Hey Pulsers 👋 If you’re a Stranger Things fan like me, you know seasons 1–4 were gold. So when season 5 dropped, expectations were sky-high. Unfortunately, it stumbled by trying to do too much.
The more I sat with that disappointment, the more familiar it felt. Because this is exactly what derails campaigns too.
When things get complex, we panic. We add more. We lose the core story.
Sound familiar?
Today, we’re diving into what happens when strategy gets too complicated for its own good.
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What we'll cover
Short on time? Start with the ⭐️. Key insights are highlighted, so you can skim or dive deep.
You can also grab the TL;DR version of this issue here for quick insights and key lessons.
Theme of The Week
The Overcomplication Trap
The fastest way to kill a good idea isn’t by never executing it, it’s by adding five more good ideas on top of it.
Remember how Stranger Things season 5 tried juggling too many storylines and lost the core narrative? That’s exactly what happens to strategy.
A clean plan gets buried under layers of “what ifs” and “we should alsos.” Next thing you know, you’re drowning in martech tools you can’t manage, chasing every subplot instead of focusing on the main story.
Complexity feels safer. It feels thorough. But it’s the silent assassin of execution.
Good strategies don’t fail from lack of effort. They die from too many decisions competing for oxygen.
The framework below cuts through the noise and shows you exactly what to focus on.
Brand Campaign: Gap’s 2010 Logo Makeover
Image credit: The Branding Journal
100M Logo Disaster
$100M spent. 6 days to reverse. One assumption went unchecked.
Gap replaced their 20-year logo overnight. No warning. No testing. Just a reveal.
What they missed? One decision that mattered most.
For courses & guides to help you level up as a marketer, check out the Resource Hub at the bottom of this issue.
Marketing Hits & Misses
Image credit: Yahoo!
MISS: Google‘s “Dear Sydney” Olympics Ad (July 2024)
Google used the Paris Olympics to showcase Gemini AI by having a child use it to write a fan letter to an Olympic athlete. But, what was intended to feel emotional landed as uncomfortable.
Why the strategy failed
Unclear Role of AI | Misread the Moment | No Deal-Breaker |
|---|---|---|
Was AI enhancing expression, saving time, or improving quality? Google tried to say “all of the above” and said none convincingly | A child’s fan letter matters because it’s imperfect. By polishing it, AI removed the authenticity | AI replacing human voice in personal moments should’ve been a hard “no.” Instead, it was the premise |
Public sentiment
Google spent ~$2.7M on the ad which was pulled from Olympics rotation within days Source: Marketing Brew | Comments disabled on YouTube Source: Marketing Brew | Social media users dragged Google following the ad’s airing, citing that it promotes too heavy a reliance on technology Source: Marketing Beat |
How it could have worked
Pick One Clear Use Case | Own the Limitation | Different Context |
|---|---|---|
Position Gemini for tasks where efficiency matters more than authenticity: work emails, meeting notes, research. Not personal moments | Show AI handling tedious work so humans focus on what matters. “AI does the work. You do what counts.” | Feature an adult professional, not a child outsourcing genuine expression. Olympics audiences relate to optimizing performance, not replacing effort |
Takeaway: When you try to position a product as everything to everyone, you end up being nothing to anyone.
Check out the ad here.
Image credit: BR Public Relations
HIT: Poppi (2020 Rebrand)
Mother Beverage faced a classic brand identity mess: trademark issues, declining sales, and confusion about what they actually were. Health remedy? Wellness drink? Soda? Too many options, no clarity.
Why the strategy worked
Decision Clarity | Clear Positioning | Brand Alignment |
|---|---|---|
Poppi made one bold call: “We’re a fun soda, not a health drink.” | Name: Mother Beverage → Poppi Packaging: Vintage glass → bright, playful cans Positioning: ACV health drink → Prebiotic soda Audience: Health-first adults → Gen Z soda lovers The product didn’t change. The framing did | Every touchpoint reinforced “soda first.” Fun visuals. Fizzy name. Playful messaging. Health benefits became a bonus, not the pitch |
Public impact
Sales doubled immediately after the rebrand Source: Behaviolabs | $500M revenue by 2024 (38× growth from 2020) Source: Tap Twice Digital | Acquired by PepsiCo for $1.95B (2025) Source: Forbes |
Takeaway: Growth came from choosing one lane and sticking to it. Clarity scaled the brand.
🌱 The Growth Lab
What Happens When Creators Stop Choosing
The Core Idea: Instead of analyzing what went wrong, we simulate the moment before it went wrong.
This is a demonstration of what strategic clarity looks like when you can only keep one thing.
