The Never Always Newsletter
Each week, I take a concept from Never Always, Never Never, bring in new examples and context that didn't make the final cut, and show how these ideas are playing out in real time.
No listicles. No “5 tips for better ROAS.” Just real stories, real data, and the kind of thinking that made me write the book in the first place.
Grab your coffee and read something that makes you think differently about marketing and AI.
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Each issue starts with a concept from the book and goes deeper with new examples.
Companies proving these principles right (or spectacularly wrong) every week.
Real stories and real data. The kind of thinking that doesn't fit in a tweet.
The recording of AI Transformation 101, the free 90-Day AI Playbook, and Kate Marshall's AI Privacy & Security Masterclass on November 18.
Read more →A free webinar on the 90-day plan to move a whole company onto AI, co-hosted with Kate Marshall.
Read more →Patrick avoided a free AI course for weeks before it changed his career. Why learning AI works more like a fitness routine than a one-time Excel course.
Read more →Patrick marketed AdVenture+ without his agency's teams, using Claude to make video and static ads, and learned that the process matters more than the prompt.
Read more →Holiday demand moved to Thanksgiving week but December budgets didn't. How retailers should time Black Friday spend, using daily competitor price checks.
Read more →A list of AI use cases won't transform a company. What to tell your board: a 90-day plan, a long-term plan, and why leaders must learn AI in public.
Read more →What teaching AI to my father, a retail executive in his 60s, shows about learning it, plus a plain-English explanation of what an AI agent is.
Read more →Our first live session is this Friday at noon ET. We'll build a working AI agent in an hour.
Read more →Jingles never stopped working, and AI made custom music affordable. Why brands that take sound seriously now can own that space almost to themselves.
Read more →AI video should make great ads easy, so why is most of it slop? Talent still decides quality, and how AI video now makes real advertising affordable.
Read more →AI removed the need to master the tools, so talent alone now sets the ceiling. What that looks like for an analyst and an artist on our team.
Read more →Kids at an AI bootcamp built real games with Claude Code. Why your attitude toward AI, not your age or talent, decides your future with it.
Read more →One click on a patio chair ad brought ads from eight competitors, and a local store got the sale. Why one paid touch isn't enough in a long buyer journey.
Read more →Google's messy middle research: buyers loop through exploration and evaluation instead of walking a funnel, so brands must stay visible at every step.
Read more →A well-run bottom funnel is table stakes, not growth. Why performance marketing now means reaching people before they search, and how that lowers costs.
Read more →Most UGC is a lazy template. The version that works tells a specific story your audience recognizes, giving the cautious majority confidence to buy.
Read more →68% of marketers can't name the four P's. Why product-market fit comes before promotion, and how Claude crossed the chasm into a default business tool.
Read more →Ads can't talk people into buying before they're ready. Why plain, consistent ads in front of the right people beat clever ones, from a seminar brand.
Read more →ROAS only shows what happened. Revenue breaks into sessions, cost per session, conversion rate and order value; how to tell which one moved and why.
Read more →Only about 5% of buyers are in market at any time. Why ads aimed only at them stall, and why to reach the other 95% while performance still looks good.
Read more →Small details that delight customers and earn profit compound into an advantage. Lessons from Disney's renamed deli, trash cans and popcorn buckets.
Read more →Category entry points beat buyer personas: how 5-hour Energy owned the 2:30 slump, and how to find and claim the buying moments competitors ignore.
Read more →Market share grows by adding light buyers, not deepening loyalty. Why Net Promoter Score was never backed by evidence, and where to focus instead.
Read more →Heavy buyers come from acquiring new customers, not loyalty or order-value tactics. Why the demand curve refills itself, using Disney World's first-timers.
Read more →The customer demand curve: most customers buy rarely and loyalty is a habit, not a conviction, so brands grow by being easy to notice and easy to buy.
Read more →Light buyers, not superfans, drive growth. Harley's stereotypical rider is 3.5% of its revenue; how THON and Coca-Cola win by welcoming casual buyers.
Read more →Why the right marketing move often looks risky: Airbnb grew while Vrbo raised ad spend 67%, and AI's consensus output makes contrarian strategy worth more.
Read more →