progress) because of it. It felt good, and I hope it was as rewarding for the recipient.

My challenge: Will you thank someone who's helped you recently?

– Jordan Ogren

One of the most grave and vain of them all. To believe we know, when we know so little.

I see this everywhere in marketing. And sadly, the promoted are the loudest, most certain bunch there is.

Yet, I find the best marketing comes from the liminal space between knowing and unknowing. Call it trust.

To live there, you must truly understand the mechanics of marketing (i.e., first principles). I believe you still need conviction in your position, but never certainty.

Be willing to believe something new/different for the greater progress it delivers.

Don’t die clinging to outdated and false beliefs (in marketing or life).

Upcoming meetups

• (Thursday, September 10th // 8am-9am) Coffee Meetup @ Leaps & Bounds Café 👉 https://luma.com/vc52rcly

• NEW (Friday, October 2nd // 8-9:30am) Expert Session on how marketing teams and agencies can work better together 👉 https://luma.com/lashr2bv

• (Wednesday, October 7th // 8am-9am) Coffee Meetup @ Copper Rock Coffee (Downtown Appleton) 👉 https://luma.com/qsy9gqsc

• NEW (Friday, October 23rd // 8-9:30am) Expert Session/Live-Solve on GEO/AEO Strategy 👉 https://luma.com/psb625by

Community Events

Two more weeks until a friend of the show, who helps with Wi5P, hosts an event with Amanda K. Kroener, co-founder of Carbliss Cocktails, where she’ll share the power of authentic community and human connection to drive personal and professional growth.

Sign up (Thu, Sep 10 at 3pm CDT) → https://events.eventgroove.com/event/Wi5p-Presents-No-One-Succeeds-Alone-The-Power-Of-125515

Old Essay: How to build a personal brand (without being performative)

Kaleb’s Expert Session is still one of my favs. I did my best to summarize his keynote and some of the subsequent discussion our members had with him.

(Re)Enjoy that essay → https://paragraph.com/@jordanogren/the-six-part-brief-behind-more-human-marketing

Recent podcasts

Christine Orchard (On Marketing #79) — Listen → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/98

Book Review #4: Marketers are from Mars, Consumers are from New Jersey by Bob Hoffman — Listen → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/97

What I’m reading/watching/listening to

A repost from last email, nothing new here but still useful:

• (LinkedIn Post) AI Policy from leading SaaS product Clay — Been a fan of Clay and actually interviewed their “Head of Growth” on the podcast. They recently released an AI policy that touches on things I’ve believed for a long time.

• (Podcast) How NPR fought back for our right to be curious by On Strategy — Fun listen and important lessons on how to grow in the face of adversity/opposition

• (Video) Palestine (Part One) by Channel Five News — A sad but honest video on the situation between Palestine and Israel. I’ve been interested in this for a while, since reading The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi. Highly recommend becoming educated in what’s going on.

Question(s) to ponder

Three questions to change your mind:

1. What is one belief you have that could be outdated?

2. If you updated it, how much more progress would you achieve?

3. What stands in the way of updating it—how could you remove those barriers?

— Jordan Ogren

The best part? When you become LESS NEEDED for that “transformation” from potential to kinetic. That’s slowly happening with the Meetups. The growth is becoming less dependent on me…and I love it.

Every book I read on communities and gatherings pointed to the need to decentralize growth.

You do that by building independent nodes that can interact (and grow) without you. While it requires less control and more faith, it’s the secret to network growth (and waaaay more fulfilling).

More to come on how I’m designing for this in future letters (i.e., why I formed a Founding Council, already!).

No new content, but hope you sign up for a meetup and experience the magic:

Upcoming meetups

• (Friday, August 28th // 8-9:30am) Expert Session On Content Strategy with Jacob Miller 👉 https://luma.com/v0tg23l3

• (Thursday, September 10th // 8am-9am) Coffee Meetup @ Leaps & Bounds Café 👉 https://luma.com/vc52rcly

• (Wednesday, October 7th // 8am-9am) Coffee Meetup @ Copper Rock Coffee (Downtown Appleton) 👉 https://luma.com/qsy9gqsc

Community Events

Join community member Cassie Diedrick, Wi5P, and Amanda K. Kroener, co-founder of Carbliss Cocktails, for an inspiring conversation on the power of authentic community and human connection to drive personal and professional growth.

Sign up (Thu, Sep 10 at 3pm CDT) →https://events.eventgroove.com/event/Wi5p-Presents-No-One-Succeeds-Alone-The-Power-Of-125515

(Reminder: This new section highlights events and things the community is doing. We recently had a marketing survey with an agency member and would love to hear what you've got going on—send me a message!)

Essay: How to build a personal brand (without being performative)

In June, I gave my FIRST Expert Session on building a personal brand (without being performative), and I turned it into a guide. It details my theory, 3 examples, and (extensively) how to do it yourself.

Enjoy the first Midwest Marketing Meetup Guide → https://paragraph.com/@jordanogren/mmm-guide-how-to-build-your-personal-brand-without-being-performative

Recent podcasts

Christine Orchard (On Marketing #79) — Listen → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/98

Book Review #4: Marketers are from Mars, Consumers are from New Jersey by Bob Hoffman — Listen → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/97

What I’m reading/watching/listening to

• (LinkedIn Post) AI Policy from leading SaaS product Clay — Been a fan of Clay and actually interviewed their “Head of Growth” on the podcast. They recently released an AI policy that touches on things I’ve believed for a long time.

• (Podcast) How NPR fought back for our right to be curious by On Strategy — Fun listen and important lessons on how to grow in the face of adversity/opposition

• (Video) Palestine (Part One) by Channel Five News — A sad but honest video on the situation between Palestine and Israel. I’ve been interested in this for a while, since reading The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi. Highly recommend learning what’s going on.

Question to ponder

Most great things take time, and having patience for many things is hard.

What one thing (e.g., project, skill) are you going to prioritize and have extended patience seeing come to fruition?

I find it important to name it and say no to everything else.
(At least for the season you’re in)

— Jordan Ogren

“…one is led to see that the germs of war lie within ourselves, not in economics, politics, or religion as such. How can we hope to rid the world of war until we have cured ourselves of the originating causes?”

I believe the germs of bad marketing have a similar place of origin.

They begin from within. They are rooted in pride, hubris, and a neglect to truly understand our customers.

Sure, maybe you are in a regulated industry. Or you have a shit boss. Or you weren’t allowed the newest AI models. But most of the time, good marketers will still do good marketing.

Another side to this is if our internal state is not “good,” then it’s much harder to produce good marketing.

It’s why my number-one tip for better marketing is… to be a better human.

Let me use myself as an example:

I’ve been easily agitated lately. Maybe it’s burnout from doing too much, or just my ugly side winning. Regardless, I’ve struggled to do good marketing when my inner world is in turmoil.

One thing I’m focused on this upcoming week is finding inner equanimity.

Everything won’t go right. But how can I calm my inner emotions so I can do good marketing?

Maybe it’s not working one night and taking a bike ride. Maybe it’s watching a show with my wife.

What can you do to improve your inner world to do better marketing?

Upcoming meetups

• (THIS Wednesday, August 5th // 8am-9am) CO4 Coffee Bar (Kaukauna) 👉 https://luma.com/6glxee2i

• (Friday, August 28th // 8-9:30am) Expert Session On Content Strategy with Jacob Miller 👉 https://luma.com/v0tg23l3

• (Thursday, September 10th // 8am-9am) Leaps & Bounds Café 👉 https://luma.com/vc52rcly

• (Wednesday, October 7th // 8am-9am) Copper Rock Coffee (Downtown Appleton) 👉 https://luma.com/qsy9gqsc

Community Events

This is a new section to highlight events and things the community is doing. We recently had a marketing survey from an agency member, and now we have an event with the co-founder of Carbliss!

Join Wi5P and Amanda K. Kroener, co-founder of Carbliss Cocktails, for an inspiring conversation on the power of authentic community and human connection to drive personal and professional growth.

Reserve Your Seat Today → https://events.eventgroove.com/event/Wi5p-Presents-No-One-Succeeds-Alone-The-Power-Of-125515

Essay: How to build a personal brand (without being performative)

I recently gave an Expert Session on building a personal brand (without being performative), and I thought I’d turn it into a guide. It details my theory, 3 examples, and (extensively) how to do it yourself.

Enjoy the Guide → https://paragraph.com/@jordanogren/mmm-guide-how-to-build-your-personal-brand-without-being-performative

Recent podcasts

Christine Orchard (On Marketing #79) — Listen → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/98

Book Review #4: Marketers are from Mars, Consumers are from New Jersey by Bob Hoffman — Listen → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/97

What I’m reading/watching/listening to

• (Article) Publisher ad supply fell by up to 40% in Q2 as AI search choked the open web — Not sure if AI search is taking over search? Read this.

• (Podcast) Using Surprise to Grow (with Kyrsten Halley, former Dir. of Aldi UK) — Have you undervalued the importance of surprise in your marketing? This episode gives tangible examples of why it’s sooo important.

• (Tool) Studio by Spotify Labs — I’m leaving this tool here for another reason aside from how cool and useful it is. I believe the future of content could be this: Tailored content experiences based on your preferences, goals, and reality. Hard to scale that without AI.

Question to ponder

What am I afraid to consider? Once you figure that out, ask: What if I did it?

Starting the Midwest Marketing Meetup was a case study of this. I had NEVER considered an IRL community. I tried a newsletter and a podcast, but never thought of building a community.

One day, I considered it and realized I had never done so until then. This prompted me to further contemplate it, and eventually I launched it.

Some of the best levers for our growth are hidden behind doors we’ve never considered opening.

What if you considered opening them?

— Jordan Ogren

We believe what’s happening now is so different. Our challenges are always much harder than others.

Marketers are no different. Sure, we haven’t been around since the Stone Age, yet we also have had much change. Sure, AI and the Internet of Things are new, but change is common.

My initial intent was to open this newsletter with how unique this time is. It ain’t. Now, it may be *unique:

Meaning our first and singular experience of this fast-paced marketing world (unique just means single in kind). It’s unique in that way.

