Photo by Declan Sun / Unsplash The Margin Playbook Tobias Dahlberg September 16, 2025 – 3 min read Share this post Entrepreneurship The Psychology of Leading Creatives By Tobias Dahlberg • 3 min read Photo by Chen / Unsplash Entrepreneurship Brand Dating Apps: What Agencies Can Learn from Matchmaking Platforms Executive Summary Agencies and dating apps share the same problem: everyone’s swiping, no one’s committing. The signal: client–agency relationships are shorter than ever, with project churn replacing partnership. The deeper truth? It’s not about bad chemistry—it’s bad matching. Agencies sell capabilities; clients crave compatibility. By Tobias Dahlberg • 2 min read Entrepreneurship What Agency Founders Can Learn from SaaS Playbooks By Tobias Dahlberg • 2 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 Brand Levi's - Relevant or Redundant? Levi’s is one of the most recognizable apparel brands on the planet — a century-old symbol of American culture, youth identity, and “authenticity.” It practically invented denim as we know it. But the category it once defined has fragmented into micro-cultures, fast fashion cycles, secondhand ecosystems, and aesthetic tribes that 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 Brand Relevant Or Redundant? – BOSS I came back from London late last night, and after strolling the streets for a few days, (mostly waiting while my wife and daughters shopped like there is no tomorrow), I did what I suppose most brand-builders do...analyse brands and concepts. What follows is a new content series I By Tobias Dahlberg • 3 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
Photo by Chen / Unsplash Entrepreneurship Brand Dating Apps: What Agencies Can Learn from Matchmaking Platforms Executive Summary Agencies and dating apps share the same problem: everyone’s swiping, no one’s committing. The signal: client–agency relationships are shorter than ever, with project churn replacing partnership. The deeper truth? It’s not about bad chemistry—it’s bad matching. Agencies sell capabilities; clients crave compatibility. By Tobias Dahlberg • 2 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
Brand Levi's - Relevant or Redundant? Levi’s is one of the most recognizable apparel brands on the planet — a century-old symbol of American culture, youth identity, and “authenticity.” It practically invented denim as we know it. But the category it once defined has fragmented into micro-cultures, fast fashion cycles, secondhand ecosystems, and aesthetic tribes that 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
Brand Relevant Or Redundant? – BOSS I came back from London late last night, and after strolling the streets for a few days, (mostly waiting while my wife and daughters shopped like there is no tomorrow), I did what I suppose most brand-builders do...analyse brands and concepts. What follows is a new content series I By Tobias Dahlberg • 3 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
