— THE JOURNAL
Field notes on brands,
culture, and the AI layer
underneath both.
Long-form thinking from inside SMG. Written for the CMOs, founders, and growth teams operating at the intersection of intelligence and intuition.
FEATUREDAI · CREATIVE OPERATIONS
The Death of the Brief
The traditional agency brief is a relic. Growth-native studios diagnose the business, not the deck.
— MORE ESSAYS
4 POSTS
STRATEGY · POSITIONING
Culture Isn't a Vertical
Every strategy deck treats "culture" like a department. It isn't. It's the operating system.
GROWTH · RELEASE CADENCE
Revenue Follows Rhythm
The campaign is dead. The release calendar is everything.
PARTNERSHIPS · GROWTH
The Co-Brand Playbook
Co-brands are the highest-leverage marketing move a growth-stage company can make. Almost no one does them well.
AI · CRAFT
AI Won't Kill Creativity. Slop Will.
The threat to creative work isn't automation. It's an industry-wide race to the bottom of taste.
— FIELD NOTES
Thursday morning
in your inbox.
Five things every week from the studio floor: one cultural signal · one co-brand to watch · one framework · one SMG update · one provocation.
FIRST DROP · THURSDAY · 8AM · UNSUBSCRIBE ANY TIME