Marketing If You Don't Understand Your Customers Better Than Your Competition, You Don't Deserve To Win. Let’s say the quiet part out loud. Most companies have a shockingly weak understanding of their ideal customers. Not vague. Not “room for improvement.” Weak. And I don’t mean they lack data. They often have plenty of data. What they lack is understanding. I see this constantly—across By Tobias Dahlberg • 4 min read
Marketing You're Not Competing Against Drinks, You're Competing With Routines. In Brief Functional beverage brands think they’re fighting for shelf space. That's not the root issue. They’re fighting for a slot in someone’s day. And most are losing — not because the product is bad, but because it doesn’t stick. What Is Happening (Signals) * Consumers By Tobias Dahlberg • 2 min read
Strategy The Five Forces Shaping Customer Choice In Brief Many leadership teams run strategy and planning by staring at competitors (market) and polishing messaging (brand). But that’s like trying to steer a boat by debating the paint color and ignoring the ocean. Real relevance and choice is shaped by five forces: 1. World (macro reality, the By Tobias Dahlberg • 3 min read
Marketing Why Your 2026 Marketing Strategy Is Not A Growth Strategy (And It Should Be). In Brief Right now, CMO's and marketing teams are busy creating plans or starting to execute their 2026 marketing plans. But way too few of these plans are connected to the real drivers of growth, and too few marketing people can explain how their work will hit the By Tobias Dahlberg • 4 min read
Marketing When Marketing Science Becomes a Religion – Why The Ehrenberg-Bass Model Is Useful, But Incomplete There’s a cult-like thing happening in modern marketing. Only last week, I met with four different marketing professionals discussing the same ideas. A set of ideas—originating from Australia, backed by serious data, and popularized by Byron Sharp and the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute—has quietly crossed the line from useful By Tobias Dahlberg • 6 min read
Marketing Functional Is No Longer Enough In Brief Functional FMCG is drifting into commodity science. What once differentiated brands now barely gets them noticed. SIGNAL — What’s happening? Protein is everywhere. Gut health is everywhere. “No sugar”, “added vitamins”, “immune support”, “energy”, “focus”, “hydration” — everywhere. Walk down any grocery aisle and you’ll see the same By Tobias Dahlberg • 2 min read
Marketing The 2026 Growth Delusion - Why Most Strategies Aren't Plans - They Are Wishes A Founder POV for modern CEOs, CMOs, and Commercial Leaders Around this time of the year, companies around the world perform the same ritual: They gather in meeting rooms, open a fresh slide deck, and announce, “Let’s build our 2026 plan.” "What is our GTM plan? Commercial Growth By Tobias Dahlberg • 3 min read
Marketing Aspiration Has Changed: The New Status Symbols of 2026 Are you ready to look at how culture and values are changing for 2026 and beyond? I thought so. Here's the pattern: From wealth → wellbeing → wisdom → autonomy. What brands must signal to feel modern and desirable. In Brief Aspiration has quietly rewritten itself. Money no longer signals status By Tobias Dahlberg • 2 min read
Marketing The Relevance Gap Starts In The Corner Office The Relevance Gap™ is a term I coined to illustrate the disconnect that happens between brands and customer choice. And while Relevance is a function of many external forces (from cultural shifts, macro trends, category dynamics, and most of all, changes in consumer tastes, values, etc. the problems rarely starts By Tobias Dahlberg • 2 min read
Marketing The Shifting Role Of The CMO Times are changing. But aren't they always? CMO's need to adapt to a new role. SIGNAL — What’s Happening? The marketing department — once the temple of storytelling — is being rewired into an operating system. AI isn’t replacing marketers. It’s replacing marketing as we knew By Tobias Dahlberg • 2 min read
Marketing The $70 Trillion Blind Spot - Why Marketers Keep Ghosting the Richest Generation Alive By Tobias Dahlberg • 3 min read
Marketing Chocolate Is Having a Midlife Crisis SIGNAL — What’s Happening? The premium chocolate category is realigning its value proposition: from indulgence to meaningful indulgence. For example: * According to trend research, chocolate brands are increasingly emphasising “healthy-living” attributes — including low sugar, clean label, high cocoa content, and functional benefits. GourmetPro+3lukerchocolate.com+3FoodNavigator.com+3 * The macro By Tobias Dahlberg • 1 min read
