Reality Check.

Growth Creates Complexity. We Keep It Simple.

This blog is where we break down insights on strategy, growth, and systems.

Disclaimer: All images used on this blog are the property of their respective creators, networks, or studios. Images from TV shows, films, or other media are used under the principles of fair use for the purposes of commentary, criticism, or education. No copyright infringement is intended. If you are a rights holder and would like an image removed or credited differently, please contact us directly.

→Culture

→Marketing

→Sales

How to Actually Track Marketing ROI
Marketing Bruen Creative Co. Marketing Bruen Creative Co.

How to Actually Track Marketing ROI

Clean connections, young grasshopper.

You can’t improve what you can’t measure. And yet, most companies still treat marketing ROI like a vague hope rather than a hard number.

They’re “pretty sure” that email campaign worked. They “think” the new ad brought in leads. And when the CFO asks for proof? They start sweating.

Photo by Héctor Berganza: https://www.pexels.com/photo/serene-coastal-stone-cairn-at-sunset-31689113/

Read More
Will AI Replace Marketers?
Marketing Bruen Creative Co. Marketing Bruen Creative Co.

Will AI Replace Marketers?

Every time a new AI tool drops, someone declares the end of marketing jobs.

Copywriters? Replaced. Designers? Replaced. CMOs? Hanging on by a thread.

It’s dramatic—and mostly nonsense. Yes, AI is changing how we work. But replacing marketers entirely? Not happening. Not now. Not soon. Maybe not ever.

Photo by Tara Winstead: https://www.pexels.com/photo/black-and-white-photo-of-a-transparent-mannequin-8386366/

Read More
Marketing Trends to Ignore in 2025
Marketing Bruen Creative Co. Marketing Bruen Creative Co.

Marketing Trends to Ignore in 2025

Every January, the internet spits out 100 “must-know marketing trends” that all sound the same: AI, NFTs, the metaverse (again), Web3, voice search, QR codes, holograms, whatever.

Here’s the problem: most of these trends are either recycled, overhyped, or totally irrelevant to your actual business.

If you're a marketer or business owner trying to focus on what works, here’s what to ignore in 2025—and where to put your energy instead.

Photo by RDNE Stock project: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-blue-and-white-floral-shirt-wearing-eyeglasses-8111383/

Read More
Run Marketing With a Small Team (or Solo)
Marketing Bruen Creative Co. Marketing Bruen Creative Co.

Run Marketing With a Small Team (or Solo)

Be Flexible and Open

Running marketing with a tiny team—or by yourself—is part strategy, part juggling act, and part improv show.

You don’t have time for fluff. You don’t have budget for a 12-person creative team. And you definitely don’t need another “10-step framework” written by someone with three interns and a six-figure ad budget.

Photo by fauxels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-people-sitting-near-wooden-table-3183190/

Read More
Ad Fatigue in 2025
Marketing Bruen Creative Co. Marketing Bruen Creative Co.

Ad Fatigue in 2025

Why Your Best Campaigns Are Dying Faster

You launch the campaign. It hits. Clicks, conversions, leads—things are working.
Then, two weeks later… crickets.

Welcome to ad fatigue in 2025—where even your best ideas have a shelf life shorter than a TikTok trend.

It’s not you. It’s the system. The platforms, the pace, the audiences—all of it has changed. If you’re wondering why your high-performing campaign is suddenly on life support, here’s what’s going on.

Photo by Marcus Herzberg: https://www.pexels.com/photo/assorted-billboards-1058276/

Read More
Landing Pages That Actually Convert
Marketing Bruen Creative Co. Marketing Bruen Creative Co.

Landing Pages That Actually Convert

Most landing pages are pretty. Clean layout. Nice fonts. Maybe even a snappy headline.

And then… crickets.

Because here’s the truth: pretty doesn’t convert. Clarity does. Relevance does. Trust does.

So if your landing page isn’t doing its job—bringing in qualified leads or sales—it’s not because your button isn’t orange enough.

Here’s what’s actually going wrong (and how to fix it).

Photo by Davide Baraldi: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-shot-of-an-ipad-11813187/

Read More
The Marketing Industrial Complex
Marketing Bruen Creative Co. Marketing Bruen Creative Co.

The Marketing Industrial Complex

Modern marketing has a dirty secret: it’s built to extract as much money from you as possible before you see any results.

Agencies, platforms, “experts,” and tools all promise the world—strategy, scale, brand love, hockey-stick growth—but what you often get is a confusing invoice, a bloated tech stack, and no real pipeline.

Welcome to the Marketing Industrial Complex.

Photo by SHVETS production: https://www.pexels.com/photo/empty-shopping-cart-on-yellow-background-7195232/

Read More
Is Reddit the Next Big B2B Platform?
Marketing Bruen Creative Co. Marketing Bruen Creative Co.

Is Reddit the Next Big B2B Platform?

Every few years, marketers get obsessed with a new platform. Right now, some are hyping up Reddit as the next big thing for B2B marketing—claiming that its engaged communities and organic discussions make it a goldmine for leads.

Nice theory. The reality? Reddit isn’t built for B2B marketing, and most brands will struggle to make it work.

Image © Reddit – used under fair use for commentary/review purposes.

Read More
Marketing Tech Stack
Marketing Bruen Creative Co. Marketing Bruen Creative Co.

Marketing Tech Stack

Marketing teams love tools.

