Hi there, First name / friend,

 

When money feels tight, cutting marketing feels smart. I get it.

But here’s what we learned from 2008, COVID, and again in 2025: the brands that stay present, useful, and human build an advantage you can’t buy later—trust. Over the last decade, I have seen brands fall flat on their face and I have seen the brands that invest time and resources in their marketing and communications, continue to build loyal audiences across several industries.

 

Today’s Creative Gazette breaks down a simple playbook you can use right now:

 

👉 Read the full post on how to stay top of mind for your audience and break through the digital noise during downturns here.

 

If you want help turning this into a concrete plan before January:

 

Grab a DMCA (Digital Marketing Channel Audit) — we’ll show you where you’re findable (and where you’re invisible) across search, AI overviews, social, email, and your site.

 

Book a Brand Tonic Strategy Session — let’s map a calm, resilient Q1 plan that builds trust without burning out.

 

Your audience isn’t asking you to be louder.
They’re asking you to be steadier.

a new segment where you can get to know all the things in my day-to-day and on my mind:

 

Reading: Brené Brown's new book, Strong Ground

Wondering: Marketing and branding in 2026 with all the AI content flooding the mainstream

Loving: OpenAI's new Atlas browser 

Eating/Drinking: my current hyper fixation is Diet Coke Lime and holiday Diet Coke with Starbuck's almond milk and oat-milk sugar cookie creamer :P

Dreaming: a travel planning company that plans for theatrical travel adventures 👀

Listening: Florence and The Machine's new album on Spotify

Watching: Frakenstein on Netlfix (Jacob Elordi and Oscar Isaac, woof!)

Seeing: Relational digital marketing and search marketing will be paramount in 2026

Exploring: Google's new tool, Pomelli, by Google Labs where you can generate on brand content for your business using AI. Use it here and learn more about it here.

Coming Soon: I have my tickets for Wicked For Good that opens next Friday! I am going to be breaking down all things Wicked For Good and Wicked Movie marketing next week.