Hi {{first_name | there,}}

For more than 25 years, I’ve helped teams build marketing that cuts through noise and scales revenue.

Geoff’s Growth Guide is where I share the strategy, go-to-market frameworks, and execution systems that work in practice. Not theory. Not hype. Just the mechanics behind durable growth.

One of the biggest misconceptions about strategy is that if the thinking is strong enough, a one-size-fits-all presentation will get the job done.  But in reality, even an excellent strategy can lose momentum when the right people are given the wrong level of detail at the wrong time.

The core issue is rarely the quality of the thinking. More often, it’s a matter of whether the strategy has been translated into a form that helps each audience make the key decisions that drive success.

Most large organisations ask a single strategy document to do too many jobs. For example:

• The board needs confidence that the work supports the commercial direction of the business.
• The executive team needs to understand how it affects functions across the organisation and where collaboration is required.
• The marketing team needs enough depth to challenge the thinking, refine the ideas and begin execution.

When everyone receives the same version of the presentation, friction begins to appear. Some audiences receive more detail than they need, while others are left without enough context to act confidently.

This is what I think of as strategic “altitude”: presenting the same strategy with a level of detail that aligns with each audience and the altitude they think at for the decisions they’re considering. The strategy itself should remain consistent. What changes is the way it is communicated, the supporting detail, and the degree of emphasis placed on different parts of the story. You deliver the strategy at the right audience “altitude”. 

Getting this right doesn’t require multiple strategies or endlessly rewriting presentations. It's simply about recognising that good strategy doesn't end when the thinking is complete. A strategy succeeds when the right people can understand it, challenge it, approve it and execute it with confidence.

If this resonates, I’d love to hear what you think. Just hit “reply” or click here. I read every response.

The Everlab work started informally. I was helping a friend think through how to build a strategy document, including the framework, presentation approach and the thinking that should sit behind it.

In December 2025, I used publicly available information to review Everlab and develop a go-to-market plan to help inspire its 2026 focus areas. Because it was for a Berry network member, I went a little overboard and built out the strategic thinking, explanations and execution ideas that could support conversations with the board, executive team and marketing team.

The result is intentionally detailed. It isn’t something I would present to a board from beginning to end, but it provides a useful example of the broader thinking that can sit underneath those conversations and how different elements can be brought forward for different audiences.

Some of my original assumptions were also a little off. Everlab only shared more about its current user base after its latest funding round, so I was working with the information available at the time.

One of the most common mistakes I see is assuming that once a strategy has been documented, the hard work is over and done. But in reality, the document is just the beginning. What matters next is how that strategy is communicated to the people who are responsible for approving it, shaping it and ultimately bringing it to life.

There are clearly reasons why you might separate sections of a strategy document for different audiences. However, I’ve found that in high-performing teams, giving key people below executive level access to the broader strategic thinking can have an incredible impact on both the team and the business.

For instance, a strategy document can be designed to work at multiple levels while the underlying thinking remains consistent. What changes is the level of detail brought forward for each audience and the decisions they need to make. Presenting the same information in the same way to everyone may feel efficient, but it often creates unnecessary friction.

The useful distinction isn’t necessarily who gets access to the strategy. It’s how you use that strategy with different audiences. The examples below show what I would emphasise for a board, an executive team and a marketing team, and why those differences matter.

If I were presenting the Everlab strategy to a board, I wouldn't spend time explaining campaign mechanics, channel plans or detailed execution frameworks. The conversation would stay focused on the commercial opportunity, the market dynamics driving change, the strategic growth pillars, key risks and the sequencing of priorities.

The objective at this level isn't to convince the board that every campaign idea is perfect. It's to demonstrate that the strategy supports the organisation's broader direction, makes disciplined commercial choices and provides a credible path for sustainable growth.

My Take:  The board doesn't need every detail. The main objective is to give them confidence that the strategic logic is sound enough to back the direction. And sometimes, they just need to know that the campaign detail exists.

By the time the strategy reaches the executive team, the priorities shouldn’t be appearing for the first time. They should already reflect conversations, KPIs, feedback and the two-way work that has taken place across the business.

The executive discussion is about making sure everyone is aligned around those priorities and understands what they mean across functions. That includes customer experience, product, operations, partnerships, data, lifecycle marketing and the dependencies between them. The conversation may be led by the CMO, COO or another executive, but someone needs to take responsibility for bringing the pieces together and ensuring the organisation is moving in the same direction.

Highly effective executive teams create momentum by aligning their functions behind the same priorities. That alignment compounds growth because the wider organisation can see how its work contributes, where collaboration is required and what success looks like.

My Take: Executive alignment isn’t a governance exercise. It’s what turns a set of agreed priorities into coordinated action across the business.

With the marketing team, I shift into the level of detail needed to begin execution. We'd examine audience segments, positioning, campaign concepts, behavioural tensions, measurement, channel roles, dependencies and the practical considerations behind each recommendation.

This is why I often develop campaign concepts over two pages rather than reducing them to a line or two. A short headline leaves too much room for interpretation. The team needs enough context to understand the intent, the parameters and the opportunity, then use their expertise to execute it, riff on it, expand it or find an even stronger expression of the idea.

I think of it as creativity in a box. The strategy creates firm parameters around what the campaign needs to achieve and the territory it should operate within, while still leaving plenty of room for people to bring their best thinking to it. Later, once everyone is aligned and the plan is fully developed, those parameters can tighten as the work moves into execution.

My Take: Give talented marketers a clear box to work within, then give them the freedom to make what’s inside it better.

Although each presentation is different, the strategy itself never changes. What changes is the level at which you need to communicate it.

