Diary of a Fractional CMO

June 4, 2026

Are you Danni or Kylie?

This isn’t another defensive AI-can’t-do-what-we-can-do post. AI is effing incredible, but if you want to differentiate, sound a bit ‘extra’ then ask: have you just slipped into reproducing the sound without the personality?

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July 12, 2020

Imprisoned in a shortcrust pastry

I love inventive names for ordinary things. Take summer houses. Victorian potting huts. Log cabins. So much more aspirational than just ‘shed’. So chic. So now. But… It is just a shed with some pink paint isn’t it? Yes, but if you’re selling one, you can probably add a zero.

July 3, 2020

Are you beach body ready?

‘Beach or no beach, swimsuit season is here – don’t panic!’ reads page 12 of yesterday’s Times. This is just about the eeriest headline I’ve ever read. I mean, even in Normal Times, you’d be hard pressed to really get stressed about the whole ‘one piece or two’ dilemma.

June 27, 2020

I’ve been eating my own dog food this week

What I mean is that this week the shoe’s been on the other foot: I’ve been searching for a gardener and found myself becoming a regular punter. A typical prospect. An imbiber of website copy. An analyser of 5-star reviews. That’s because sometimes recommendations don’t work out.

June 20, 2020

This is Davina, please do not swear

Fancy that! It’s 20 years since Big Brother first aired on Channel 4. I’ve been enjoying classic episodes on E4 this week. Some of the blasts from the past are more shocking than others.

June 15, 2020

Is saving sexy now?

Without the daily chaos of daily life, it’s now officially possible to find pleasure in the small things. This includes the way we think about money. Since lockdown many of us are a lot clearer on what we’re doing (or not doing) and where our money is going.

June 6, 2020

Let’s turn to welding and Jeff Goldblum

When it comes to marketing your business, narrowing the focus down so you only attract a niche audience is seen as risky. This is understandable. It’s all very well trying to engage with an ‘ideal’ client, but what if that puts off others?

May 29, 2020

Actually, it’s just better to be honest

Want to know something? I was about as good a manager as Villanelle in episode 2, series 3, of Killing Eve. I wasn’t suited to management. This is partly why I went it alone in the end – I wanted to move up in the world, but I had nowhere to go, so I had to invent my own job.

May 22, 2020

Happy International Goth Day

I hope you’re prepared for the celebrations. In fact, hang on a sec. Because celebrating wouldn’t be entirely in keeping for Goths would it? Fans of graveyards, backcombed hair and the work of The Cure.

May 15, 2020

Coughs and sneezes spread diseases

This is a time when men were men, where eggs is eggs and there’s a place for everything and everything in its place.

May 8, 2020

We’ve reached peak unprecedented

Standing out a mile is hard enough in normal circumstances. Standing out in unprecedented times is even harder. Especially when everyone is also mentioning how unprecedented these times really, truly, honestly are.

May 1, 2020

It’s not right, but it’s ok

On a wet and windy Tuesday evening in February 2020, excited ticket holders gathered in City Hall Sheffield for an evening with Whitney Houston. She sang, she danced, she responded to the audience...

April 24, 2020

May be it’s becauuuuuse I’m a Londonder

Well when I last went to London, I called in on old Coal Drops because I’d read about it being the groovy new retail space for hip and happening young cats.

April 10, 2020

Pat Butcher’s earrings

It’s funny how we expect authenticity from soaps, even though we know they’re not real.

April 2, 2020

What to say when there’s nowt to say

There are many moving tributes to the NHS out there, but I was really struck by a snippet I heard on the BBC from a little old man who’d recovered from the Coronavirus, who described the excellent treatment he'd received.

March 20, 2020

No thanks, Trevor from Hallmark Hotel, Hull 

Inbox full of emails about COVID-19? Mine too. Lots from companies I'd forgotten I’d used. This is one reason they’re so annoying. The other is the content.

March 13, 2020

Not another coronavirus email

I've just launched an email newsletter and as we know each other through through our network, I've added you to the list. I'll be sending these once a month, and will be including helpful marketing hints and tips. However, please feel free to unsubscribe if you've rather not receive these.