NeoMarketing’s Triad: NeoMartech, Progency, and MarCo

Published May 10, 2025

1

A New Order

As I’ve consistently argued throughout my essays, marketing urgently needs a fundamental transformation to end the $500 billion AdWaste crisis that continues to erode brand profitability. NeoMarketing—an approach centred firmly on retention rather than endless acquisition—offers the definitive solution. Representing marketing’s third great era after Traditional Marketing and Modern Marketing, NeoMarketing shifts the marketer’s focus decisively toward maximising Customer Lifetime Value (LTV), minimising Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC), and embracing Earned Growth as the North Star Metric.

Realising this vision requires a powerful new triad of entities: NeoMartech, an AI-native martech platform; Progency, an AI-first Agency of the Future; and MarCo, a martech consolidator inspired by the proven playbook of Constellation Software. While I’ve previously explored each element separately, it’s now essential to understand how they interconnect as a cohesive ecosystem, ushering in marketing’s transformative new era.

The Fundamental Problem

The NeoMarketing Triad represents a revolutionary framework poised to reshape the marketing landscape by addressing fundamental flaws that have long plagued traditional approaches. For decades, two dominant models have defined marketing: agencies and pure SaaS platforms. Both models, whilst once effective, now suffer from inherent limitations that prevent brands from fully harnessing their marketing potential.

Traditional agencies, even as they evolve, remain entrenched in a service-driven model reliant on billable hours, creative concepts, and human-centric execution. This structure inherently struggles with scale, agility and the deep technological integration required for true personalisation and measurable outcomes. Moreover, agencies have typically prioritised new customer acquisition over retention and reactivation, inadvertently fuelling the costly phenomenon of AdWaste—spending excessively to reacquire customers already in the brand’s database. In effect, agencies have become collection agents for Big Adtech.

Pure SaaS platforms, on the other hand, have proliferated by promising marketers robust technological capabilities. Whilst these platforms offer significant improvements in automation and data management, they frequently leave execution and outcome ownership entirely to the brand’s internal marketing teams. As a result, brands often underutilise SaaS platforms, leveraging only a fraction of available features due to limited internal expertise, inadequate resources or competing strategic priorities. This leads to a pervasive execution gap, preventing SaaS investments from translating fully into tangible business results. SaaS (software as a service) ends up becoming software without service!

The Interconnected Solution

The NeoMarketing Triad resolves these critical issues by integrating three innovative entities that work in concert:

NeoMartech, an AI-native Martech platform, forms the foundation of the triad. Unlike traditional martech solutions retrofitted with AI, NeoMartech is built from the ground up with AI at its core. It employs agentic AI systems to autonomously manage marketing functions—from dynamic content personalisation and predictive analytics to real-time customer journey orchestration. This transformative approach enables genuine one-to-one (N=1) personalisation at unprecedented scale and precision, fundamentally reimagining the marketer-customer relationship.

Progency, the second pillar, is an AI-first Agency of the Future, explicitly designed to close the execution gap by combining advanced martech platforms with specialist expertise, AI agents, and Kaizen (continuous improvement) – which I have termed as the PEAK framework. Operating on performance-based models tied directly to client outcomes, Progency shifts marketing from cost-driven activities to revenue-generating engagements. It offers the agility, scale and accountability traditional agencies cannot match, whilst also providing the hands-on execution often missing from pure SaaS platforms.

MarCo serves as a martech consolidator, inspired by successful models like Constellation Software. By systematically acquiring and integrating niche martech innovators, MarCo addresses market fragmentation and creates an ecosystem of complementary capabilities. This consolidation enhances data interoperability, optimises technological stacks and amplifies overall efficiency, providing marketers with a seamlessly integrated suite of best-in-class tools and insights.

**

Together, NeoMartech, Progency and MarCo form a cohesive, interconnected ecosystem—one that redefines marketing’s economics by maximising customer lifetime value, minimising acquisition costs and eliminating wasteful spending. This triad doesn’t merely improve existing approaches; it creates an entirely new paradigm, unlocking sustained profitability for brands and martech players, and ushering in marketing’s transformative new era.

2

A New Era

NeoMarketing represents the third great era of marketing evolution, following Traditional Marketing (1950s-1990s) and Modern Marketing (2000s-2020s). This revolutionary paradigm addresses the fundamental inefficiencies that have plagued brands for decades, chief among them the $500 billion annually wasted on reacquiring existing customers through expensive adtech platforms.