My takeaway: Keep my ego in check and default to adaptation.

A wise adage: This Too Shall Pass

I already feel the AI craze (slowly) dying down into a subtle, productive hum. I like that. Yet there will be another. Something that hits you in the face, doesn’t deliver on schedule, and is appropriately placed.

Let’s stay calm…and attend a Midwest Marketing Meetup!

Upcoming meetups

• (IN TWO DAYS – Thursday, July 23rd // 3-4:30pm) Expert Session on MarCom Career Growth 👉 https://luma.com/rdi5er8p

• (Wednesday, August 5th // 8am-9am) CO4 Coffee Bar (Kaukauna) 👉 https://luma.com/6glxee2i

• (Thursday, September 10th // 8am-9am) Leaps & Bounds Café 👉 https://luma.com/vc52rcly

• (Wednesday, October 7th // 8am-9am) Copper Rock Coffee (Downtown Appleton) 👉 https://luma.com/qsy9gqsc

Guide: How to build a personal brand (without being performative)

I loved giving a recent Expert Session on building a personal brand (without being performative). So much so, I wrote a 3,500+ word essay on it detailing my theory, 3 examples, and (extensively) how to do it yourself.

Enjoy the first Midwest Marketing Meetup Guide (In the future, I hope I’m not the only one who writes these—open to co-authoring!) → https://paragraph.com/@jordanogren/mmm-guide-how-to-build-your-personal-brand-without-being-performative

Recent podcasts

(NEW!!) Christine Orchard (On Marketing #79) — Listen → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/98

Book Review #4: Marketers are from Mars, Consumers are from New Jersey by Bob Hoffman — Listen → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/97

What I’m reading/watching/listening to

• (Book) Wisdom Takes Work by Ryan Holiday – This is the final book of four, in which Ryan details one of the Cardinal Virtues and how they’re interconnected. If I could die wise (and generous), I’d say that’s a life well-lived.

• (Podcast) Type 2: Healing Helpers with Hunter Mobley on the Everything Belongs Podcast — Any of my subscribers enjoy the Enneagram? I took it 6+ years ago and fell in love with its behavioral analysis while grounded in spiritual truths. Very useful!

• (Tool) Studio by Spotify Labs — Do you use Spotify? If yes, click that link! I’ve used it to build a daily podcast that blends a faith opening with a song of the day, marketing news, and culture/world news. It’s not perfect, but the innovation is sick to see and leverage. Many other use cases!

Question to ponder

Where do I inflate my hubris about marketing, its impact, or how much is changing, and how can I keep that in check? With the outcome of doing better, grounded marketing.

— Jordan Ogren

The worst punishment we can give a human isn’t death.

It’s isolation.

To make someone invisible—to make them feel alone, overlooked, and worthless—is a devilish act. Humans have an inherent desire to be seen, known, and loved.

While God, or the universe, places people in our lives who help fulfill that desire, I believe we can’t leave the entire responsibility of being seen and known to chance.

We also have to do the hard work of becoming visible. We have to express what we think, communicate what we care about, contribute to others, all to make it possible for others to know us.

So, what do God, the devil, isolation, and death have to do with personal branding?

More than you might think.

Why I’m afraid of dying without a personal brand

To die without a positive personal brand is one of my deepest fears.

Not a personal brand in the small-brain version of the phrase: where personal branding means becoming an influencer, collecting millions of followers, posting carefully staged morning routines, and definitely launching a podcast named after yourself.

I’m talking about being known by a select group of people, the people you genuinely want to be known by, for something that matters.

At the micro, that might mean being known as a caring, loving, and compassionate husband, father, and friend.

At the macro, it might mean being known for introducing a new way of thinking, creating a useful framework, strengthening a community, or helping an industry make progress.

Most of us will operate somewhere between those two levels.

In the end, we will all leave a brand behind.

Some people leave brands that inspire others. Some leave brands that create warmth, trust, and gratitude whenever their names are mentioned.

Others leave brands that are quickly forgotten. Worse, some leave behind a dissonance—a gap between how they wanted to be remembered and how people actually experienced them.

Some of that is outside our control. We cannot manage every perception, correct every misunderstanding, or determine what people say when we leave the room.

But I believe we can influence the (personal) brand we’re building.

We can become more intentional about what we want to be known for, how we show up, what we contribute, and how people encounter our thinking.

That’s what this essay is about.

But before discussing how, we need to get clearer on what one actually is.

What a personal brand is and isn’t

A personal brand is not the number of followers you have.

It is also not your color palette, tone of voice, headshot, website, or preferred content type.

Those things can influence your personal brand, but they are not the brand itself.

Your personal brand is the collection of ideas, qualities, experiences, and expectations that come to mind when someone encounters your name.

What do people remember about you?
How do they describe you when you aren’t in the room?
What problems do they believe you can help solve?

To make this more practical, I want to borrow a concept from brand marketing and apply it to our careers: In How Brands Grow, Dr. Byron Sharp’s work is frequently explained through two connected ideas: mental availability and physical availability.

Mental availability is about whether a buyer can easily think of a brand in a relevant buying situation. Physical availability is about whether that buyer can easily find and purchase it.

People are not products, so this is not a perfect one-to-one comparison.

But as marketers, it gives us a useful lens.

For a person, mental availability means others know what to remember you for—with some level of specificity.

Physical availability means people can encounter you, access your thinking, see evidence of your work, and recommend you when the right opportunity appears.

Does posting on social media help build those things? It may.
Does showing up at an event help? It could.
Does starting a podcast automatically give you a strong personal brand? Absolutely not.

The tactic matters far less than the association it reinforces.

You can post every day and still leave people confused about what you actually care about. You can also post rarely but build a strong reputation through your work, relationships, generosity, and presence in a particular community.

The strongest personal brands become magnets for the right opportunities, ideas, and connections.

They’ve made it easier for the right people to remember them, encounter them, and recommend them. But I must remind myself, it’s not all about us:

Generosity is the soil of a strong personal brand

I haven’t yet explained why dying without a positive personal brand is one of my deepest fears.

It is not because I want everyone to know my name or become famous (tho that’d be cool!).

And I hope it is not simply because of my ego—although ego is involved in nearly everything humans do, whether we admit it or not.

My fear is rooted in stewardship.

I want to be a solid steward of what God has given me.

Building my personal brand is one way to share the ideas, skills, experiences, connections, and opportunities I’ve gained. The generosity mentors, peers, friends, and even strangers have shown me is the same generosity I hope to extend to others.

When I share something I have learned, help a nonprofit think through its marketing, introduce two people who should know each other, or lend a hand to someone job searching, I’m building my personal brand.

But I am also being generous.

I believe generosity is the soil in which the strongest personal brands grow.

The personal brands that fail—or at least become repellent—are usually too self-focused. They feel performative. Every interaction, story, and contribution points back to the person sharing.

No one enjoys being around someone who makes everything about themselves.

A strong personal brand should not constantly ask, “How can I get more people to notice me?”
It should ask, “How can I become more useful to the people I hope to serve?”

Build your personal brand with generosity at the core. Then use clarity and consistency to help that generosity travel. Before I show you how to do that, let me share 3 examples:

3 examples of personal brands

One helpful way to understand personal branding is to deconstruct other people's brands.

The goal is not to copy their tactics. It’s to understand the connection between what they are remembered for and the ways their work repeatedly reinforces that association.

Example one: Ann Handley

When someone tells me they want to become a better writer, I often recommend Ann Handley’s book Everybody Writes.

That is mental availability.

I associate Ann with helping marketers become clearer, more human writers.

But that association did not appear magically. She has reinforced it through books, articles, speaking, teaching, and her fortnightly newsletter, Total Annarchy. Her book, Everybody Writes, was first published in 2014, and her newsletter continues to provide readers with writing advice, marketing ideas, personal stories, and what she calls “high-spirited shenanigans.”

That is physical availability.

Her ideas are accessible in several formats and across countless moments. Someone might encounter her through a book, a keynote, a forwarded newsletter, an article, or a recommendation from someone like me.

The point is not that everyone should write a book or begin a newsletter.

The point is that Ann created a clear connection between an idea she wants to be associated with and a collection of assets that repeatedly make that idea available.

Her story should also give hope to anyone who feels late to personal branding.

You do not need to launch everything at once. One asset can build upon another. The work you create today can become the foundation for opportunities and formats you cannot yet predict.

Example two: Rand Fishkin

When someone asks me who they should follow to stay sharp on search, SEO, or the changing ways people discover information online, I point them toward Rand Fishkin.

Again, that is mental availability.

Rand began publishing about SEO through the project that became SEOmoz. What started as a personal blog evolved into consulting and eventually the software company now known as Moz. Over the years, he reinforced his association with search and transparent marketing through articles, research, speaking, a video series called Whiteboard Friday, and his book Lost and Founder.

That is physical availability.

His personal brand has also evolved. Today, his work extends beyond traditional SEO into audience research, zero-click behavior, and the broader search ecosystem. But those subjects are close enough to his existing center of gravity that the evolution feels natural rather than random.

Rand’s story contains the hallmarks of a strong personal brand:

A clear set of ideas he is associated with.
Countless opportunities to encounter those ideas.

And a willingness to share what he knows—including the uncomfortable and imperfect parts of building a company.

Example three: Me 👋

This final example is more vulnerable. But let’s go:

If a Midwest marketer, especially one from Green Bay or Northeast Wisconsin, wants to get better at marketing, I hope they think of me.

When someone wants to find a thoughtful local community of marketers, I hope they think of The Midwest Marketing Meetup.

That is the mental availability I am trying to build.

My marketing journey began in 2017 after a brief stint in hip-hop music production. Since then, I have posted regularly on LinkedIn, started and ended three newsletters, launched a podcast in 2022, volunteered my skills, interviewed marketers, and begun hosting monthly meetups.

Those are pieces of my physical availability.

Some have worked better than others. Some disappeared almost immediately. Some taught me what I enjoy doing, what I am reasonably good at, and what I should probably never try again.

Even after nearly a decade of intentional work, I still feel like I’m in the early stages of building my brand. My story should give you hope if you are also in the early stages.

