'Tis the damn marketing planning season

Hi {{first_name}} ,

Welcome, or welcome back! Each month, I cut through the marketing noise to bring you real talk from other leaders, what’s actually worth reading, and the occasional hot take that makes you think.

In today’s newsletter:

It’s the last full working week in 2025. As you’re reading this, are you:

A. Physically on vacation

B. Mentally on vacation

C. Knee-deep in 2026 planning

D. All of the above

(Come on, we all know the answer is probably D, all of the above.)

To help you save your last remaining brain cells to finish delivering next year's entire strategy plan in the next three days, even though you don't have an approved budget or a solidified product roadmap, I’ll keep this week’s pre-holiday newsletter short and sweet.

Last year at this time, I was fresh off a layoff with two months of “garden leave” ahead of me, meaning I had a huge decision to make: do I try to stay at Salesforce, or do I take the severance and start a new chapter? I was truly doing all of the above, physically in Florida on vacation, mentally nowhere near able to think clearly, and knee-deep trying to figure out what I should do with my life, let alone the next year.

It’s impossible to think clearly about the next year when you’re just trying to get through the next day!

My very radical advice for you, dear Marketing Leader?

🛑 Stop planning.

Or at least, stop trying to perfect the 2026 plan right now.

That deck you're forcing yourself to finish at 11 PM on December 23rd? It'll be your least creative, least strategic thinking of the entire year. The budget you're trying to perfect without actual numbers? Wasted time. The launch calendar you're sketching without knowing if you even have a team or a product roadmap? Pure fiction.

So don’t pressure yourself to make a perfect plan this week. Get your rough ideas on paper, ask your team to get the broad strokes out of their heads and onto a page, and then agree as a team to return to it all with fresh eyes on January 5th.

A great marketing strategy requires a clear head, fresh eyes, and a unique perspective. Give your team the gift of “just get your outline and broad strokes on paper, and let’s come back to it in the New Year.”

You’re welcome.

Here’s where I share what I’ve found worthwhile among the myriad newsletters, podcasts, and open tabs across my devices lately. No fluff, just the good stuff.

⚙️ “Granola Crunched” perfects the B2B version of Spotify Wrapped. If you’re not already using Granola, Granola Crunched—the AI notetaker’s take on Spotify Wrapped—may just convince you to start. Not only did Granola’s Crunched bring the sassy tone everyone needs when processing that yes, you did spend 23,000 minutes in meetings this year; it turns out the campaign was the brainchild of their Summer interns, proof that fresh eyes and new perspectives really do generate the best marketing ideas.

tl;dr: Crunched worked because their prompts were on-point, generating humorous responses that became the Myers-Briggs of the Corporate World. LinkedIn is the perfect channel for this organic B2B campaign, as shares of people’s Crunched synopses serve as both marketing for the company and a self-review and self-promotion for the individuals doing the sharing. I mean, is this not the perfect marketing for my business?

A bit of my own writing, recent engagements, client updates, and things I’m doing.

🍭 What do dating apps, candy bars, and ladders have in common? They're all part of how I think about messaging and positioning. Earlier this month, I led a Messaging and Positioning workshop for the marketing team at Contentful. In a jam-packed 90-minute interactive workshop, we explored the frameworks and exercises to help create authentic, relevant, and clear messaging. If your marketing team needs a fresh way to think about messaging your products in the new year…let’s talk.

⌛Reflections on my 1st Layoff Anniversary. One year since my layoff, I can close my eyes and feel the hot rush of anxiety and adrenaline that pulsed through me as I was told my role was eliminated. But the biggest thing I feel looking back today is complete relief. My jaw’s not as tense, my steps a little lighter. I wake up Monday morning excited for the week ahead. I used to think I hated people and small talk; it turns out, I love it! I just hated the politics and posturing that always came with meetings and 1:1s. My life working for myself, building this business, working with companies and marketing leaders to help shape their teams’ skills and strategies, brings me the flexibility, autonomy, and creativity I never had in corporate life—and it turns out, that’s the recipe for success for me.

Thank you for being part of my first year of self-employment and making this year a fulfilling, empowering, and energizing one!

Your marketing team is stretched thin, launches feel chaotic, and you're not sure if your messaging actually resonates. You need strategic leadership but can't justify a full-time hire.

Sound familiar? I work with marketing leaders who need seasoned product marketing expertise on their highest-impact initiatives—bringing enterprise experience with startup speed.

I'm taking on a few new engagements for 2026! I can help:

When I’m not marketing, writing, or dancing…I’m painting! This is what I’ll be doing with my time for the holidays. What do you do for fun?

Jodi