As I articulated in NeoMarketing’s 75 Theses, the core principles of this vision are clear: “NeoMarketing stands on three foundational principles that invert established orthodoxy: Retention before Reacquisition (prioritising relationship depth over constant acquisition), Trust before Transactions (building value-driven engagement before extracting revenue), and Individuals before Segments (recognising each customer’s uniqueness beyond crude groupings).”

The urgency of this transformation cannot be overstated. The current model—where brands continuously pour resources into reacquisition—creates what I’ve called “profitless prosperity,” where growing revenues never translate into sustainable profits. This stems from two fundamental marketing failures: the “Not for Me” problem (generic messaging that fails to resonate) and the “No Hotline” problem (inconsistent or ineffective engagement channels).

Solving these challenges requires a revolutionary framework—the House of NeoMarketing—with distinct, interconnected layers:

1. Foundation Layer: Establishing unified data infrastructure and organisational alignment
2. Intelligence Layer: Deploying AI-powered systems for customer understanding and decision-making
3. Engagement Layer: Creating reliable daily hotlines between brands and customers
4. Monetisation Layer: Converting engagement into sustainable revenue and profitability

Translating this framework into reality requires purpose-built entities that break free from traditional models. To implement this vision at scale, three new entities must emerge.

NeoMartech serves as the technological foundation—an AI-native platform built from the ground up around agentic intelligence. Unlike traditional martech solutions that bolt AI onto existing frameworks, NeoMartech employs sophisticated AI agents (Content Agent, Journey Agent, Analytics Agent, etc.) orchestrated by an AI Co-Marketer to enable true N=1 personalisation at scale. As I wrote in AI-Native Martech: “The ultimate vision for AI-native Martech is nothing less than the “Department of One” for the “Segment of One”—where sophisticated AI systems replace entire marketing teams while delivering truly individualised experiences to each customer… Making it happen will unlock hundreds of billions in profits for brands—money currently wasted on repeatedly reacquiring existing customers through increasingly expensive adtech platforms.”

Progency addresses the critical execution gap through the PEAK framework (Platform, Experts, AI agents, Kaizen). Operating on performance-based economics aligned directly with client outcomes, Progency combines platform technology with specialist expertise to deliver measurable business impact. In Progency: The AI-First Agency of the Future, I explained how this model “inverts the traditional marketing funnel by focusing primarily on keeping and growing existing customer relationships rather than the endless (and increasingly expensive) pursuit of new ones.”

MarCo (Martech Consolidator) completes the triad by tackling the fragmentation plaguing today’s martech landscape. Inspired by Constellation Software’s proven approach, MarCo systematically acquires and integrates complementary martech capabilities, creating an ecosystem of solutions that work seamlessly together. This addresses the overwhelming complexity brands face when attempting to assemble disconnected point solutions into a coherent stack. As I wrote in Wanted: A Constellation Software for Martech: “While roll-ups of smaller martech vendors by the bigger ones is an obvious solution (and is already happening), the diversity of B2C/D2C/eCommerce/retail creates opportunities for a larger universe of companies under one roof. Exactly the way Constellation Software has done for vertical market software companies.”

Together, these three pillars transform marketing from an acquisition-driven cost centre into a retention-powered profit engine. Each plays an essential role: NeoMartech provides the AI-native technology foundation, Progency delivers the outcomes-focused execution, and MarCo creates the integrated ecosystem necessary for seamless operation. The synergy between these components creates a flywheel effect—MarCo’s acquisitions enhance NeoMartech’s capabilities, which powers Progency’s performance, generating profits that fund further acquisitions. This virtuous cycle accelerates as it scales, creating exponential rather than linear improvement in marketing effectiveness.

The ultimate goal is nothing less than a complete reinvention of marketing—one that eliminates AdWaste, maximises customer lifetime value, and creates sustainable profitable growth for both brands and technology providers.

3

A New Stack

Traditional martech platforms have evolved gradually, adding AI capabilities as bolt-on features to existing infrastructure. This approach, while incrementally beneficial, fundamentally limits what AI can achieve. In contrast, NeoMartech represents a complete reimagining of marketing technology—built from the ground up with AI as its core operating system rather than an optional enhancement.