Building a personal brand takes time. It requires experimentation. You will try things that fail, outgrow formats you once loved, and discover that what you want to be known for has changed.

That does not mean you are doing it wrong. It means you are doing the hard work that lasts.

How to build YOUR personal brand (thought/content center of gravity)

We all arrive at this work from a different place.

Some people have spent the last decade talking about a consistent set of ideas. They may already have a strong thought center of gravity, even if they have never intentionally called it that.

Others have created plenty of content but constantly change what they talk about. They might consistently publish a newsletter, a podcast, or a series of videos as they move from personal development to marketing to parenting to productivity.

Many have never publicly shared their thinking at all.

Some are early in their careers and have the freedom to experiment broadly. Others are well established and need to be more careful about shifting the professional associations they have spent decades building.

There is no universal starting point.

But there are two concepts that can help you understand where to begin:

Your thought center of gravity and your content center of gravity.

Your thought center of gravity is the collection of questions, problems, ideas, and beliefs you repeatedly return to.

It is the substance of what you want to be known for.

Your content center of gravity is the recurring way people encounter those ideas.

It might be a newsletter, podcast, event, video series, workshop, research report, or community.

One is what you want people to remember you for.
The other is how they repeatedly run into you.

Most people build these in one of two directions:

Path one: Start with what you want to be known for

This is the more common path.

You begin by developing clarity about your thought center of gravity.

What do you want to be known for?
Which problems do you want people to associate with you?
What kinds of conversations, projects, or opportunities do you hope your reputation attracts?

All you need is a hypothesis, not a perfect answer.

Let’s say you want to become known for helping companies build better websites and create stronger digital experiences.

That is a decent beginning, but it is still broad.

You might narrow it further:

You help complicated organizations make their websites easier to navigate.
You help credit unions turn their websites into better sales and service tools.
You help healthcare systems design more empathetic digital experiences.

Specificity gives your mental availability something to attach itself to.

From there, you develop a content center of gravity that reinforces the association.

But the answer is not to publish endless posts announcing that you are a website expert.

That is advertising yourself, not demonstrating useful thinking. Instead, begin with the medium.

How do you naturally communicate and process ideas?

If writing helps you think, start with writing.
If you have a strong speaking voice and enjoy conversation, audio might make sense.
If you think visually or enjoy performing, video may be a better fit.
If you come alive in a room, your strongest medium may be live teaching, facilitation, or events.

Once you have the medium, choose a repeatable format.

For our website expert, that might be a monthly newsletter that deconstructs one great website.

Each issue could include:

A breakdown of what the website does well.
An interview with someone who helped build it.
A few lessons readers can apply to their own work.

Now we have alignment.

The thought center of gravity is better websites and digital experiences.
The content center of gravity is a recurring website analysis and interview.

The newsletter is physically available, while each issue reinforces the intended mental availability.

Over time, people begin to make the connection:

“When I think about creating a better website, I think about this person.”

That’s the goal.

Path two: Start with the way you like to create

The second path is less common but still valid.

Some people find their content center of gravity before their thought center of gravity.

I recently spoke with a woman who built a solid audience on TikTok. She likes creating videos and feels comfortable sharing her life.

Her problem was not the medium.

She already knew how she liked to create. She understood the platform and had proven that people would pay attention.

Her challenge was figuring out what she wanted that attention to mean.

What should people remember her for?
Which opportunities did she want the videos to create?
What connected the pieces of her life she was sharing?

She had physical availability without a clear mental availability.

A similar thing can happen when someone loves writing and starts a newsletter.

At first, they write about personal development. Later, they become a parent and begin writing about parenting. Six months later, they switch to career advice.

The writing habit remains consistent, but the association is unclear.

What they need to do is examine the ideas underneath the format.

Is there a larger question connecting the subjects?
Is the real center of gravity personal growth through major transitions?
Is it about building a meaningful life rather than simply advancing a career?

Sometimes the thought center of gravity is already present. It just has not been named.

Path two asks you to work backward:

Start with the content you enjoy creating.
Then identify the deeper ideas, questions, and experiences that deserve to hold it together.

Now, let’s look more specifically at how to find/develop each:

How to find your thought center of gravity

You do not need to identify the one topic you will discuss for the rest of your life.

A thought center of gravity should be a guiding star, not a prison.

Start by asking:

What do people already ask me for help with?
Which problems do I notice that other people seem to overlook?
What subjects do I continue researching without being assigned to?
What do I believe that others in my field may disagree with?

Look for the overlap between your experience, curiosity, credibility, and desired future.

Your thought center of gravity should not be limited to what you have already mastered. It can also include a subject you are seriously learning in public.

But there should be enough genuine interest to sustain you after the initial excitement disappears.

The ideal state is to find healthy constraints that provide a door for those you want to be known by to encounter your thinking/work/ideas while also continuing to develop your thinking.

How to develop your content center of gravity

Once you have a starting thought center of gravity, you need to make it physically available.

There are four decisions to make:

Medium: How do you naturally create and communicate?
Format: What repeatable container will hold your ideas?
Channel: Where can the right people encounter that format?
Cadence: How often can you realistically produce it?

Too many people choose a channel first because they hear that LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, or podcasting is growing. Then they force themselves to produce work in a way they do not enjoy and cannot sustain.

I suggest starting with your strengths.

A writer might choose essays, a newsletter, or written interviews.
A strong conversationalist might choose a podcast or recurring fireside chat.
A teacher might choose workshops, office hours, or a video series.

You also do not need to become a traditional “content creator.”

Your content center of gravity could be a quarterly gathering that becomes known for unusually thoughtful conversations.

It could be a presentation you continually refine and give to different businesses.
It could be a recurring email you send to 30-50 people in your field/location.
It could be a resource you update every year or quarterly.

The goal is repeated, meaningful contact with the people you hope to serve.

Experiment without constantly reinventing yourself

Your first attempt probably will not work exactly as planned.

That’s normal.

The mistake is interpreting one unsuccessful format as proof that the entire idea is wrong.

Let’s return to our website expert.

Suppose the newsletter fails to gain traction.

That does not necessarily mean the person should stop writing, abandon the website topic, and launch a daily TikTok account about leadership.

They may simply need to change the newsletter’s format. Perhaps the website teardowns feel too technical.

Maybe readers would prefer short essays.
Maybe the interviews are the strongest part and should become the focus.
Maybe the newsletter needs to cover one website decision rather than a full website.

The thought center of gravity can remain relatively stable while the content center of gravity changes.

In my own career, I have changed my content center of gravity many times. I have written newsletters, posted on TikTok, hosted a podcast, facilitated conversations, and launched in-person events.

The formats changed. Some stuck, others faded.

But I have spent most of that time talking about marketing, career growth, and how marketers can improve their work.

The underlying thought center of gravity has been more consistent than the outward content.

Also, give your experiments enough time to teach you something.

As a general rule, I would give a meaningful experiment at least six months. In many cases, 12 months is better.

That can feel painfully slow, especially when your first three posts receive seven likes, your newsletter has 42 subscribers, and your podcast is being streamed primarily by your mum.

But memory takes repetition.
Trust takes repetition.
Quality takes repetition.

You can run shorter experiments when you have a specific reason—especially if you are trying to reposition yourself quickly or test several formats—but do not change everything every few weeks.

Change one variable.
Improve the format.
Refine the audience.
Sharpen the idea.
Adjust the cadence.

Then consistently ship.

Let your personal brand evolve

You may eventually want to be known for something slightly different.

That is not a failure of strategy. It’s being human.

Industries change. Technology changes. Your career changes.

Someone who has spent years talking about marketing may naturally begin exploring AI because it’s changing how marketing works.

Someone known for individual expertise may become a manager and begin thinking more deeply about leadership.

Someone who has spent years interviewing interesting people may eventually realize that their deeper gift is gathering those people into a community.

That last example is close to my own story.

For years, I wanted to be known as someone who thinks deeply about marketing and helps marketers improve.

More recently, I have also wanted to be known as a gatherer of marketers—someone helping build a stronger marketing community in Northeast Wisconsin.

That required an evolution in both my mental and physical availability.

I needed to talk more directly about community, regional talent, gathering, and career progress. I also needed to create a physical place where that community could exist.

That became The Midwest Marketing Meetup (check out upcoming events!).

Thankfully, some of my previous work naturally supported the evolution. Years spent interviewing marketers, creating content, and building relationships became the foundation for gathering those same kinds of people in a room.

This is the ideal form of personal-brand evolution (note my ego is in check).

One piece ladders into the next:

A written interview series becomes a podcast.
A podcast becomes a live event.
A collection of events becomes a community.
A group of essays becomes a workshop (ideally).
A workshop becomes a book (maybe!).

You cannot map the entire evolution in advance.
But you can create work that gives your future self higher optionality.

The goal is not to be known by everyone

To return to my opening, personal branding will not cure loneliness. Let’s be real.

It will not replace friendship, intimacy, family, faith, or community. Being visible to thousands of people is not the same as being deeply known by a few.

A personal brand is not proof that you matter. You already matter.

But a personal brand can make your work, thinking, and contribution more legible to others.
It can increase the likelihood that you are seen and heard by the people you hope to serve.

You do that by becoming clear about your mental availability:

What do you want the right people to remember you for?

And then you build physical availability:

Where and how can those people repeatedly encounter your thinking, work, character, and generosity?

Your thought center of gravity gives them something to remember.
Your content center of gravity gives themm a way to encounter it.

Generosity gives them a reason to care.
Consistency gives the association time to form.

And honest evolution keeps the personal brand connected to the person you are becoming.

You do not need to become famous.
You do not need a million followers.
You do not even need a podcast named after yourself.

You need to become easier to remember, easier to encounter, and easier to recommend by the people you genuinely hope to help.

That is the aspirational plea to build a personal brand:

Do the work required to be seen.

Then use that visibility to help others feel seen, too 🧡

I thought the summer sun could lighten my load. Not the outcome I've got so far. Though I had a semi-refreshing 4th weekend. How was yours? Hope it was safe and joyful.