This is what I think of as strategic altitude: understanding what’s required at different levels of the organisation, for different audiences and for the decisions they need to make. A board operates at a different altitude from an executive team, just as an executive team needs a different view from the people responsible for turning the strategy into campaigns and execution.

The skill is knowing which parts of the strategy to bring forward, how deeply to explore them and what context each audience needs without losing sight of the wider strategic story.

Get the altitude right and decisions become easier, alignment improves and execution accelerates. Get it wrong, and what looks like a strategy problem can actually be a communication problem.

This becomes relevant earlier than you might expect. A fast-scaling company may have only 20 employees, but add two or three advisers, an executive team, VCs and prospective investors, and suddenly the strategy needs to work for several very different audiences.

The underlying strategy remains consistent. What changes is the emphasis, supporting context and level of detail brought into the conversation.

That distinction matters. Presenting strategy at the right level isn’t about simplifying the thinking or creating multiple versions of the truth. It’s about helping people focus on the information most relevant to the decisions they need to make, while still giving them access to broader thinking when it’s useful.

Get that balance right and the benefits compound. Decisions become easier, teams align more quickly and people have enough context to contribute their expertise without having to reinterpret the strategy for themselves.

I’ve found there are three practical ways to make that happen.

Before building your presentation, ask what decision the audience is responsible for making. A board needs confidence in the commercial direction. An executive team needs to understand cross-functional implications. A marketing team needs enough detail to execute with confidence. When you begin with the decision rather than the document, the right level of detail becomes much clearer. 

Also, make sure you’ve spoken with key stakeholders and brought them along on the journey. That two-way involvement creates stronger buy-in. If those conversations haven’t helped shape the strategy and plan in the first place, you’re unlikely to have a genuinely aligned plan of attack.

The more responsibility an audience has for delivering the work, the more context they need. Avoid overwhelming senior stakeholders with execution details they don't need, while also avoiding broad strategic summaries that leave delivery teams searching for answers. The objective isn't to give everyone less information. It's to give each audience the information that helps them do their job well.

Tailoring a presentation should never mean changing the strategy itself. The commercial objectives, priorities and strategic choices should remain consistent regardless of the audience. What changes is the emphasis, supporting evidence and depth of explanation. Consistency builds trust, while appropriate detail creates confidence.

A strong strategy deserves more than a well-designed deck. Before sharing your next strategy, spend a few minutes thinking about what each audience actually needs from the presentation. The goal isn't simply to explain your thinking. It's to help each group make better decisions, build confidence and move the work forward.

Here are six questions to consider before your next strategy presentation.

Every presentation should begin with the decision, not the slides.

A board needs to decide whether the organisation should back the direction. An executive team needs to understand how the strategy affects the wider business. A marketing team needs enough detail to turn the strategy into execution. Once you're clear on the decision, the presentation becomes much easier to shape.

Consider This: If someone left your presentation after five minutes, would they understand the decision you needed them to make?

More information isn’t always better, but removing too much context can be just as damaging.

Think of it like watching Star Wars Episodes I, II and III together. Individual scenes or storylines may not seem essential on their own, but together they provide the context that makes the wider story make sense. Strategy works in much the same way. People need enough of the surrounding thinking to understand not only the decision in front of them, but how it connects to everything else.

The goal is to emphasise what matters most for that audience without stripping away the context they need to understand the bigger picture.

Consider This: Have you given this audience enough of the wider story to understand why this decision matters?

Understanding the strategy is one thing. Being able to act on it is another.

Delivery teams need enough practical context to move confidently from strategic direction into execution. Good strategy explains not only what should happen, but why, how and what success looks like. That doesn’t mean every execution detail needs to be locked down in the room, but people should leave knowing what they need to do next and where further detail will come from.

Consider This: Could someone confidently take the next step after this presentation, or have you left important execution questions unanswered?

Strategies rarely succeed because of marketing alone.

Help people see how the work connects across the business. Highlight dependencies, trade-offs and the functions that need to work together. The clearer those relationships become, the easier it is for leaders to align behind the strategy.

Consider This: Have you shown how the strategy fits into the wider business, or only how it affects your own team?

Different presentations should never become different strategies.

Tailor the depth of explanation, but keep the commercial objectives, strategic priorities and core narrative consistent. Consistency builds trust and prevents different groups from leaving with conflicting interpretations.

Consider This: Would every audience describe the strategy in broadly the same way after leaving the room?

The strongest strategy documents are modular.

Rather than creating separate strategies for different audiences, build one comprehensive document that allows sections to be expanded, condensed or rearranged depending on who you're speaking to. The strategy remains consistent while the presentation adapts to the audience.

Consider This: Are you creating multiple versions of your strategy, or one strategy that works for three different audiences?

Question for you:
Does your presentation give each audience the right level of information and context to make the decisions they need to make?

A strong strategy needs more than sound thinking to be deemed a success. It becomes effective when the people responsible for approving it, aligning around it and executing it all have the confidence to play their part in driving success. That confidence comes from giving each audience the information they need to make the decisions only they can make.

The strategy itself doesn’t need to (and often, shouldn't) change. The commercial objectives, priorities and direction remain constant. What changes is the level of detail and the areas of emphasis. Get that right, and strategy moves more smoothly from approval to alignment to execution. The result isn't just better presentations; it's better decisions, stronger alignment and faster growth.

Have you found success with this approach? A different one? I’d love to hear more about how you’re handling these challenges. Hit reply and tell me or simply click here and share your experiences. I respond directly, and the strongest topics often shape future editions.

See you in the next edition,
Geoff

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