The Architecture of Intelligence

NeoMartech’s foundation is a sophisticated ecosystem of AI agents working in concert, each specialising in distinct marketing functions while collaborating toward common objectives. This multi-agent system includes an AI Co-Marketer working with multiple agents. The Co-Marketer is the orchestrating intelligence that translates strategic objectives into tactical execution, coordinating all other agents while providing human marketers with insights and recommendations. Examples of other agents include Journey Agent, Consumer Insights Agent, Segment Agent, Content Agent, Design Agent, Scheduler Agent, Analytics Agent, and Merchandiser Agent.

Unlike traditional systems where humans manually orchestrate campaigns, NeoMartech enables autonomous execution with human marketers functioning as strategic guides rather than implementation specialists. As I wrote in Two Marketing Moonshots for Retention and Profits: NeoN and Progency: “It’s a fundamental reinvention of how marketing expertise is deployed, enabling brands to achieve levels of precision and effectiveness previously impossible with human teams alone. These specialised agents function as a collective intelligence, each handling distinct aspects of the marketing process while working in concert toward common goals—all without the resource constraints, cognitive limitations, or operational delays of traditional marketing structures.”

NeoSearch and Channels 2.0

NeoMartech’s transformative vision extends beyond its agent ecosystem to reimagine two critical marketing functions: search and customer communications.

NeoSearch: AI-Native Discovery

Traditional product search and discovery, typically built on keyword matching and basic filtering, fail to capture the nuanced way customers actually shop. NeoSearch represents a fundamental reimagining of this experience through AI-native architecture:

• Visual Search enables customers to find products by simply uploading images, eliminating the need to translate visual concepts into text
• Conversational Discovery replaces rigid filtering with natural dialogue, allowing customers to describe what they’re looking for in their own words
• Intent Recognition identifies the underlying purpose behind searches, delivering results that satisfy the customer’s actual needs rather than merely matching keywords
• Personalised Relevance surfaces products based on individual preferences and behaviour patterns, creating a unique discovery journey for each customer

This AI-native approach transforms search from a technical utility into an intuitive shopping assistant that understands customers as individuals rather than query-generators.

Channels 2.0: Interactive Engagement

Traditional push communications (emails, SMS, notifications) operate as one-way broadcasts—brands send messages and hope customers respond. Channels 2.0 fundamentally transforms this dynamic:

• AMP in Email brings app-like interactivity directly into the inbox, enabling everything from product browsing to secure transactions without ever leaving the email
• Interactive WhatsApp and RCS move beyond text to create rich, conversational experiences that build relationships through dialogue rather than monologue
• Actionable Notifications allow customers to respond, purchase, or engage directly from within the notification itself

This transformation eliminates the “click-through penalty” that typically loses 80-90% of potential conversions when customers must navigate to landing pages. By bringing the entire experience into the channel itself, Channels 2.0 transforms engagement from a funnel with massive drop-offs into a frictionless path to conversion.

Together, NeoSearch and Channels 2.0 complete NeoMartech’s vision of a truly AI-native marketing ecosystem—one that reimagines every aspect of customer interaction for the intelligent, interactive era.

From Segments to Individuals

The transformative power of NeoMartech emerges through its ability to deliver true N=1 personalisation at scale—treating each customer as a unique individual rather than a segment member. This isn’t merely enhanced segmentation; it’s a paradigm shift where every interaction is precisely tailored to specific customer contexts, preferences and needs.

This capability is powered by AI Twins—digital replicas that model individual customer behaviours and preferences, enabling brands to simulate interactions before deployment while continuously learning from every engagement. The result is a system that doesn’t just react to customer actions but anticipates needs and delivers relevant experiences proactively.

Reimagining the Marketing Department

NeoMartech creates what I’ve termed a “Department of One for a Segment of One”—enabling small marketing teams to accomplish what previously required dozens of specialists. This transformation eliminates the operational bottlenecks that have historically prevented true personalisation at scale, allowing brands to focus on strategy and creativity while AI handles execution.

The economic impact is profound: lower operational costs, higher marketing effectiveness, and the systematic elimination of AdWaste by ensuring every customer receives precisely the right message at the right time through the right channel.