This newsletter will be short (even though I'm a week behind). All I got is three upcoming meetups, one question, and the previous essay.

Enjoy the "newsletter"...

Upcoming meetups

• (THIS Thursday, July 9th // 8-9am) Coffee Meetup @ Kompound Cafe 👉 https://luma.com/43qtcucd

• (Thursday, July 23rd // 3pm-4:30pm) Expert Session (first-ever panel!) on Career Growth 👉 https://luma.com/rdi5er8p

• (Wednesday, August 5th // 8am-9am) Coffee Meetup @ CO4 Coffee Bar (Kaukauna) 👉 https://luma.com/6glxee2i

Any appetite for virtual?

I am curious if anyone would be open to virtual Expert Sessions in the future?

Hit reply and share your feedback if you’re open to it. I’ll take silence as a yes!

(old) Essay on June's Coffee Meetup

Enjoy → https://ai.paragraph.com/@jordanogren/3-learnings-from-junes-coffee-meetup

Can I promise you one thing?

I will get myself together and deliver a "more useful" email every two weeks.

– Jordan Ogren 🧡

In my experience, I’ve felt dissatisfied when I find my identity in material or outcomes. Identity is not meant to be found in fleeting things.

But…I do find identity in being a marketer. And when I lost my job before my daughter was born, I felt an existential crisis when my identity as a marketer was gone.

Yet…I found a deeper identity in father, husband, and human (son of God). Those are less fleeting than hitting our KPIs or even having the title of Marketer.

Recently, I got coffee with a woman entering the marketing world. She asked, “Do you think I can become a marketer?”

I loved the question. And my answer was a bit simple: “If you identify as a marketer, you will become one.”

Atomic Habits by James Clear touches on how, when someone wants to quit smoking, the best chance for their success is if they identify as a “Non-Smoker.”

When asked to smoke, they answer, “I’m not a smoker.”

The identity precedes the actions. And to remain in your identity, you must take actions that reinforce it.

My (true) growth in marketing began the day I accepted the identity of a Marketer.

Enjoy the newsletter:

Upcoming meetups

• (Friday, June 26th // 9-10:30am) Expert Session on Personal Branding with ME! 👉 https://luma.com/6c5f49h4

• (Thursday, July 9th // 8-9am) Coffee Meetup @ Kompound Cafe 👉 https://luma.com/43qtcucd

• (Thursday, July 23rd // 3p-4:30pm) Expert Session (first-ever panel!) on Career Growth 👉 https://luma.com/rdi5er8p

New essay on June Coffee Meetup’s takeaways

I love doing new things. And I hope these simple reflections can help you make progress in marketing by combining others' wisdom.

Enjoy the first edition → https://paragraph.com/@jordanogren/3-learnings-from-junes-coffee-meetup

Recent podcasts

Book Review #4: Marketers are from Mars, Consumers are from New Jersey by Bob Hoffman — Listen → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/97

On Growth #3: Natalie Marcotullio — Listen → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/96

What I’m reading/watching/listening to

• (Survey) Element Marketing Survey — This one’s unique. One of our members works for Element and shared this survey with me. To help get better data, take the 8-minute survey for a chance to win 1 of 3 $100 Amazon cards.

• (Podcast) Mental Models That Change How You Think | Bill Gurley by The Knowledge Project — Among many things, I loved how Bill uses Systems Thinking to do better work/thinking.

• (Video/Podcast) A rational conversation on where AI is actually going | Benedict Evans by Lenny’s Podcast — Many takes on AI will seem foolish in 2 years from now. Benedict’s take on AI is one of the most salient and helpful takes yet.

Question to ponder

Do you consider yourself a marketer?

What thoughts or limiting beliefs come up when you attempt to identify with being a marketer?

I believe we will do better marketing once we more graciously accept our identity as marketers.

I’m rooting for you, marketer!

— Jordan Ogren

After each monthly coffee meetup, I leave with more energy, ideas, and hope—Hope for the future of marketing (the kids will be okay). But one of the main things I value? Getting to hear what modern marketers are thinking about, leaning into, and their recent wins.

Rather than just stuff it in my brain, I want to share reflections after each coffee meetup. Here goes the first!

But first, let me take a step back

What is the Midwest Marketing Meetup? It’s a group of marketers in the Green Bay/Fox Cities region who want to make progress through a nonperformative community.

We host two events each month:

• Coffee Meetups (office hours vibe)

• Expert Sessions (lectures, panels, Q&A)

I recently wrote an essay on an Expert Session on storytelling, yet this will be my first reflection on a Coffee Meetup. Imagine 10-15 marketers sitting around a table, drinking coffee, sharing their wins and what they’re leaning into. That’s a coffee meetup.

If you want to check out future events, click here.

This month’s (June) Coffee Meetup was at Glas Coffee House, with 12(!) marketers in attendance. The conversation was juicy, and here are my top three learnings from what others (and I) shared:

Lesson 1: AI doesn’t care about your feelings (it’s coming)

A majority of the marketers in the room were anti-AI. One even stated they try not to use it.

While I respect the ethical and environmental concerns, I also honor inertia.

Imagine from the 1990’s to now, you vehemently disliked the internet and computers. Imagine many others also resented and tried not to use it. Would we live in a world without the internet? I doubt it.

Innovation rarely (if ever?) cares about your feelings. It only cares about eating friction, embedding itself in culture/technology, and giving us something we never had before (i.e., the ability to talk directly to people on the other side of the world).

I’m not advocating for you not to have a POV/stand on AI.

Going all-in blindly is just as bad as avoiding it completely.

The takeaway? Get closer to reality about where AI is and where it's going, rather than our emotional reactions.

Lesson 2: Our POV (of marketing) is only 20% of the picture

I love conviction. But as some shared their unique experiences, they framed them as the reality for all.

Before working for Fox Communities Credit Union (500+ people), I only worked for organizations with <15 people. My viewpoint on marketing was quite fragmented. Much of what I held as “true” was only partially true.

One member shared that many executives hold an unrealistic view of AI’s potential, and when marketers implement it, the results are never good enough. This is likely true for many marketers, but not all.

The illusion that our experience is the only experience is strong.

After 9+ years in marketing, I fell for this simple fallacy and thought I had marketing “figured out.”

While I advocate for collecting a range of experiences, I don’t think it’s necessary.

I believe you could work for a large company and still grasp the challenges of a marketer of 1. If you surround yourself with people with different experiences and seek their insights, you’ll do well.

The challenge is when our egos tempt us to believe we know it all (in marketing). That our experience is the experience for all marketers. The reality? It’s not.

The takeaway? Realize your viewpoint is likely only a sliver of the full picture. Be curious to uncover the full picture (to do better marketing)!

Lesson 3: Marketing is only as good as its perception

Internal marketing was a foreign concept to me for the first 3ish years of my career.

When you work for a consultancy of 5 people, your perception is tightly tied to outcomes. Everyone is close enough to see and feel your impact without needing to do much internal marketing.

The same is NOT true for where I currently am. With over 500 people and dozens of departments, marketing must operate both externally and internally.

For marketing to win in 80% of businesses, you must enhance and manage the perception of marketing.

You do that through internal marketing (comms).

What does this look like:

• Sharing reports on the impact of marketing (along with the actions you took)

• Making it easy for others to understand marketing’s role in growth

• Updating and engaging team members on what’s “on deck” for marketing

Some people will have a positive preconceived perception of marketing. Most won’t.

Your job is to “manipulate” that perception so it’s positive.

One easy way to do that? Be helpful and insert marketing as a growth driver.

The takeaway? Give internal marketing a bigger role in your marketing.

When we all die

I hope none of us have to talk about AEO, AI, or ROI in the afterlife.

In the end, much of what I wrote doesn’t matter. What does matter? Being a damn good human.

To finish, I want to share a story about one of our members: Maddy.

Her birthday was the day after our meetup. And as she does every year, she does something for others. So, she bought everyone their coffee. 11 people!

Do I want Maddy to better understand how to use AI to grow in her role? Of course.

But what I’m more proud of is the human she is, and how I’m inspired to be better by her.

That’s what we’re building with The Midwest Marketing Meetup. A place where you can cultivate and grow your marketing acumen while becoming a better human.

Because the best marketers are great humans.

Prove me wrong.

Can the old cast get us there?
Or will the youth foolishly burn it down?

I watch as established marketers continue clinging to old models, incorrect beliefs, and groups that fail to deliver progress. They attempt to pass on knowledge and force the next-gen marketers into their way of thinking.

And sadly, the youth is cooked. Dedicated consumers of brain rot (TikTok), fluent in internet culture, and able to smell the BS I mentioned above. They will (if they aren’t already) revolt.

Yet I find the middle path to be where progress is found.

Honoring and learning lessons from older marketers.
While giving young marketers the tools and seats at the table.

The future of marketing is a two-way street of communication between the old and new. I hope this newsletter and our meetups can be that bridge (of old and new).

Enjoy this edition:

Upcoming meetups

• (THIS Friday, June 5th // 8-9am) Coffee Meetup @ Glas Coffeehouse 👉 https://luma.com/d8nwnt56

• (Friday, June 26th // 9-10:30am) Expert Session on Personal Branding with ME! 👉 https://luma.com/6c5f49h4

• (Thursday, July 9th // 8-9am) Coffee Meetup @ Kompound Cafe 👉 https://luma.com/43qtcucd

My marketing (consulting) process

I had a fun call with a marketing student a few months back that sparked this essay. He asked about my consulting process, and my answer surprised me.

I realized that while my process was the “same,” it varies significantly in execution.

I thought it would be helpful for anyone running marketing at a company or starting a business.

Read the essay → https://paragraph.com/@jordanogren/my-marketing-process

Recent podcasts

(New) Book Review #4: Marketers are from Mars, Consumers are from New Jersey by Bob Hoffman — Listen → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/97

On Growth #3: Natalie Marcotullio — Listen → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/96

What I’m reading/watching/listening to

• (Podcast) Leadership Lessons from AT&T and e.l.f. Beauty | Kellogg School of Management Marketing Leadership Summit by The CMO Podcast— I’ve been a fan of Jim Stengel and his podcast for over 7 years. Love the insights these leaders share.

