The illusion of control (AKA the Plan)
There’s a special kind of confidence that comes with a crisp campaign timeline and a sparkling mood board. I’ve built them, loved them. Framed a few. But here’s the truth, they don’t put on the project kickoff slide: marketing isn’t the plan—it’s the pulse.
Plans make us feel safe. They give structure to the chaos. They help us sleep at night. And they’re necessary—don’t get me wrong. But confusing a plan for a strategy is like mistaking a grocery list for a dinner party. Sure, it’s a start. But it’s not the thing itself.
When the unexpected shows up uninvited
The real test of your marketing isn’t when things go as expected—it’s what happens when they don’t. A global event hits. A competitor launches early. The algorithm shifts mid-campaign. The client’s expectations triple overnight. That’s the point where the spreadsheet doesn’t save you. Your thinking does.
It’s the late-night copy tweaks, the “let’s regroup” war rooms, and the instinctive rewrites that land better than the original brief ever could. It’s adaptability, rooted in understanding, not panic. That’s marketing.
Preparation > Perfection
Now, I love a plan. I will colour-code a campaign calendar within an inch of its life. But let’s be clear: the goal isn’t to predict the future—it’s to prepare for it because preparation prevents (piss) poor performance (yes, I’ve had that on a Post-it for a decade, right next to “Don’t make it harder than it has to be”).
Preparation in marketing means creating systems that can flex, teams that can think critically, and strategies that can course-correct without burning everything down. It means writing messaging guidelines with room for nuance and developing brand voices that can live outside the brand book.
It’s not about being flawless. It’s about being ready. It’s about knowing your audience so well that the message still lands even when the playbook goes out the window.
Reactivity is not a long-term strategy
Reactivity gets romanticised in marketing. It’s bold. It’s fast. It makes for great “Remember when we pulled that off?” stories. But if it’s your default setting, you’re not marketing—you’re fire-fighting.
That adrenaline-fueled approach might get short-term attention, but it rarely builds long-term connection because audiences notice when you’re chasing trends instead of setting them. Audiences feel when you’re guessing instead of listening.
Strategy isn’t static, but it is considered. It’s informed by data, driven by insight, and tested in the wild. It leaves room for reactivity, but it doesn’t depend on it.
The human side of strategy
We often forget that marketing isn’t about perfect pixels or clever slogans—it’s about people—real people, with messy lives, half-read emails, and short attention spans. People who don’t care about your funnel—they care about their day.
So, we need strategies just as human as the people we’re trying to reach. That means messaging that adapts to moods, platforms that invite interaction, and timing that considers context. It’s not just “What do we want to say?” but “What do they need to hear—and when are they ready to hear it?”
How we think at Clermont Digital
At Clermont Digital, we don’t just chase trends or fill calendars. We translate. We listen first. We decode the nuance. Because real strategy is part marketing, part anthropology, it’s understanding the emotional undercurrent behind the engagement metrics.
We’ve seen how the best ideas aren’t always the loudest—they’re the most honest. And we believe in building strategies that last beyond the launch day hype. That kind of thinking isn’t just good for business—it’s good for brands at heart.
Final Thoughts: Planning is just the beginning
So no, marketing isn’t just a plan. It’s a practice. It’s the meeting between data and instinct. Between logic and empathy. Between what’s on the calendar and what’s actually happening in the world.
And when you do it well? It feels effortless. But behind that ease is experience. Listening. Learning. Pivoting with purpose. Not panic.
So, keep your spreadsheets. Keep your plans. Just don’t forget; they’re the starting line, not the strategy. The real marketing? That’s in how you think when the plan runs out.