NeoMartech vs Traditional Martech

Attribute	Traditional Martech	NeoMartech
AI Implementation	Bolt-on features and point solutions added to existing architecture	AI-native with intelligence embedded throughout the entire architecture
Personalisation Capability	Rules-based segmentation with human-defined parameters	True N=1 personalisation through AI Twins and dynamic adaptation
Operational Model	Human-led workflows with technology assistance	AI-led workflows with human strategic guidance
Data Utilisation	Periodic analysis of structured data with predefined queries	Continuous processing of all data types (structured and unstructured) with autonomous insight generation
Marketing Scale	Linear relationship between team size and marketing capacity	Exponential capacity through AI orchestration, regardless of team size
Decision-Making	Reactive, based on historical data and manual analysis	Predictive and prescriptive, based on real-time signals and pattern recognition

NeoMartech doesn’t simply improve upon traditional platforms—it reimagines what marketing technology can achieve when built around AI’s capabilities rather than human workflows. The result is a transformative system that finally delivers on martech’s long-promised potential: truly individualised customer experiences at global scale with unprecedented efficiency.

4

A New Agency

Traditional agencies have long struggled with a fundamental misalignment: while their clients seek business outcomes, agencies primarily sell time, talent, and creative concepts. This model—rooted in billable hours and media commissions—has remained essentially unchanged for decades, even as the marketing landscape has transformed dramatically. Progency represents a revolutionary alternative that reimagines the agency-client relationship from first principles.

The PEAK Framework: Beyond Service Delivery

Progency operates on the PEAK framework—an integrated approach combining Platform, Experts, AI agents, and Kaizen methodology:

Platform: Unlike traditional agencies that rely on third-party tools, Progency builds upon proprietary martech infrastructure with deep integration capabilities. This technology foundation provides complete control over execution while eliminating dependency on external systems.

Experts: Specialist talent focused on strategy, creativity, and relationship management rather than routine execution. These professionals collaborate with AI systems rather than competing with them, applying human judgment where it adds the most value.

AI agents: A sophisticated “Department of One” that handles complex marketing operations at scale. These agents work collaboratively to execute campaigns, optimise performance, and deliver personalised experiences without proportional staffing increases.

Kaizen: Continuous improvement methodology ensuring relentless optimisation across all facets of marketing performance. This systematic approach guarantees that results improve steadily over time rather than peaking early and plateauing.

Performance-Based Economics

Perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of Progency is its compensation model. Rather than charging for inputs (time, resources, media), Progency aligns its economics directly with client outcomes through performance-based pricing:

• Revenue share on incremental sales generated
• Performance fees tied to retention and engagement metrics
• Success bonuses for measurable reductions in Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
• Value-based pricing linked to improvements in Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)

This approach transforms marketing from a cost centre into an accountable investment with measurable returns—creating perfect alignment between agency and client incentives.

The BRTN Customer Focus

Progency specialises in activating overlooked customer segments through the BRTN framework:

Best customers (top 20%): Receive highly personalised retention strategies to maximise lifetime value and stimulate referrals.

Rest customers (middle 50%): Become the primary focus for reactivation efforts, preventing them from slipping into dormancy through AI-powered engagement.

Test customers (dormant 30%): Benefit from precision reacquisition strategies via authenticated identity rather than expensive adtech platforms.

Next customers: Convert efficiently through personalised welcome journeys that establish strong foundations for lasting relationships.

This targeted approach ensures resources are deployed where they create maximum impact, dramatically improving overall marketing ROI.

Core Service Offerings

Progency delivers its retention-focused approach through three interconnected service pillars:

NeoN: An email-based advertising network leveraging authenticated identity to transform reacquisition economics. NeoN enables brands to reach dormant customers through partner brands’ active engagement channels, creating a marketplace where one brand “prints money” by monetising their engaged audience while another “saves money” through efficient reactivation—all without the expensive intermediary “tax” of traditional adtech platforms.

NeoMails: AMP-powered interactive email experiences that establish reliable daily hotlines between brands and customers. Through Atomic Rewards (Mu) for gamified engagement, Microns for “brain gain” experiences, and SmartBlocks for zero-party data collection, NeoMails transform static communications into immersive, interactive touchpoints that command attention and drive action.

Neo360: A comprehensive customer lifecycle optimisation service that combines platform capabilities with expert strategies and AI orchestration. Neo360 provides end-to-end management of customer journeys, enabling N=1 personalisation at scale while ensuring seamless cross-channel consistency and continuous performance improvement.

These offerings can be deployed individually to address specific challenges or combined for maximum impact across the entire customer relationship lifecycle.