Question to ponder

Whether young or old, am I intentional in seeking wisdom from both? Do I respect earned experience and the wisdom it brings? While also giving young people space to grow and showcase how they think?

For most of my early career, I resented the old cast.

I didn’t think I could learn from them. I simply wanted to burn it all down.

Since I’ve had amazing mentors, while also running into a handful of jokers in marketing.

I grow from old wisdom and new vigor. Will you?

— Jordan Ogren

Ever hear that saying? Two things: (1) I hate analogies that hurt cats or reference sex (i.e., bang for my buck), (2) I always thought the saying said, “There’s only so many ways to skin a cat.”

Like a Rubik’s Cube, I find there are many entry points, but only a few ways to solve it.

I was sharing career insights with a marketing student who’s graduating from college when he asked about my consulting process. He asked what a typical engagement looks like.

I was ready to dig into the nuance when I realized I follow the same process every time.

This conflicted with my belief that we should have frameworks/methods of madness, yet should not be overreliant on a process or one way to think about {insert domain}.

I’ve worked for 3 consultants in my past life. Each of them had a big idea, either a process or a mental model, about how they viewed marketing. I believe this hindered them from helping their clients as effectively as possible.

Here’s why:

Run from people with “one big idea”

Common sense says that you (as a personal brand or organization) should not be known for everything, or else you will be known for nothing. I agree.

Yet becoming overly reliant on a process, framework, or mental model blinds you to the best way to approach each problem. You get unoptimized outcomes by being devoted to the idea rather than reality.

You must have a marketing philosophy.
You need to be rooted in principles.
You need a point of view (POV).

But you cannot become monothestic. You must remain agnostic in your marketing approach.

That doesn’t mean you can’t follow a process (unless that process is your big idea). A process is scaffolding for you to innovate in the highest leveraged areas. You follow it loosely while using your brain at every step.

I feel it’s important to contrast a Big Idea with a simple framework or process you frequently follow. Regardless of whether your framework is your Big Idea, we all need a process to follow (and break).

My “ladder up” process (Strategic → Brand → GTM)

Imagine your business as a ladder. At the top is the business strategy.

What outcomes, objectives, and initiatives is the organization pushing forward?

Under that, you have multiple other strategies (finance, people/talent, brand). And somewhere around that rung of the ladder is the marketing strategy. The goal of the marketing strategy is to achieve the strategies above.

It should ladder up to help achieve the business strategy. Sounds simple, but it is incredibly hard in reality.

Why? Sometimes the business strategy lives in someone’s head. Or it’s locked for marketing’s eyes. But everything must ladder up, or else it’s a waste of time, resources, and $$$.

That’s why my process always starts with the business strategy. Before I continue, here’s my full process (I’ll cover each in future sections):

1. Clarify the Business Strategy (Vision, Objectives, Initiatives)

2. Define the Brand Strategy (Positioning, Messaging, Audience Segmentation)

3. Build the GTM Strategy or Marketing Strategy (Including marketing, sales, customer success)

4. Translate it into an Execution Rhythm (Frequency and consistency to the GTM Strategy)

Let’s keep digging on #1:

Always start with the Business Strategy

When I start consulting with an organization, my first ask is for the business strategy. When I join a new team, I begin digging into and studying all the organization's strategy docs.

The goal is to grasp a historic angle (what’s been tried) and a future framing (where they’re going).

Sometimes this doesn’t exist. Especially if it’s a startup, but even grown businesses can operate without a clear strategy. I’m helping a 30+-year-old nonprofit, and they don’t have a clear strategy on paper.

The leadership team has it in their head. The board has insights and improvements. Yet none of it will be merged if it’s not written down somewhere.

Most of the time, this step is merely reviewing and generating opinions. With a younger non-profit that also didn’t have a formal strategy, I built into my process a step to create a “minimal-viable-strategy.” This included a competitor analysis, a workshop with pre-session homework, and the synthesis of all inputs.

I feel it’s malpractice to work on marketing with a guiding plan for the business.

The same is true when joining a company. You likely won't be able to influence business strategy. But doing marketing in ignorance of the company's strategy is silly and leads to poor outcomes.

Your task: Ask for the business strategy. If there isn’t one, advocate for having a clear strategy document. You might just get lucky and positively influence the organization by doing this.

Once a business strategy is in place, the next step is to build the brand strategy to activate/grow the company strategy.

Define what the brand is and isn’t

Your brand can’t be all things to all people.

It must stake a position and build distinctive assets to further/support it. It should take the company strategy and bring it to life through messaging, voice/tone, and audience segmentation.

I wrote a bit back on the 3M’s of Brand, which helps you think through where to begin. Too many businesses begin (and remain) internal when developing a brand strategy.

As I wrote in that essay, I believe the true insights are “out there.”

The best foddler to inform your brand strategy comes from your customer, market, and world currents.

Sure, you may come up with a killer brand expression during an internal brainstorm, like Nike’s Swoosh.

But the undercurrent of “Just Do It” and what the Swoosh stands for connects with the customer’s reality.

The final deliverable for this stage should be a Brand Guide, which includes logo and design insights. But also includes positioning, key messaging, audience segmentation, and more.

The goal is to know who your brand is and especially who it isn’t (for).

Now it’s time to bring this (and more) to market

Once you’ve developed the company and brand strategy, you’re ready to build the strategy to bring this to market. Some have marketing and sales plans; I prefer to combine them into a Go-To-Market (GTM) Strategy.

This is where the greatest variance comes in.

While the first two steps yield wildly different outcomes across businesses, the process to get there is similar. Defining the GTM Strategy is where I add the most flavor.

By now, you should have many insights into your position in the market and who you serve, even if you didn’t help create either document. You will use that to inform your GTM Strategy.

Step one is to develop the diagnosis.

For the nonprofit I’m consulting with, this was easy: No one knew who they were and what they did.

The main diagnosis was a lack of awareness.

Next, you build guiding principles to guide your strategy.

Most people jump right to the actions (tactics) you will do to overcome the diagnosis. Instead, Richard Rumelt, in Good Bad Strategy, suggests developing the guardrails for the strategy to “live within.”

For the nonprofit, some of the Guiding Principles were to leverage the Founder’s voice over the company's (on social), lead with the practical vs. theoretical (what they do vs. mission/vision), and determine the frequency of posting and on which channels.

Once you’ve defined this, the final step is to develop Cohorent Actions that live within your Guiding Principles to help you overcome/achieve your diagnosis.

Using the same example, this looked like creating the videos and assets for social. Also developing and strengthening the key messages we’d share. Along with events and other initiatives, we brought the company to market.

But that wasn’t the end.

Create a system for scalable execution

Building a GTM Strategy and executing it flawlessly isn’t enough. You need to repeat it (indefinitely).

The lesson: Build a sustainable GTM Strategy that allows for repeatable execution.

In almost every process, my job here is to remove activities and connect to a marketing ecosystem. The goal isn’t to do 50 things once, it’s to do 1 thing 50 times. And to tie everything together, so when I create content for the newsletter, I’m also creating social assets.

The goal is to build two things:

1. An always-on content motion (your GTM Strategy)

2. Regular campaigns focus on something specific (new product or fundraising goal)

Your GTM Strategy must be repeatable and provide enough slack to develop, spin up, and maintain campaigns for specific use cases. That is how you actualize your Strategic Plan and Brand Strategy.

The secret to the process

Everything is customizable.

While I follow this process closely, I never shut off my brain (thinking).

The best processes accommodate inputs that they could never have imagined. They follow the same guardrails but differ vastly in the in-between. The secret is to “follow” a process while keeping your mind fully engaged, pivoting when necessary.

The outcome is the same three plans, yet the journey to get there is always different.

I hope you enjoy the journey ❣

I recently started a new job as a Digital Marketing Manager at Fox Communities Credit Union and have been attempting to keep my seven other projects in motion. The result?

I haven’t released a podcast or essay in over a month. I am a few days late on this email. I’ve only made it to the gym 1-2 times each week.

And all of that is okay.

Adjusting to a new pace takes time (+ trial and error), and shedding things to make time is never easy.

All that to say, we’re human. We won’t always hit our (content) deadlines.

But will we still show up?
Or will we give up?

Here I am showing up…enjoy this short newsletter!

Upcoming meetups

• (This upcoming Wednesday, May 20th // 8-9:30am) Expert Session with Melissa Jacobs on the Perception Gap 👉 https://luma.com/mrye1w5b

• (Friday, June 5th // 8-9am) Coffee Meetup @ Glas Coffeehouse 👉 https://luma.com/d8nwnt56

(old) Essay on Kaleb’s Six-Part Creative Brief

Read the essay → https://paragraph.com/@jordanogren/the-six-part-brief-behind-more-human-marketing

(old) Recent podcasts

On Growth #3: Natalie Marcotullio — Listen → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/96

On Marketing #78: Lee Densmer — Listen → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/95

What I’m reading/watching/listening to

• (Podcast) Do Marketers Need a Personal Brand (with Carmen Vicente) — I am pro personal brand. But I also realize not everyone needs to have one. Or if they do have a personal brand, it will likely be v different than mine. And that’s GOOD.

Question to ponder

What do I do when I’m behind (aka dropping the ball)?

Do I give up and stop showing up?

Or do I swallow my pride (that I’m perfect) and show up in a human way?

— Jordan Ogren

Last week was our FOURTH Expert Session, co-led by Greg McDonald and me on AI Applied. And one of the insights was how context is a multiplier for AI.

This only increases the importance of your foundation (e.g., strategy documents, transcripts, and historical sources of truth). Having those things on digital paper is a huge advantage for AI.

I also just think it’s good business.

Until we take something from our brain and put it on paper, it’s vague and unclear. Once it’s written down, others can speak into it, improve it, and now we have a source of truth.

Whether you have a marketing foundation or not, look for ways to increase context, as that helps both machines and humans.