The Experiment
STEP 1: The Unedited Reality
Here’s what audiences actually said about the Stranger Things finale:
Too many storylines
Nothing had weight
It felt dragged but also rushed
I didn’t know what I was supposed to care about
Major characters just disappeared
This is noise. Contradictory, emotional, unfocused noise.
This is what happens when you try to satisfy everyone.
STEP 2: The Edit
Now we do something most creators never do publicly.
Imagine the Duffers (the show’s creators) were allowed to make only ONE promise to viewers.
Everything else gets deleted.
If they could only guarantee ONE outcome from the finale, what would it be?
Option A
If you pick A, you cut narrative ambiguity. Characters can disappear. Subplots can dangle. But Eleven’s fate is crystal clear.
Option B
If you pick B, you sacrifice plot resolution for emotional resonance. Questions can remain unanswered. But the grief lands.
Option
If you pick C, you give up individual character arcs for world-building closure. Personal stories compress. The town’s future is the final shot.
This is the move most teams never practice.
They want A and B and C. They end up with none of them landing.
STEP 3: The Marketing Translation
This is what teams refuse to do in strategy:
One primary conversion: Not three metrics that “all matter.” One number that defines success.
One audience state: Not “awareness and consideration and retention.” One specific feeling or realization you need to create.
One success signal: Not a dashboard of KPIs. One behavior that tells you it worked. This isn’t because the others don’t matter. But because decision energy is finite. And everything you try to protect dilutes everything else.
Your Turn
Pick your current campaign, launch, or initiative.
Ask yourself: If I could only guarantee ONE outcome, what would it be? Write it in one sentence.
Now scan everything else you’re holding onto. Meetings, revisions, just-in-case ideas. What is diluting that outcome?
The Duffers tried to protect everything. They lost everything.
This is how you achieve clarity.
Spotlight Sessions
How Complexity Quietly Kills Clarity
This week’s Spotlight isn’t about redesign. It’s about recognizing when complexity, not quality, is the problem.
MeetMinutes is a strong product with genuinely differentiated features. But in the first 30 seconds, none of that mattered. Users had to decide what mattered before understanding why it mattered.
That’s the mistake.
The Edit YOU Can Make Today
Look at your homepage, landing page, or product tour.
Count how many decisions a user has to make in the first 30 seconds:
Which feature matters most?
Which CTA to click?
What this product actually does?
Why it’s different?
If it’s more than one, you don’t have a clarity problem. You have a sequencing problem.
The solution isn’t better copy. It’s better order.
This carousel is part of my Reimagined series, where I break and rebuild real messaging for stronger audience connection and conversion.
Guess what? You can catch future instalments on LinkedIn as soon as they drop.
🎙 From The Timeline
Cutting Through the Noise
This week, my timeline couldn’t agree on anything.
“Email is dead. No, it’s thriving.”
“Short-form video is the answer. Actually, it’s oversaturated.”
“Launch fast. Test everything. Build in public. Revise quietly.”
Every tactic works for someone. That’s why the takes are so loud. The problem isn’t the noise. It’s trying to listen to all of it at once. Which is exactly how good strategies get overcomplicated and stalled.
Before you save another thread, try this 👇
Micro mastery
Pulsers🫡, your mission is top secret. Infiltrate the chaos, locate the one hidden audience insight, and extract it without getting lost in the noise.
You have 2 minutes. Complete this operation and…you will own the week. Fail…and the chaos wins.
Access your mission here ⬇️
Key Highlights
✅ Do’s
Choose the main story. One signal, one outcome, one thing to optimize for.
Cut before you add. If it doesn’t move the core metric, it’s a distraction.
Move, then adjust. Clarity beats perfection. Always.
❌ Dont’s
Don’t stack strategies. That’s how execution quietly dies.
Don’t borrow wins. Context matters more than tactics.
Don’t leave decisions open-ended. Pick, commit, and defend.
🎬 That’s a Wrap
Noise creates urgency while clarity creates momentum.
You don’t win by adding more. You win by choosing one thing and committing to it.
Mantra of the week
Through the chaos, one thread leads. Follow it, and succeed.
One more thing: Why did the marketer bring a pair of scissors to the strategy meeting? To cut through all the noise! ✂️😂
Till next time,
Faridah
📚Resource Hub📚
For Complete Beginners
HubSpot Digital Marketing Course - SEO, Social, Email, Analytics
HubSpot Content Marketing Course - Plan & write campaigns that convert
OpenStax Principles of Marketing - Strategy & Consumer behavior basics
For Intermediates Who’ve Run a Campaign or Two
SEMrush Academy - Scale campaigns with SEO, PPC & Content
Google Skillshop - Master analytics & paid ads
Buffer & Free Guides - improve social engagement & consistency