Progency vs Traditional Agency

Attribute	Traditional Agency	Progency
Business Model	Billable hours, media commissions, retainers	Performance-based with revenue sharing tied to outcomes
Technology Approach	Uses third-party tools and platforms	Owns proprietary martech stack with AI agent orchestration
Team Structure	Large teams with hierarchical management layers	Lean strategic teams working alongside AI “Department of One”
Primary Focus	Campaign creation and media placement	Customer lifecycle maximisation and relationship optimisation
Measurement	Campaign metrics (impressions, clicks, awareness)	Business results (LTV, retention rates, profit improvement)
Client Relationship	Vendor/service provider	Growth partner with aligned incentives
Operational Philosophy	Project-based, campaign-driven	Continuous optimisation through Kaizen methodology

Progency doesn’t just deliver services more efficiently—it fundamentally reimagines what an agency should be. By combining proprietary technology, specialist expertise, AI orchestration, and performance-based economics, it creates a new category that transcends the limitations of traditional agencies while addressing the execution gap that plagues pure SaaS platforms.

The result is a true partner in business growth—one that accepts accountability for outcomes rather than merely delivering services on demand.

5

MarCo

The martech landscape has become increasingly fragmented and challenging. Scott Brinker’s 2025 Martech report lists over 14,000 companies competing for attention and budget. While consolidation and churn occur constantly, the rate at which new startups launch consistently outpaces exits. This fragmentation creates significant challenges for brands attempting to build cohesive marketing stacks, while simultaneously putting pressure on martech vendors struggling to differentiate themselves in an overcrowded market.

Beyond Traditional Consolidation

In this complex environment, MarCo (Martech Consolidator) emerges as a revolutionary approach inspired by Constellation Software’s proven model of strategic aggregation. Unlike traditional mergers and acquisitions that often focus on absorbing competitors or entering new markets, MarCo represents a systematic approach to building an integrated ecosystem of complementary martech capabilities.

As I wrote in Wanted: A Constellation Software for Martech: “MarCo is about bringing three ideas together: the business model of Constellation Software, the partnership of an anchor martech vendor with a fund, and the scale-up of the addressable market by tapping into AdWaste… Over time, MarCo can create a playbook like Constellation Software has done to simplify the acquisition process. It can also create a business system that ensures management and operational efficiencies. The growth by acquisition model has been used in many industries. What is new here is its application to a single software domain (martech) to build and realign one of the most important industries of our times – selling to billions of customers digitally and making money from them.”

MarCo’s vision extends far beyond simple consolidation. By targeting the estimated $500 billion in AdWaste—money brands currently spend inefficiently reacquiring their own customers through expensive adtech platforms—MarCo aims to fundamentally reshape marketing economics while creating unprecedented value for acquired companies, customers, and investors alike.

The MarCo Advantage: Six Strategic Pillars

MarCo’s model leverages six interconnected strategic pillars that transform traditional M&A approaches into a sustainable engine for growth and innovation:

1. Operational Centralisation: Moving backend operations of acquired companies to India, dramatically reducing costs while maintaining product quality and innovation.
2. Cross-Selling Synergies: Leveraging the customer base across the entire group to create efficient distribution channels for all portfolio companies.
3. Progency Layer: Adding performance-based marketing services delivered from India at significantly lower costs, providing clients with both software and execution.
4. AI-Native Rebuilding: Transforming legacy solutions into truly AI-native platforms to create competitive advantages.
5. API Integration: Enabling seamless interoperability across the entire portfolio through standardised APIs, allowing each solution to leverage capabilities from other group companies.
6. AdWaste Targeting: Focusing innovations specifically on helping brands redirect money wasted on reacquisition toward more efficient retention strategies.

These pillars create powerful network effects and economies of scale that individual martech companies cannot achieve independently, transforming the traditional zero-sum competition into a positive-sum ecosystem.

MarCo vs Traditional M&A

Attribute	Traditional M&A	MarCo/Constellation Model
Strategic Intent	Eliminate competition or enter new markets	Build complementary ecosystem of vertical specialists
Integration Approach	Full absorption and standardisation	Decentralised management with shared best practices
Investment Horizon	Medium-term (3-5 years) with planned exit	Permanent capital with no intention to sell
Value Creation	Cost synergies and market share gains	Network effects through cross-selling and data sharing
Technology Strategy	Standardise on acquiring company’s platform	Maintain product uniqueness while enabling interoperability
Competitive Moat	Scale and market dominance	Data network effects and distribution leverage
Growth Model	Organic growth post-acquisition	Continuous acquisition with operational enhancement

The MarCo approach creates significantly more sustainable value by preserving what makes each acquired company special while enhancing performance through shared resources, distribution channels, and technology integration.