Enjoy this week’s email:

Upcoming meetups

• (Thursday, May 7th // 8-9am) Coffee Meetup @ The Attic Books & Coffee 👉 https://luma.com/97l3g5nl

• (Wednesday, May 20th // 8-9:30am) Expert Session with Melissa Jacobs on the Perception Gap 👉 https://luma.com/mrye1w5b

• (Friday, June 5th // 8-9am) Coffee Meetup @ Glas Coffeehouse 👉 https://luma.com/d8nwnt56

(old) Essay on Kaleb’s Six-Part Creative Brief

I started a new job two weeks ago, have three consulting projects in motion, run The Midwest Marketing Meetup, and am trying to write essays and podcast episodes. Sadly, the pace swallowed me.

I have no new essays or episodes this newsletter. I did keep my head above water (in the other areas!).

The lesson? Have grace through change. Showing up still is enough.

Read last edition’s essay → https://paragraph.com/@jordanogren/the-six-part-brief-behind-more-human-marketing

Recent podcasts

On Growth #3: Natalie Marcotullio — Listen → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/96

On Marketing #78: Lee Densmer — Listen → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/95

What I’m reading/watching/listening to

• (Podcast) Disrupting beliefs and breaking inertia (with Uber’s Lucinda Barlow) — The middle is where marketing dies. This podcast delves into why lukewarm marketing is the worst. You must go all in on something. Lucinda runs international marketing at Uber and has sharp insights + stories.

• (Article) How LinkedIn became a top source for ChatGPT and other LLMs — I’ve posted (almost) daily on LinkedIn for 8 years. It’s cool to see it evolve from a digital business card (2014) to a full-functioning social platform with LLM upside. Glad I went all in on this (and urge many b2b businesses to do the same)

• (Video) How Billionaires Captured the Media - (5CAST #19) — I’ve followed Channel 5 (Andrew Callaghan) for almost a decade. Andrew isn’t perfect (none of us are), but he aims to approach issues from the middle, which is rare in our polarized political climate. I liked this conversation and the awakening to how our media is controlled by a few organizations/people (if we didn’t already know this)

Question to ponder

How is your personal foundation?

Similar in importance but different in form. I’m not talking transcripts or strategy docs for yourself. I’m speaking on your mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health (among others!).

Are you focusing on nurturing and enhancing that?
Or are you focused on superficial things?

To do better marketing, we must be healthy in all areas of life.

Don’t neglect your foundation.

— Jordan Ogren

Do you know the difference between gazing, glancing, and glaring?

I was listening to a podcast with my favorite Franciscan priest, Richard Rohr, and he mentioned the differences and how, as he hits 80, he is doing more gazing vs glancing at things and moving on or glaring in disapproval/disappointment.

I promise this ties to the work we do as marketers:

Are you spending time gazing at projects, problems/questions and potential opportunities? Or do you quickly tackle them and rush to the next? I understand that work must be done and that the best solutions/answers come from waiting.

This points to the importance of pairing urgency with patience. You’re urgent in little (routine) things to create slack to spend time gazing. To come up with ideas (or ways to execute) that are exponentially better.

Let’s spend some time gazing this week? Hope you enjoy the newsletter:

Upcoming meetups

• (Monday, April 20th) Expert Session with Greg McDonald (& me) on AI Applied 👉 https://luma.com/cc71k1bu

• (Thursday, May 7th) Coffee Meetup @ The Attic Books & Coffee 👉 https://luma.com/97l3g5nl

• (Wednesday, May 20th) Expert Session with Melissa Jacobs on the Perception Gap 👉 https://luma.com/mrye1w5b

• (Friday, June 5th) Coffee Meetup @ Glas Coffee House (Outside edition?) 👉 https://luma.com/d8nwnt56

Essay on Kaleb’s Six-Part Creative Brief

Kaleb was our March expert, and he shared a six-part brief that I thought was solid.

I did my best to lay out his ideas while also layering in my own experiences and POV. Enjoy!

Read the essay → https://paragraph.com/@jordanogren/the-six-part-brief-behind-more-human-marketing

Recent podcasts

(NEW) On Growth #3: Natalie M — Listen → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/96

On Marketing #78: Lee Densmer — Listen → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/95

What I’m reading/watching/listening to

• (Book) How Brands Grow by Byron Sharp — Many things marketers believe to be true have zero evidence (and sometimes have conflicting evidence). Yet we blindly follow them.

  • Byron uses empirical data to show how brands grow. His answer is surprising me so far (I was believing many false things).

• (Podcast) Will Guidara: How Cognac solved a major problem at the world’s #1 restaurant — I read Will’s book on Unreasonable Hospitality, and it was great.

  • This episode touches on the peak–end rule, a psychological heuristic in which people judge an experience largely by how they felt at its peak and at its end, rather than by the total or average of every moment.

  • Much of marketing is an experience, so I found it helpful (for webinars, events/gatherings, even content)

• (Article) Notes and Takeaways: The Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Thinking —  I believe generalists (multi-disciplinary thinkers) will rule the world (with AI).

  • Here’s a summarization of why I liked it: “’The frog in the well knows nothing of the mighty ocean.’ If you only know one discipline, you are like the frog in a well. If you want to make good decisions in the complex system of life, you must be multi-disciplinary.”

Question to ponder

Where am I afraid to be different (with marketing)? What’s a belief/thought that you’ve had that you feel, if shared, could result in being disowned from the marketing community? What if you told it?

I’ve had the luxury of being a contrarian from an early age. Being different (not for different’s sake) is in my blood. Through repetition, I’m unafraid of saying the Emperor is naked (resulting in me being shown the door).

While I know there’s fear attached, I would argue that the best/unique marketing is different.

Go be different!

— Jordan Ogren

We buy emotionally and rationalize with facts. Apple is a prime example. Are their products superior? I’d say no. Yet many still choose Apple and justify it, even with better options available.

The insight: We must tell stories (do marketing) in a way that aligns with this reality, rather than against it.

So, do not lead with data or features—lead with emotion, ideally through story. A framework, like a creative brief, helps consistently tell emotional stories.

Despite this, most creative frameworks fall short—think of how little most persona profiles actually help. These common gaps highlight the need for more effective approaches, which is why Kaleb Schad’s perspective is particularly valuable. As Director of Strategy & Marketing at Rawhide Youth Services, Schad’s role centers on developing strategies that bridge emotional connection with organizational goals.

Drawing on his expertise, I am eager to explore the six-part Creative Brief he shared during a recent Expert Session for The Midwest Marketing Meetup (Find future events here), as it promises a more human-centered approach to marketing that addresses the limitations of traditional frameworks.

Here are the six parts of Kaleb’s brief, which I’ll walk through in detail:

1. Key Fact

2. Consumer Problem

3. New Belief

4. Creative Strategy

5. Reason Why

6. Creative Execution

The session that birthed this essay

Kaleb’s session made a simple but important point: emotional storytelling does not begin in the copy. It begins much earlier, in the discipline of understanding the customer well enough to tell the story they need to hear rather than the one the brand wants to tell.

His creative brief offers a practical path to getting there, starting with the customer rather than the company, and his comments on AI make the lesson even more relevant. AI can help with research and pattern-finding, but it still struggles to replace the human judgment, empathy, and instinct that make emotional marketing actually feel true.

Let’s dive into my thoughts on the framework (paired with Kaleb’s thoughts):

Emotional storytelling starts earlier than most think

Many marketers believe that adding emotion comes during execution, such as in copy or design. Kaleb contends that emotion is not an afterthought in marketing; it begins in the early stages, when emotional insight is gathered about the ideal customer.

While great copy and design move people, it is the underlying emotion that truly moves them. Copy and design simply carry emotional insight forward. As Kaleb argues, emotion is crucial to moving people. Without uncovering emotion early, it is harder to move people.

The challenge is to focus on your ideal customer's emotions, rather than on what you’re passionate about (i.e., what you're emotionally invested in). The story you tell is not yours; it’s their story.

The trap: Telling the story you want to tell

Your company, product, or service is not the hero in the story. Years ago, after reading Donald Miller's Storybrand, I realized the customer—whether a donor or investor—should be positioned as the hero. The brand acts as a guide, supporting the hero on their journey.

Take Star Wars as an example: Luke Skywalker is the hero, while Yoda is the wise guide. Similarly, your brand plays the role of Yoda, helping the hero navigate their new world. This requires a mindset shift, especially since many traditional marketers and businesses tend to focus on their own story. Even once you make this adjustment, the next steps require considerable effort:

“You need to deeply understand your audience as individuals—walk in their shoes, recognize their pains, hopes, and desires. Many companies struggle because they tell the stories they want to tell rather than what customers need to hear.”

Curiosity and empathy help, but aren’t always enough. Kaleb shared a video for Rawhide Youth Services that tells a hopeful story from Max, a program graduate. The first cut focused too much on Rawhide therapy services rather than on Max.

“The first cut of this video… was not emotional. It was a three-minute video all about Rawhide therapy services. And I said, stop. We don’t need to say any of those things… This is a story about Max, and this is Max’s story, and people are going to understand the impact of Rawhide by hearing her story.”

This framing allowed the video editor and the rest of the team to anchor in the fact that it was all about Max. By fully (and honorably) telling her story, the intended audience would also see Rawhide’s value.

While this insight is helpful, it’s not enough to consistently create emotional stories (i.e., marketing). The pull to make your brand the hero is strong. This is where Kaleb’s brief becomes useful: it’s a forcing function to keep the work from collapsing back into brand-speak.

This approach is not about completing a checklist, but about developing a discipline that keeps your marketing truly human and focused on real stories:

The six-part brief behind more human marketing

“When I punted on not doing that research, or I punted on not really trying to walk in their shoes, I think that’s when the story suffered.”

Before diving in, it’s important to note: this brief is not a cure-all. If you don’t invest real effort into understanding your customer, following this brief alone won’t deliver results.

As Kaleb shared in the session, “As I was looking at some of the creative briefs I’ve written, preparing for this, I was like, man, Kaleb, some of these suck. You did a really bad job on some of these. Because it’s really hard to get into the mind of your customer.”

The brief’s job is to help you focus on your hero: “What I love about this brief is it simplifies things and forces you to focus on the customer… The first three sections don’t let you talk about yourself. They let you talk about your customer and their world.”

