What’s Driving Growth Right Now
BETTER QUESTIONS. SHARPER THINKING. BIGGER GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES.
Most marketing commentary explains what happened. We're more interested in what brands should do next.
From changing consumer behavior and competitive pressures to brand strategy, creative effectiveness and sales performance, we examine the forces shaping business growth.
Sometimes we challenge conventional thinking. Sometimes we question the numbers. Always, we look for opportunities marketers can act on.
Because great insights should lead to better decisions — and better business results.
MORE TO MARKET. LESS BUDGET. NOW WHAT?
One hero campaign. A whole portfolio under pressure. Left Off Madison explores what it takes to grow multiple brands with competing priorities, tight budgets, and sales targets that don’t wait for their turn in the spotlight.
People Know Your Brand. What’s Making Them Choose It?
People know your brand. But why should they choose it? Five questions— and lessons from our team’s work across food, automotive, hospitality and more— show how consumer understanding can turn attention into action.
Nothing New in the Can? Give People Something New to Care About.
The KFC–Pepsi split raises a bigger marketing question: How do established brands stay relevant? Product innovation helps. Bold advertising, thoughtful collaborations and cultural participation can create fresh demand.
Starbucks Forgot Why People Stayed. Local Coffeehouses Didn’t.
Starbucks’ struggles and Nike’s missteps reveal a shared risk: losing touch with why customers choose you. As local coffeehouses preserve the experience, bigger brands face a reminder: protect what made you worth choosing.
The Data Pointed Us Somewhere. People Told Us Why.
Five brands. Five examples of how Left Off Madison combined quantitative data with real consumer conversations to shape audiences, creative, and media— showing why qualitative research matters in the AI era.
The More We Rely on AI, the More We Need to Talk to People
As AI reshapes marketing, direct consumer understanding becomes more valuable. Why marketers must reprioritize qualitative research— and combine it with quantitative data— to uncover insights that drive meaningful growth.
Luxury’s Retreat Is Premium’s Opportunity
Consumers are rethinking what’s worth paying more for. As luxury moves further out of reach, premium brands have an opportunity to earn that spending. When every dollar matters, better has to matter more.
Attention Is Not the Same as Brand Momentum
American Eagle generated headlines. Aerie generated momentum. Here’s why attention alone cannot fix an unclear brand, uneven assortment or weak purchase frequency. And how portfolio discipline turns buzz into growth.
Digital Recovery Can Hide a Store-Traffic Problem
Digital sales can rise while stores lose relevance. Bath & Body Works and other retailers reveal why better conversion cannot replace a compelling reason to visit, browse and discover.
The Upgrade Cycle Is Back. Is Your Brand Giving People a Reason?
The upgrade cycle is returning, but better technology does not automatically create demand. Brands win when marketers translate product improvements into benefits people can understand, desire and act on.
One Funnel Needs One Captain
Consumers experience one brand— not an agency roster. Rob Douglas explains why one lead agency should connect creative, media, measurement and optimization across the full funnel to turn fragmented activity into accountable growth.
The Work Before the Work Is Still Work
An ad agency was invited to solve an underperforming campaign. It developed a complete new strategy— then realized that presenting it might mean giving away its most valuable work. Where should agencies draw the line between being proactive and working for free?
The Quiet Bank Switch: How Retail Banks Lose Share of Wallet Before They Lose the Customer
Customers rarely leave a bank all at once. They quietly move money, attention and trust elsewhere. The Quiet Bank Switch explores how retail banks lose share of wallet— and how relevance, useful advice and better experiences can win it back.
Inside the indie agencies founded by Omnicom and IPG’s former staffers
DIGIDAY spotlights Left Off Madison co-founder Rob Douglas among the indie leaders reshaping the agency model combining big-agency experience with the flexibility, senior attention and integrated services modern brands need.
Marketing Insanity: Expecting Better Results From Teams that were Never Trained
Companies expect marketers to master strategy, creative, media, production, data and AI — but rarely train them to make those disciplines work together. Left Off Madison examines the skills gap and asks whether agencies should help close it.
Everyone Needs an 18th Birthday
A childhood ultimatum taught me that growth often begins when doing nothing is no longer an option — a lesson for people, careers, companies, brands and ad agencies.
The CMO Is Not Being Eliminated. Wasteful Marketing Is.
The CMO isn’t dead. Wasteful marketing is. As companies demand CFO-level discipline from marketing leaders, oversized agency models are running out of places to hide.
Beware the Ad Agency Selling You Tomorrow’s Customer While Ignoring Today’s Buyer.
Too many marketing plans confuse youth with growth. But “maybe they’ll buy us someday” is not a media strategy most companies can afford to overfund. The better question is not “How do we look younger?” It is: “Who can help us grow now?”
The Campaign Worked. That's Exactly What Went Wrong.
Advertising did exactly what it was supposed to do: create demand. Then the product sold out before the official launch, forcing the campaign to stop. Here's why "out of stock" isn't a marketing victory — it's often a sign that your growth system wasn't ready for success.
Panic Is Not a Strategy
Part 3 of a three-part series exploring the strategic discipline required to drive sustainable growth.
One of the most expensive mistakes in marketing isn't launching the wrong plan—it's abandoning the right one too soon. Too many teams mistake impatience for optimization, changing strategy before it has time to work. Growth requires execution, learning, and above all, discipline.