The Data and Distribution Moat

Perhaps MarCo’s most powerful advantage comes from the compounding benefits of data and distribution:

Data Network Effects: Each acquired company brings unique customer data and insights. When combined through AI systems, this creates a continuously improving understanding of customer behaviour across the entire marketing lifecycle. As the portfolio grows, the AI capabilities become increasingly sophisticated and valuable—creating a moat that competitors cannot easily replicate.

Distribution Leverage: The combined customer base across all portfolio companies creates extraordinary distribution efficiency. Each acquisition not only strengthens the overall offering but instantly gains access to the entire customer network, dramatically reducing customer acquisition costs while accelerating growth.

This twin moat of data and distribution grows stronger with each acquisition, creating a self-reinforcing cycle that transforms the economics of the martech industry.

The Path Forward

MarCo represents a revolutionary approach to consolidating the fragmented martech landscape while simultaneously expanding the addressable market by targeting the $500 billion AdWaste opportunity. By combining Constellation Software’s proven acquisition playbook with the strategic advantages of an anchor martech vendor and a fund structure, MarCo creates a model where everyone wins—struggling martech companies find a permanent home, brands gain access to integrated solutions, and investors participate in value creation at an unprecedented scale.

As the martech industry continues to evolve, those who embrace this model of strategic consolidation will be positioned to lead the next wave of marketing transformation—one that finally delivers on martech’s promise of making marketing more efficient, effective, and profitable for brands worldwide.

6

A New Future

The NeoMarketing Triad—NeoMartech, Progency, and MarCo—represents far more than incremental improvement to existing marketing practices. Together, these three pillars usher in marketing’s long-awaited Enlightenment era, just as Classical Liberalism transformed economics from explaining poverty to creating prosperity.

From AdWaste to Marketing Prosperity

For too long, marketing has operated in its own Dark Ages—where brands accept the massive $500 billion AdWaste as an inevitable cost of doing business, where growth invariably means rising acquisition costs, and where the relationship between marketing spend and business profitability grows increasingly tenuous.

The NeoMarketing Triad fundamentally rewrites this narrative. By shifting focus from acquisition addiction to retention excellence, it transforms marketing from a cost-driven function into the primary profit engine for business growth. Just as enlightened economic thinking replaced a scarcity mindset with one of abundance, this triad replaces AdWaste with marketing prosperity.

The Self-Reinforcing Growth Flywheel

When implemented together, NeoMartech, Progency, and MarCo create a virtuous cycle that compounds in effectiveness over time:

1. Value Creation: NeoMartech’s AI-native capabilities enable personalised experiences that build deeper customer relationships and increase lifetime value
2. Value Capture: Progency’s performance-based approach ensures these capabilities translate into measurable business outcomes
3. Value Amplification: MarCo’s systematic consolidation creates network effects through data sharing and distribution leverage
4. Value Reinvestment: The profits generated fuel further acquisitions, innovation, and client success

This self-sustaining flywheel transforms marketing economics—creating sustainable profitable growth where previously there existed only “profitless prosperity.”

Marketing’s Return to First Principles

Perhaps most significantly, the NeoMarketing Triad represents marketing’s return to its fundamental purpose—building lasting, profitable customer relationships. The industry has strayed far from this mission, becoming obsessed with metrics that measure activity rather than outcomes, platforms rather than people, and impressions rather than relationships.

By placing LTV, CAC, and Earned Growth at the centre of marketing strategy, the triad realigns marketing with genuine business impact. As Fred Reichheld powerfully articulated: “There is only one way to grow a business profitably. You make sure your customers are treated so well that they come back for more and bring their friends.”