As I like to say during my consulting engagements, I (we) don’t have the answer. The answer is out there.

“Out there” simply means a combination of qualitative insights from customers, prospects, those who switched to different solutions, and quantitative data from research or surveys. Only through synthesis does an answer (in the form of insights) begin to take shape.

Now, equipped with these insights, let’s break down the brief step by step, as Kaleb explained it.

And the first move is deceptively plain: You do not begin with the idea. You begin with their reality.

Part 1: Key fact

Seth Godin said, “The strategy closest aligned to reality wins.” The first step of Kaleb’s brief is to define that reality (for your customer).

“The key fact is going to be some kind of objective statement that your client, your customer, your patient is dealing with in their world… For MasterCard, people were really afraid of credit cards and the damage they could do to you if you’re not responsible with them. So the key fact, they said, is that credit cards have created a great deal of consumer debt. No one can debate that. That’s reality.”

To find this key fact, Kaleb suggested research as a key pathway. For the MasterCard example, it was likely easier to uncover. With the financial crisis of 08/09, the reality of how much damage (bad) debt can do was tangible. For you, the key fact is likely more buried.

When I joined a social media/content agency as Head of Growth, my first role was to shift our positioning. While slightly different than creating a campaign using this brief, I began with the reality of their work. The agency was currently targeting social media marketers as their #1 audience. Made sense until I uncovered a key fact:

Senior marketers (the ones who sign and hire the agency) have short tenures (2-8 years). When they switch companies, they want to bring in a trusted agency to prove their value. This was validated by a client who had worked for a manufacturing company and then joined Special Olympics. She worked with our agency before switching jobs and brought us into Special Olympics.

This key fact (about our customer) changed our entire go-to-market motion. Rather than pump out generic blogs and social posts, we switched to in-depth reports and in-person exclusive dinners. It all started with a fact from our customers' world.

The value in this step is that it anchors the work in the customer’s lived context rather than the marketer’s agenda. While we wanted to sell more social media and content, we instead framed our messaging around the challenges (for senior marketers) of starting a new role or proving social/content ROI to management.

But I’m putting the carriage in front of the horse here. The key fact is merely the first spark on the fire. What makes the fact useful is the pressure it creates in the customer’s world.

That’s what the next part of the brief surfaces: the problem the fact creates for our customer.

Part 2: Consumer problem

Sticking with the MasterCard example (sorry for jumping around!), Kaleb noted how they tied the key fact to their customer’s problem.

“The key fact leads to a problem for your consumer. The problem is consumers are afraid that the risk of high credit card debt outweighs the benefits of credit cards. Here’s the beauty — you’re only in step two, but you’re already focusing on your customer. You’re not saying what MasterCard is going to do about it.”

Kaleb still suggests using research (i.e., Reddit or online forums) for this stage, but also introduces the power of talking to your customer. Sometimes, to fully uncover what your customer is thinking or afraid of, you must sit with them and LISTEN. You must genuinely care to learn what is keeping them up at night.

Kaleb shared an example of this while working with a healthcare provider:

“What we discovered was the people who were considering bariatric surgery weren’t afraid of the medical side effects…What they were afraid of is that it would look and feel like they’re giving up, because they had spent years and years fighting… and now they’re going to do surgery, and it’s like cheating. It’s like just giving up.”

I loved that example as the surface problem was health, but the deeper problem was shame. And with that consumer problem (i.e., emotional insight), Kaleb’s could begin working on the next step, their New Belief.

Because once you have the right/better consumer problem (vs the surface one), the next question becomes: what has to change in the customer’s mind?

Good marketing does not just describe the problem. It creates a new way to interpret it.

That’s where the brief shifts from diagnosis to persuasion:

Part 3: New belief

For most campaigns (or go-to-market initiatives), the endgame is a new (or old) action (rooted in shifted beliefs). At the lowest level of emotion, that shift is simply that I need to buy (i.e., I need new Nike shoes).

Using Kaleb’s healthcare example, the new belief was to combat the shame, “We were able to take that as an insight and create messaging that leverages you’re not giving up. You’re actually fighting… you’re actually winning through a different tactic.”

Through this new belief, potential bariatric surgery patients could see themselves in a better light. Rather than giving up (shame), they could lean into the message that they are fighting using a different tactic (courage). Marketing often works by changing the meaning of an action (rooted in belief) to lower the friction required to take it.

But understanding the key fact, the emotional consumer problem, and the new belief isn’t enough. You must strategically express that shift in a way your audience can feel.

That’s why Kaleb’s next step is the creative strategy:

Part 4: Creative strategy

“So how are you going to tell that {story}? That’s when you get to your creative strategy… the creative strategy is how you’re going to do it—what is that message that you’re going to say?”

How will this come to life? That’s what the creative strategy is for.

It’s not execution, it’s the choice of what kind of emotional frame you will use to tell the story. Along with the ways to distribute the story. Will it be a social-first campaign? Omni-channel approach?

One thing Kaleb didn’t touch on is the importance of thinking with a distribution-first mindset. Especially in 2026 and beyond, when the channels are almost infinite.

The MasterCard example Kaleb shared was from the early 2000s, when TV ads were the obvious distribution model. They had the luxury of focusing only on how to frame the story, not on where it would go or how to tell a story relevant to each channel.

You and I aren’t afforded that luxury.

We must consider distribution during customer research (where they spend time) and again when we define the creative strategy. Along with a unique and effective way to tell that story.

One simple way to think about this stage is in guardrails.

Rather than providing authoritative answers, aim to build guardrails for execution that allow flexibility while ensuring consistency. I’ll use Kaleb’s third example to illustrate this: He was working with the chair manufacturer, KI, and they wanted to tell a story about the good they do, using a chair.

Rather than having answers about how it will be executed, they had a simple guardrail: the red chair will be in the center, with different people sitting on it. They also likely had guardrails on who and what they’d say.

The goal is to have enough structure to make execution easier while enabling the conditions for innovation to create a better campaign.

Yet, strategy alone does not make the work resonate. There is still one more layer that gives the whole thing an emotional lift, before execution. Kaleb calls that layer the “reason why.”

Part 5: Reason why

The “Reason Why” for MasterCard’s campaign was the simple line, “There are some things money can't buy; for everything else, there's Mastercard.” That’s a priceless line.

“The reason why is the emotional punch line. This is the punch to the gut that says, ‘Oh yeah, I get it.’”

It’s not only a tagline. It could be at the heart of the piece. Using the KI example, the Reason Why was how long KI’s red chair has been around and all the good that people who sat on one have done for the world.

While there was a tagline that expressed this, the execution was guided by this underlying “Reason why.”

To make the next step more effective, you must gather together everything you’ve done into a coherent “Reason why.” Without that, execution can fall flat and not fully represent the previous parts.

But what about for B2B, where emotion is supposed to be null?

“B2B can be really hard because sometimes it’s not very emotional, but there are still strong emotions for buyers… my job might be on the line… what if we purchase this and the installation goes terribly? My reputation…”

B2B is still human-to-human. Someone must sign their name on the proposal. The key is to understand that person's (i.e., persona's) fears and goals, and speak to them with the “Reason why.”

For an AI company targeting marketers, that “Reason why” could be how it will make that marketer a supermarketer. “Don’t know shit about SEO? But your boss is demanding answers? Let {ai product} empower you with the thoughts and answers to develop the SEO plan your boss requires.”

This leads us to the final, and most critical, part of the process: The execution of your campaign. Because, as Kaleb shared, the brief can be right and the work can still miss the mark. Which is why execution is its own craft.

Part 6: Creative execution

Let’s revisit the trap from the opening of this essay: We want to tell a story, yet we must resist that urge and tell their story. Kaleb shared earlier how the first cut of Max’s Story focused on cognitive-behavioral therapy rather than telling her story in full color.

“Did you hear the phrase cognitive behavioral therapy in there at all? That was what the first edit was… I was like, oh, man, no. This is about Max. This is a horrifying and triumphant story. And we need to make sure people feel that when they come out of it.”

Execution is where a solid brief comes to life and becomes tangible. Or it can be when you tell a selfish story, and the emotion (and the work you put in) evaporates, resulting in poor results.

Some tips Kaleb shared were using the hero’s journey, Donald Miller’s advice on the customer as the hero, and storytelling techniques like problem-agitate-solve. They all reinforce the same idea: execution has to make the story tangible.

Another trap specific to this part is the temptation to overcomplicate the story.

Whether it’s trying to tell a two-hour movie in a 30-second commercial or copying and pasting the story to social media without making it relevant/digestible for that channel. A simple takeaway: Say less.

“Donald Miller says, imagine that your customer is running on a treadmill, and you’re trying to talk to them, and they can’t breathe. They have no energy to pay attention to what you’re saying. So just say it. Just be stupidly simple, and say it really clear.”

Now that you have the knowledge of this powerful six-part brief, I want to touch on a dilemma many face: when and how to use AI to assist with this process.

Where AI can help in this process

Can we agree that we’re not going back to a pre-AI age? The power that AI can bring is here to stay.

“AI is a huge asset in this. I wish to God I had this tool 15 years ago when I was starting out in marketing. Being able to use AI to research reports, medical journals, anything that would help get the insight.”

The first and most obvious place AI can assist is in uncovering key facts and consumer problems. While talking to humans is my first choice, using AI to uncover adjacent info or even validate (or prove wrong) my current hypothesis is a close second. One thing to remember: FACT CHECK your AI research.

The problem is not whether AI can surface information. It is whether it can tell you what matters.

The next part of the brief is where AI becomes less helpful: The new belief and subsequent sections rely on human thinking. You can have AI brainstorm, but the breakthrough comes from being human. Synthesis is something AI is good at with data, but humans will rule at this skill. Pulling together all your research and insights into a coherent new belief is an art. No machine masters this (yet).

If you’ve kept the human in the loop (and use transcriptions from interviews for context), AI can still be helpful in the creative strategy phase. AI can help you either uncover new ways to create or channels you hadn’t thought of. I find it useful once you land on your center of gravity (main strategy and channel), and then have it adjust to other channels you need to be in.

