A few weeks ago, I went to a local Outdoor Industry meetup with brands like Rumpl, Snow Peak, and Ombraz. The panel covered all sorts of ecommerce topics, but (unsurprisingly) AI kept sneaking into the conversation. What stood out to me wasn’t just that AI came up, it was how casual the conversation about it…
Too many brands treat email like a last-minute checkbox. A campaign goes out because it has to. Deadlines pile up. Creative gets squeezed. QA happens under pressure, or not at all. No one’s thinking long-term. They’re just trying to get through the week. That’s the system I walked into. It wasn’t sustainable. There’s a cost…
Search is noisier, and it’s harder to tell what’s real. Google is noticeably losing its grip on reliability and utility. There’s more SEO spam, AI-generated fluff, and “Top 10” lists that say nothing. Popular products get buried beneath sponsored carousels. If you’re shopping, you can end up scrolling past three blocks of ads before even…
The first step? Step back. That’s especially important if you’re close to the system, because when you’ve used it a hundred times, you stop seeing the friction. A broken flow doesn’t always scream; sometimes it just feels off. So open your phone. Pretend you’re a new user trying to accomplish one specific task. What do…
I used to introduce myself as a designer. Or a creative. Now, I hesitate and default to something vague: I work in marketing. Which, sure technically true. But marketing is a huge umbrella that covers ecommerce, strategy, brand, design, coordination, management, and problem solving. And the truth is, I’m not just a designer anymore. I…
Synopsis Where does great culture come from? How do you build and sustain it in your group—or strengthen a culture that needs fixing? In The Culture Code, Daniel Coyle explores some of the world’s most successful organizations—including Pixar, the San Antonio Spurs, and the U.S. Navy SEAL Team Six—and reveals what makes them thrive. Opening…
If marketing is a funnel, branding is the bubble surrounding it. Branding is everything. Every decision, piece of copy, and creative effort should be viewed through the lens of a company’s brand. Each element, no matter how big or small, defines your brand. It’s the emotions and thoughts provoked when people see your products. It’s…
The post-COVID world has really changed how we shop, hasn’t it? If you’ve been keeping an eye on promotional trends, you might have noticed something interesting. In 2024, I watched as sales were steady throughout a promotion, but then, bam – a huge spike at the end. So, what’s going on here? Shifting Consumer Confidence…
The first time I experienced the internet, it was like stepping into a brand-new world, full of endless possibilities to explore. I remember it felt exciting, almost like a secret indulgence. I would spend hours wandering through websites, asking Jeeves in a pre-Google culture, where Jeeves was a more familiar name than Alexa. Jeeves had…
Visual storytelling in e-commerce is more than a buzzword—it’s a transformative force. By incorporating captivating visuals like high-quality product photos, lifestyle snapshots, and videos, brands transcend mere sales transactions to forge lasting emotional connections with customers. Case Study: An Innovative Campaign Consider a recent campaign that broke away from the typical product launch formula, crafting…
Are blogs dead? Maybe. But I’m still writing one. This is my little corner of the internet, less polished, more honest. A space to think out loud, explore ideas, and share things I’m learning, noticing, or just trying to make sense of. Some posts might be strategic. Some might be scrappy. That’s the point. I…