In today’s world, we think we can solve any problem without additional work or expense.
The digital bros call it a “hack.”
For instance, you notice a water stain on your ceiling after heavy rain.
Should you call a plumber?
No! I’m sure there is a hack out there to solve the problem.
You search YouTube and Reddit.
There is some guy named @DIYDave who says “trust me.” You just need to climb up there with a tube of roof sealant, and smear it over the problem area.
“Works every time,” says @DIYDave.
Turns out, it does not work every time.
Next rainstorm, the leak is worse — now it’s coming through the wall too.
You know what you do next?
You call a roofer.
But now the damage is twice as bad.
It’s the same in business.
When sales are down, it’s almost always a merchandising problem.
But marketing is teeming with tech bros selling “hacks” and fake solutions to real problems.
They’ve got funnels, automations, segmentation magic, and a playbook filled with “trust me” tactics.
But you know what? If the merchandise isn’t right — if the stuff itself doesn’t resonate — nothing else will matter.
Every thriving business has winning items.
They’re the things customers love, and cause them to repeat purchase.
But winning items don’t appear by accident — they’re discovered because companies invest in building and introducing new items.
That’s exactly how you learn what wins. When a business stops launching new items, it slowly decays. Over time, it might look like this:
• 2020 = $7.00 million.
• 2021 = $5.60 million.
• 2022 = $4.48 million.
• 2023 = $3.58 million.
• 2024 = $2.87 million.
• 2025 = $2.29 million.
Items are in a continual state of erosion. Yep, just like creative.
The average decay rate in my projects is between 10% and 30%. Those are big numbers!
To offset the decay, we need a steady diet of new/winning items.
Of course, that doesn’t happen if the tactician “leader” surrounds himself with tactician specialists. The SEO wizard, the PPC expert, the email marketing guy, the social media expert, the killer copywriter, the CRO marketing guru.
Most tacticians will mistakenly always recommend their area of expertise.
When asked how to get more customers, guess what the SEO guy says? SEO!
Guess what the PPC expert says? PPC!
The email marketing guy?
Well, you get the idea.
Sure, you can polish your website, tweak your emails, spend more on ads, or shout louder on social media.
But that’s like plugging your roof when what you really need is a professional.
Thriving brands are built on products people love.
Think Levi’s 501s. Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. Ray-Ban sunglasses. Nike Air Force 1. The Big Mac. Hermes Birkin. Athletic Greens AG1. The Stanley Quencher.
These beloved ‘Hero Products’ are the top 10%- 20% of your assortment that generate the lion’s share of your demand.
They don’t just sell units; they influence culture and create fandoms.
Merchandise excellence > marketing excellence.
Most CEOs don’t know much about the business impact of excellent merchandise.
How could they? Very few companies are smart enough to create their own reporting to measure merchandise productivity.
Which is wild.
Because if your business is getting smaller, you need to ask yourself: Is it a Merchandise Productivity problem or a Customer Acquisition problem?
New + Reactivated customers are supremely important. But if you are a CMO worth your chops, you spend a disproportionate amount of time focusing on two things.
1. Introducing new items and promoting them so they have a chance to become winners.
2. Promoting winners to squeeze as much profit out of your customer as possible.
New items are critical to the future success of your business. And the items you introduce in 2026 will directly affect your ability to be successful in 2027 and 2028.
In the majority of my projects, there is a serious product issue holding the company back.
Usually the marketing team is blamed, and the blame leads to all sorts of reckless behavior—from overspending on Meta to 50% off plus free shipping, to just about any marketing mistake you can possibly think of.
None of that fixes the real problem.
There are no hacks.
Everything worthwhile is hard.