The Positioning Trap: Why Most Agencies Look and Sound the Same (and How to Build a Sharp Edge) Tobias Dahlberg September 17, 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 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 Brand & Marketing I Analysed Dozens Of FMCG Brands - Here Is How Many Are Drifting I’ve run a good amount of Brand Relevance Scores for FMCG brands this last month. Here’s the uncomfortable pattern: the categories aren’t stale — the brands are. Most FMCG brands aren’t losing relevance because of competition. They’re losing relevance because culture moved and they didn’t By Tobias Dahlberg • 1 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 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
Brand & Marketing I Analysed Dozens Of FMCG Brands - Here Is How Many Are Drifting I’ve run a good amount of Brand Relevance Scores for FMCG brands this last month. Here’s the uncomfortable pattern: the categories aren’t stale — the brands are. Most FMCG brands aren’t losing relevance because of competition. They’re losing relevance because culture moved and they didn’t By Tobias Dahlberg • 1 min read