CRMs, automation platforms, SEO trackers, social schedulers, AI-powered chatbots—if there’s software for it, someone’s convinced you need it. But most companies waste a ton of money on tools they barely use, overcomplicate their workflows, and end up drowning in tech instead of actually doing marketing.

Photo by Christina Morillo: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-black-coat-1181346/

Read More
Google Ads Is Pushing "Performance Max Campaigns"
Marketing Bruen Creative Co. Marketing Bruen Creative Co.

Google Ads Is Pushing "Performance Max Campaigns"

Google really wants you to use Performance Max campaigns. And if you’ve tried them, you’ve probably noticed something:

The leads suck.

Google promises that Performance Max (PMax) will use AI to optimize across all ad placements—Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, and Discovery. In theory, it sounds great. In practice? It’s a black box that eats your budget and floods you with garbage leads.

Photo by AS Photography: https://www.pexels.com/photo/black-samsung-tablet-display-google-browser-on-screen-218717/

Read More
Fixing Your Broken Marketing Funnel
Marketing Bruen Creative Co. Marketing Bruen Creative Co.

Fixing Your Broken Marketing Funnel

Most marketing funnels aren’t funnels at all—they’re sieves. Leads go in, but somewhere between awareness and conversion, they slip through the cracks. You’re left wondering why your campaigns “aren’t working” when, in reality, your funnel is just full of holes.

Photo by Photography Maghradze PH: https://www.pexels.com/photo/retro-tv-on-river-shore-near-forest-3764958/

Read More
Marketing Strategy in One Page
Marketing Bruen Creative Co. Marketing Bruen Creative Co.

Marketing Strategy in One Page

Most marketing plans are a bloated mess—dozens of pages filled with buzzwords, vague goals, and a whole lot of nothing. No one reads them, and they sure as hell don’t help you execute.

A real marketing strategy fits on one page. Here’s how to build one that actually works.

Photo by Rostislav Uzunov: https://www.pexels.com/photo/purple-and-pink-diamond-on-blue-background-5011647/

Read More
Google’s Latest Algorithm Update & What It Means for Marketers
Marketing Bruen Creative Co. Marketing Bruen Creative Co.

Google’s Latest Algorithm Update & What It Means for Marketers

Google just dropped another algorithm update. What changed? Everything. Nothing. Who knows.

Every time this happens, marketers scramble to figure out what Google really wants. Rankings shift, traffic tanks, and SEO “experts” pop up overnight claiming they have the magic fix. But the truth is, unless you’re running a black-hat SEO scheme, the fundamentals of good marketing don’t change.

Photo by freemockups.org: https://www.pexels.com/photo/black-android-smartphone-833337/

Read More
How to Make Every AD Dollar Work Harder
Marketing Bruen Creative Co. Marketing Bruen Creative Co.

How to Make Every AD Dollar Work Harder

Most ad budgets aren’t optimized—they’re wasted.

Brands dump money into campaigns without a clear strategy, chase vanity metrics, and then wonder why their ROI sucks. If you’re not squeezing every drop of value out of your ad spend, you’re just burning cash.

Here’s how to make your budget work harder.

Photo by Erik Mclean: https://www.pexels.com/photo/bright-store-signage-in-a-dark-night-12534777/

Read More
TikTok’s Ad Platform: Is It Worth It?
Marketing Bruen Creative Co. Marketing Bruen Creative Co.

TikTok’s Ad Platform: Is It Worth It?

Marketers love shiny objects, and for the last few years, TikTok ads have been one of the shiniest. Brands rushed in, hoping for viral reach and cheap clicks. What they got? A platform that’s expensive, unpredictable, and mostly useless for conversions—unless you’re selling impulse-buy products to Gen Z.

Here’s why TikTok’s ad platform isn’t worth your budget.

Photo by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-black-android-smartphone-5081930/

Read More
The Rise of AI-Generated Junk SEO
Marketing Bruen Creative Co. Marketing Bruen Creative Co.

The Rise of AI-Generated Junk SEO

The internet is drowning in AI-generated SEO sludge.

Ever Googled something and landed on a page that says a lot but tells you nothing? That’s AI-driven SEO at work—endless blogs stuffed with keywords, optimized for algorithms instead of humans. And while it might have worked for a while, Google is catching on.

Photo by Pamela Marie: https://www.pexels.com/photo/scrap-metal-part-of-vehicles-2625896/

Read More
The Guide to Positioning Your Brand
Marketing Bruen Creative Co. Marketing Bruen Creative Co.

The Guide to Positioning Your Brand

Most brand positioning is garbage.

Companies love to cram their messaging with vague, overused words—innovative, cutting-edge, customer-first. None of it actually tells people why they should care. If your positioning sounds like it came from a corporate jargon generator, your audience is already tuning out.

Here’s how to cut the fluff and make your brand stand out for real.

Photo by Roman Pohorecki: https://www.pexels.com/photo/hand-on-top-of-paper-17845/

Read More
Email Marketing in 2025
Marketing Bruen Creative Co. Marketing Bruen Creative Co.

Email Marketing in 2025

Email marketing isn’t dead. But bad email marketing is.

If you’re still blasting out generic newsletters and wondering why nobody opens them, here’s the reality: email has evolved, and most marketers haven’t kept up.

So what’s actually working in 2025? And what should you stop wasting time on? Let’s break it down.

Photo by Maksim Goncharenok: https://www.pexels.com/photo/neon-lights-in-envelope-shape-5605061/

Read More