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Marketing Is No Longer a Department. It's a System.
Marketing Isn’t Broken. It’s Being Run Wrong.
Vivek Nanda
February 08, 2026
In partnership with
Hello and welcome to the 203rd edition of Fresh Salmon.
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Most companies still treat marketing as something they do. A campaign. A launch. A quarterly calendar.
But the companies pulling away right now have figured out something the rest haven't: marketing isn't a function. It's a system that compounds.
And systems behave very differently than tactics.
Why Tactics Are Failing (Quietly)
Something is breaking under the surface, and most teams can feel it even if they can't name it:
Paid acquisition costs keep climbing, and the ceiling isn't in sight
Organic reach swings wildly from week to week
Content volume is at an all-time high; content impact is not
Buyers are harder to persuade, but faster to scroll past
The instinct? Do more. More posts. More ads. More tools. More headcount.
But output without system design doesn't compound - it decays. You're not building momentum. You're burning budget on motion.
Marketing without a system is just activity with a Gantt chart.
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The System: Attention → Trust → Demand
Forget the linear funnel. The modern growth loop is circular:
Attention → Trust → Demand → Reinforcement → More Attention
The best companies design for this loop intentionally. Here's what each stage actually looks like when it's working:
Attention is earned through repeatable media - a show, a series, a consistent voice - not one-off content drops.
Trust is built through depth, consistency, and a clear point of view. Not frequency.
Demand is captured only after trust is established - never before.
Reinforcement happens when your market starts repeating your narrative back to you, unprompted.
This is why certain companies feel "everywhere" without ever shouting. They aren't louder. They're sharper.
Why Most Content Strategies Break
Most content strategies fail for one reason: they aren't connected to a strategic narrative.
Teams produce content without ever answering three questions:
What do we want to be known for?
What belief are we reinforcing every time we publish?
What tension in the market are we the answer to?
Without narrative, content fragments. Every piece has to explain itself from scratch. With narrative, content compounds. Every post becomes a reminder, not a reintroduction.
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The Real Advantage in 2026
The biggest edge going forward won't be better copy, better prompts, or better distribution hacks.
It will be system ownership.
The companies that win will:
Treat podcasts, video, and writing as infrastructure, not experiments
Design content to serve multiple layers of the funnel simultaneously
Measure success in trust velocity - not impressions, not MQLs
Build ecosystems where their audience recruits the next audience
Marketing won't be about "getting attention." It will be about earning relevance on repeat.
The Key Takeaway
Tactics help you show up. Systems help you stay.
And staying is the only thing the modern buyer rewards.
That’s it for this week! If you found this newsletter valuable, share it with a friend.
See you next time!
Do what is good for your soul ❤️
All the best,
Vivek
PS. Whenever you are ready, here are 2 ways in which I can help you and your business:
#1: Promoting you or your brand via this newsletter.
#2: 1-on-1 Personal Coaching and Mentoring on anything related to Marketing and Go-To-Market Strategies for you.
For any of these things just shoot me a reply, and we will arrange a time to chat.