Big Ideas,
Real Impact.
Case studies, behind-the-scenes, and the creative process behind our work with brands across Canada.
How to Set Marketing Goals Your Leadership Team Will Approve
To set marketing goals your leadership team will approve, tie each goal to revenue or pipeline, attach a measurable target and deadline, separate leading indicators from lagging ones, and cut any vanity metric you cannot connect to a business decision.
What ROI Should You Expect From a Marketing Agency?
Marketing agency ROI has no universal benchmark: paid media can show directional signal in weeks, while SEO, content, and brand work typically take two to three quarters to compound into measurable return. Judge it against your own baseline, not an industry average.
Marketing Agency Red Flags: How to Tell a Good Agency From a Bad One
The clearest marketing agency red flags are guaranteed results promised before any discovery, reporting built on vanity metrics like impressions and reach, refusal to give you ownership of your accounts and data, and no named senior team on your account. Any one of these should slow you down before you sign a retainer.
What Does a Marketing Retainer Include, and What Should You Expect?
A marketing retainer includes three layers for a fixed monthly fee: strategy and planning, production of the agreed work, and ongoing management and reporting. The exact deliverables depend on whether the retainer is scoped by hours or by output.
How to Choose a Marketing Agency for an Ongoing Retainer
To choose a marketing agency for a retainer, evaluate how they operate, not just their portfolio: who staffs your account, whether senior involvement holds after month three, whether reporting ties to real decisions, and how they adapt strategy as your business changes.
The First 90 Days With a Fractional CMO: What Good Looks Like
A strong fractional CMO first 90 days follows a clear sequence: month one diagnoses your positioning and funnel gaps, month two banks two or three quick wins and stands up trustworthy measurement, and month three delivers a funded roadmap with named priorities and owners. By day 90 you should be able to see what marketing contributed to revenue and what happens next.
When Should a Founder Stop Doing Their Own Marketing?
A founder should stop doing marketing when execution starts crowding out the strategic work only they can do, such as positioning, pricing, and key relationships. The clearest signal is a full marketing calendar paired with no time to think.
How Much Should a Company Spend on Marketing (as a % of Revenue)?
There is no single correct marketing budget percentage of revenue. Commonly cited ranges fall between roughly 5 and 15 percent, but the right figure depends on your margins, growth stage, and competitive intensity. Build the number from your goal, then use the benchmark only as a sanity check.
Fractional CMO vs. Agency vs. In-House Hire: How to Decide
A fractional CMO buys senior strategy part-time, an agency buys execution on demand, and a full-time hire buys daily ownership. Choose by diagnosing your real gap first, direction, execution, or ownership, then match it to your stage and budget.
What a Fractional CMO Actually Costs vs. a Full-Time CMO
A fractional CMO cost is typically structured as a monthly retainer, a day rate, or a project fee, so you pay for a defined scope rather than a full salary. The fair comparison is against the fully loaded cost of a full-time CMO, including bonus, benefits, ramp, and replacement risk, not the base salary alone.
What Is a Fractional CMO, and When Do You Need One?
A fractional CMO is a senior marketing leader who runs your marketing part-time, usually one or two days a week on a fixed monthly retainer, owning strategy and team leadership without the salary or equity of a full-time chief marketing officer.
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