The Four Freedoms

The NeoMarketing Triad delivers four essential freedoms that transform marketing’s future:

1. Freedom from Ad Platform Dependence: Breaking the costly cycle of paying Big Adtech to reach customers brands already know
2. Freedom from Execution Constraints: Eliminating the operational bottlenecks that prevent true personalisation at scale
3. Freedom from Integration Complexity: Resolving the fragmentation that forces brands to cobble together disconnected point solutions
4. Freedom from AdWaste: Redirecting the $500 billion currently lost to inefficient acquisition toward value-creating activities

These freedoms don’t merely improve marketing; they fundamentally transform it—creating space for innovation, creativity, and genuine customer connection that the current model makes impossible.

The Path Forward

The future of marketing belongs to those who recognise that true disruption doesn’t come from incremental improvements to existing approaches but from fundamental reimagining of what’s possible. The NeoMarketing Triad—comprising AI-native technology, performance-based execution, and strategic consolidation—provides this reimagining.

By addressing the root causes of marketing inefficiency rather than merely treating symptoms, this triad creates unprecedented opportunities for brands to build deeper customer relationships, eliminate wasteful spending, and drive sustainable profitable growth. In the process, it transforms marketing from a necessary expense to the primary engine of business value creation.

This isn’t just a better way to market—it’s a complete paradigm shift that finally delivers on marketing’s true potential: building enduring, mutually beneficial relationships between brands and the customers they serve.

7

Summary

I asked Claude for an outline of the ideas discussed.

Introduction

• Marketing urgently needs transformation to end the $500 billion AdWaste crisis eroding brand profitability
• NeoMarketing represents marketing’s third great era after Traditional Marketing (1950s-1990s) and Modern Marketing (2000s-2020s)
• The contemporary marketing landscape is dominated by two flawed models with fundamental limitations
• The NeoMarketing Triad offers a comprehensive, interconnected solution that addresses these systemic inefficiencies

Core Problems in Current Marketing Models

• Traditional agencies remain entrenched in service-driven models reliant on billable hours and creative concepts, struggling with scale and technological integration, while prioritising acquisition over retention
  • Agencies have effectively become collection agents for Big Adtech, channelling client budgets into expensive platform advertising
• Pure SaaS platforms promise robust capabilities but leave execution to internal brand teams, creating a significant implementation gap
  • “Software as a service” has devolved into “software without service,” with brands typically leveraging only 30-40% of available features
• AdWaste phenomenon: 70% of digital marketing budgets are squandered on reacquiring existing customers through expensive adtech platforms

The NeoMarketing Triad Components

1. NeoMartech: An AI-native platform built from the ground up with artificial intelligence at its core
   • Multi-agent architecture with an AI Co-Marketer orchestrating specialised agents (Journey, Consumer Insights, Segment, Content, Design, Scheduler, Analytics, Merchandiser)
   • True N=1 personalisation through AI Twins that model individual customer behaviours and preferences
   • NeoSearch revolutionises discovery with visual search, conversational interfaces, and intent recognition
   • Channels 2.0 transforms push communications into interactive experiences, eliminating the “click-through penalty”
   • Creates a “Department of One for a Segment of One” that enables small teams to achieve unprecedented scale
2. Progency: An AI-first agency designed to close the execution gap through the PEAK framework
   • Platform: Proprietary martech infrastructure versus third-party tools
   • Experts: Specialist talent focused on strategy and creativity
   • AI agents: Sophisticated automation handling complex operations
   • Kaizen: Continuous improvement methodology ensuring ongoing optimisation
   • Performance-based economics tied directly to measurable client outcomes
   • BRTN customer segmentation focuses on Best (retain), Rest (engage), Test (reactivate), and Next (convert)
   • Three core service pillars: NeoN (authenticated advertising network), NeoMails (interactive email experiences), and Neo360 (comprehensive lifecycle optimisation)
3. MarCo: A martech consolidator inspired by Constellation Software’s proven approach
   • Systematically acquires and integrates complementary martech capabilities
   • Six strategic pillars: operational centralisation, cross-selling synergies, Progency layer, AI-native rebuilding, API integration, and AdWaste targeting
   • Creates data and distribution moats through network effects
   • Permanent capital approach versus traditional exit-focused M&A

Benefits & Future Impact

• The triad creates a self-reinforcing growth flywheel that compounds in effectiveness over time
• Delivers four essential freedoms: from platform dependence, execution constraints, integration complexity, and AdWaste
• Returns marketing to its fundamental purpose—building lasting, profitable customer relationships
• Transforms marketing from a cost-driven function into the primary profit engine for business growth
• Establishes marketing prosperity by eliminating inefficiency and maximising customer lifetime value