Hi readers! Cat here, with my very first newsletter takeover.
It’s Easter. That meandering double bank holiday that always seems to sneak up on us – and it’s often the first weekend a lot of us see some proper spring weather. Hooray.
It seems fitting that spring is the time I’ve joined Sam under the What’s Next umbrella, to expand what we can help clients navigate. I’ll leave the creative brand development work in Sam’s capable hands, but if you need help defining the next iteration of your website, or with marketing ops, I’m your gal.
Here’s what’s been inspiring me this week…
Easter Bunny Ban
I saw a few people sharing the story that Pets at Home have banned the sale of rabbits over the Easter weekend to reduce impulse purchases, and rabbits being abandoned. It’s a smart move – even if it doesn’t have the desired impact on bunny abandonment, the story has been picked up by major news outlets, and highlighted the store’s pet care advice service.
It reminds me of those first brands to skip the sale on Black Friday, instead talking about sustainability topics. Is there a seasonal sales peak in your market you can deliberately subvert for a PR boost?
Marketing v. Engineering
Sam described me in her intro last week as the Developer Whisperer, and I’ve certainly spent a lot of my career being the go between between different teams – the client marketing dept, the dev team, the SEO consultants… and I’ve seen first hand how navigating the priorities of each takes work.
I really enjoyed this piece from back in 2022 on sources of friction between marketing and engineering teams, even in the same organisations. Different speeds of working, levels of comfort with risk, and definitions of success all play a part. As with so much in life, curious conversations seem to be the solution.
Conquering Project Chaos
If all this inspiration has you with a to-do list in desperate need of corralling, here’s my favourite resource on managing projects. It takes a couple of goes to really get the hang of, but I have found the Five Projects Rule (as championed by Charlie Gilkey and the Productive Flourishing team) has been transformative for managing the huge selection of hats modern marketers are required to wear.
The principle is simple – for any given quarter, month, week or day, you limit yourself to 5 priorities. And yes that includes personal stuff. It isn’t many, but that’s the magic.
By keeping the list short, you get more finished, freeing up your capacity for the next thing in the queue.
That’s it for this week. Don’t eat all your chocolate eggs in one go.