Simply put, AI can be a killer assistant for research, refining, and giving contrarian feedback. Let’s now cover what it’s not as good at:

Where AI still falls short

Parts 5 and 6 seem to be areas where AI has diminishing returns.

“While AI is a good tool to find and help mine data, don’t rely on it entirely. I think at the end of the day, we’re humans, and we have to use our human insight and our human gut to assess whether what we’re hearing from AI is valid or not, and figure out what is that nugget in the research that’s worth leveraging and jumping out to you, and just trust your gut on some of those things.”

Sure, AI can attempt to provide the Reason Why (i.e., emotional gut punch), but that’s where human ingenuity shines. Taking everything you have, creating prototypes of your Reason Why, and then having AI give feedback is useful. Just don’t expect it to come up with the breakthrough idea.

Can AI help with execution? Sure. It just can’t do it all, and you shouldn’t rely on AI-generated images or videos (yet). AI is strongest when it’s a thought partner, giving feedback on the execution, rooted in your brief’s context. It also can’t interview someone (which leads to great case studies/testimonial videos).

Kaleb discussed tips on how to pull out emotional and effective answers during case study interviews:

“Make sure you ask about emotions… ‘How did you feel when that was happening?’… and then… you shut up… If there’s an awkward silence, let that awkward silence linger because they will fill it, and that’s usually when you get something interesting too.”

AI is unable to have a human connection and create the conditions for the person to feel safe and share. Conversation is a skill only humans can cultivate (for now). This is where you can uncover so much useful fodder for the brief. AI can’t replace this.

“It’s definitely a skill that you have to learn… I try to come at things sideways, and I’ll ask a similar question in a different way, because they’ll answer it a little bit differently each time.”

I want to end this discussion on AI (and this essay) with a final limit Kaleb places on emotional storytelling, whether AI is involved or not. It is not just a question of effectiveness. It is also a question of ethics.

The final distinction he makes is maybe the most important one in the entire session:

Emotion should connect, not manipulate/exploit

Ever seen the The Vulture and the Little Girl photo?

It’s a photograph of a frail, famine-stricken boy, erroneously believed to be a girl until 2011, who had collapsed in the foreground with a hooded vulture eyeing him from nearby. While the child did survive, I believe that’s using emotion to manipulate rather than to give your hero dignity.

The constant question with using emotion in storytelling is how far can I go while retaining the dignity of the person/organization. It definitely helps to use Donald Miller’s framing: the customer is the hero, not a damsel in distress. That shifts you to honor and elevate your hero (not to diminish their agency).

Kaleb touched on this using Max’s story:

“I don’t think if you watched Max’s story… that we exploited this poor little girl. That was a part of her healing journey, in many ways, was her being able to tell that story. And the emotion was not meant to exploit. It was meant to connect.”

When amping up the emotion in your story, use it to connect, not to manipulate or exploit the viewer. When you honor your hero and preserve their dignity, the results will follow.

“If you use emotions to manipulate people, that’s a real challenge, but if you use it to build a connection with your customer, your audience, your employee, whoever it is, then you’re using it for good.”

Shall we agree to use this superpower for good?

Only then can we leverage emotion in storytelling effectively. Thank you to Kaleb for sharing, and thank you for reading. I hope you leave with practical insights to apply to your marketing.

You can reach me at jordano@hey.com with questions, pushback, and inquiries on future expert sessions.

Onward 🧡

Kaleb Schad, Director of Strategy and Marketing for Rawhide Youth Services, touched on how to infuse emotion into your storytelling.

I will have an essay on that in the future, as I find it vital given AI’s lifeless/generic content.

I hope you enjoy the second edition of this newsletter:

Upcoming meetups

• (Thursday, April 9th) Coffee Meetup @ The Daily Buzz 👉 https://luma.com/gqnv3le0

• (Thursday, May 7th) Coffee Meetup @ The Attic Books & Coffee 👉 https://luma.com/97l3g5nl

Essay on the 3 M’s of Brand

Marketers overcomplicate things. They also obsess over things customers rarely think about. This essay touches on that and covers the 3 M’s of Brand.

Read the essay → https://paragraph.com/@jordanogren/the-3-ms-of-brand-manipulate-manage-monitor

Recent podcasts

(NEW) On Marketing #78: Lee Densmer — Listen → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/95

On Growth #2: Inês Barros — Listen → https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/94

What I’m reading/watching/listening to

• (Article) SXSW 2026: AI rewrites search, podcasts explode and humans push back: https://www.thecurrent.com/culturesxsw-2026-ai-rewrites-search-podcasts-humans-push-back — My fav line: “GEO requires structured, authoritative, and reusable content—not just keywords. Brands that centralize product information are better positioned to succeed with both GEO and SEO.”

• (Book recommended by Kaleb) Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller: https://www.amazon.com/Building-StoryBrand-2-0-Clarify-Customers/dp/1400248876/ — I read this book years ago, and it was instrumental in my storytelling growth. One key lesson: You are Yoda, your customer is the hero (Luke Skywalker)

• (Podcast) What Happens When Podcasts Become Visual: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9cIlFVbTWs — Podcasts are the new TV. This podcast included fun commentary on the shift and what to do about it.

Question to ponder

Where can I use more emotion in my storytelling by gaining greater clarity about my audience? What’s one action/way that will help me get that clarity?

— Jordan Ogren

A brand is not ONE thing.

A brand consists of many touchpoints with your audience. Most of these are within your control:

• The narrative you share of why you exist

• Your visual identity and how you bring that to life

• Your vision and how you connect that to the audience’s journey

But...your brand is NOT your reputation.

Your reputation is the collective perception that external audiences form based on their interactions and experiences with the organization.

Brand is what you want people to say (internal)
Reputation is what they actually say to others (external)

So, what should you focus on first?

When I’m working to help refresh or overhaul a brand, I begin with its reputation.

Why?

“Our brands are very important to us marketers and very unimportant to most consumers.” – Bob Hoffman

As marketers, we overindex on the internal and fail to fully grasp the external reputation.

Before I meet with the internal team, I want to capture the brand's perception among its intended audience and in the community. What are those who don’t work for us saying about our brand?

A key note is the “intended audience” piece. Your reputation outside of who you wish to serve and partner with doesn’t matter that much. If my grandmother thinks my brand sucks, that’s okay. Unless I run a nursing home...

As you begin listening, researching, and synthesizing these findings, you will likely notice gaps between internal desires and external perceptions. This is where the brand work begins.

Until you have a clear grasp of what those you wish to serve think of you, you can’t begin to improve or build a new brand.

Why not start with brand? I’ve been on too many failed projects that begin (and linger) on the internal side.

While you must understand what people on the inside think about the brand, it’s useless until you know what reality is saying—It’s wishful thinking until you have external insights to brush it up against.

You can spend days crafting the perfect narrative and vision, yet if they fail to resonate with your audience’s worldview, they won’t land. You will have the best brand ever(!), yet your market perception won’t shift.

It’s all about manipulating and managing perceptions

Pick one:

• A brand that has the perfect story, logo, and colors/typeface

• A brand that resonates with those you wish to serve

I hope you picked the latter.

My goal was to illustrate how having a perfect brand in isolation is pointless. It’s all about the perception your audience has. And whether you wish to manipulate (change) or manage (strengthen) that perception is where all brand work (should begin).

After gathering sufficient insights into external perceptions (gaps + fits), I then host a workshop with internal stakeholders to identify their brand DNA.

This brand DNA must then be contrasted with the perception gaps + fits you defined, and you can then strategize on how to close those gaps and strengthen those fits. Sounds simple, right?

I’ve found most executives prefer to play on the internal side.

They’re masters at building slide decks that pitch their internal vision or narrative. They became successful by leaning into their intuition rather than asking external audiences what to do next. Their usual approach to brand work is siloed.

That’s why they need you, a true marketer.

I find the best marketers master the art of gaining insights from their two “markets” (internal + external). They can balance internal fantasies with external realities. Does that make it easy to tell executives that people think your brand sucks (or even worse, is meh/lukewarm), no.

But...if you don’t, then you have no chance at closing the gap.

How you pull out the insights from internal stakeholders is an essay for another day (stay tuned!).

Close the gap (that’s what brand work is about)

The final step after you’ve gleaned the external perceptions and internal desires is to build a plan to close the gaps and strengthen the fits.

This plan could include a new logo, a narrative more tied to the audience’s day-to-day, or even redoing your values. The goal is that in 6-12 months, you’ll have moved your external perception closer to what you desire it to be.

One note: Your market perception is fluid.

Cracker Barrel had a good perception (from my limited view) before updating its logo. Then once the logo was revealed, their perceptions TANKED. That’s why talking to the market is a forever game (i.e., monitoring).

You will make a tweak, change how you share your narrative, and then, over time, monitor your perception to see if it changes. If you don’t monitor (keep having conversations), you will have less data to either further close the gap or begin strengthening fits.

Manipulate or manage the perception, then monitor.

That’s how you build a brand that lasts.

Bonus: The Brand Delusion

“Modern marketing is operating under the delusion that consumers want to interact with brands, and have relationships with brands, and have brand experiences, and engage with them, and co-create with them. Sorry, amigo. Not in this lifetime.” – Bob Hoffman

Ask any normal human about their favorite brand. Ask them why they prefer that brand over other brands.

Rarely will you hear the things we marketers preach about brand. Usually, it will be more utilitarian, even nostalgic. Aka, it gets the damn job done!

Sure, the narrative, colors/typeface, and mission can help, but without product/service fit, brand is useless.

Try building a brand that doesn’t solve a problem or fill a need, and see how long you last.

As marketers, we’d be more helpful if we focused on improving product/service fit with our market (or developing new markets) rather than constantly improving or building the brand.

Don’t kick brand out of the car.

Just take it from the driver’s seat and put it where it belongs: the back seat (not the trunk; that’s where the real junk is).

“Marketing is no longer about meeting the practical needs of customers. It's about high-minded principles of transparency and co-creating in conversations and... Well, I'm afraid I have a very old guy opinion. You want customers raving about your brand? Sell them a good fucking product.” – Bob Hoffman