Work
Work.
Two kinds of evidence. Client work I was paid to lead, described as far as I am allowed to describe it, and the systems I run my own practice on, described completely.
Each study prints its receipt as you reach it: the figures it states, and the line it withholds.
№ 00this pagestudies22named clients18systems running4figures stated49lines withheld18fabricated0
The record
Twenty-eight years of it, four companies founded and two sold. The studies here are named clients: the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in India, Malaria No More, and two coalitions run out of Xynteo. Each one is written at the altitude the confidentiality allows, which means the method is on the page and the client's internal language is not. The brand work for P&G, Coca-Cola, Sony Mobile and Unilever at Publicis and Xynteo sits under agency confidentiality and is not written up here, but it is a large part of the record.
- № 012013The Times of IndiaSixty thousand organ donors in nine daysOver 60,000 organ-donor sign-ups in nine days, against the roughly 4,500 a year a typical NGO was receivingoutcomeOver 60,000 organ-donor sign-ups in nine days, against the roughly 4,500 a year a typical NGO was receivingthe specificsnot mine to publishread the study →
- № 022013Pearl Academy (Creative Arts Education Society), IndiaGiving graduating students one last thing they could do about it218 student portfolios from three campuses, 18,671 organically driven visitors, 11,007 votes and an email database of 12,662 — with no paid promotionoutcome218 student portfolios from three campuses, 18,671 organically driven visitors, 11,007 votes and an email database of 12,662 — with no paid promotionthe specificsnot mine to publishread the study →
- № 032014Sony (Sony India), IndiaLetting customers prove the product, when the brand had stopped being believedThree campaigns on one principle — the owner demonstrates the product — and a brand trust ranking that moved from fifth in 2012 to second in 2014outcomeThree campaigns on one principle — the owner demonstrates the product — and a brand trust ranking that moved from fifth in 2012 to second in 2014the specificsnot mine to publishread the study →
- № 042014Coca-Cola (Coca-Cola India), IndiaMaking an American brand Indian, without pretending it was not AmericanA won pitch: a communications framework built from one finding — that happiness in India is collective rather than individual — and the ecosystem, methodology and measurement model that followed it into executionoutcomeA won pitch: a communications framework built from one finding — that happiness in India is collective rather than individual — and the ecosystem, methodology and measurement model that followed it into executionthe specificsnot mine to publishread the study →
- № 052015Whirlpool (Whirlpool India), IndiaA brand whose online presence was a complaints deskReputation management run as a measured operating discipline — complaints received and closed, month on month — alongside a premium launch that had to sit in the same feedoutcomeReputation management run as a measured operating discipline — complaints received and closed, month on month — alongside a premium launch that had to sit in the same feedthe specificsnot mine to publishread the study →
- № 062015Snapdeal, IndiaSeventy-four per cent of the complaints were not about the productsA diagnosis that located the reputation problem in after-sales service rather than in communications, and a buyer segmentation built for what each segment could be asked to dooutcomeA diagnosis that located the reputation problem in after-sales service rather than in communications, and a buyer segmentation built for what each segment could be asked to dothe specificsnot mine to publishread the study →
- № 072015Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, IndiaA national communications architecture for a foundation's largest country programAudience, narrative, voice, risk and measurement, delivered as one systemwonMay 2015team25frameworks, as one system7audiences mapped11Indians aged 16 to 2477,000,000with an active interest in social good23,000,000who could genuinely move an issue2,300influencers the foundation followed back0 of 38the specificsnot mine to publishread the study →
- № 082016SK-II (Procter & Gamble), Singapore, Greater China, Japan and KoreaAn agency model rebuilt around influence, six weeks before the contract endedA fixed retainer redesigned as a core team plus a variable open layer, with influence-to-commerce as the always-on spine, inside the same feeoutcomeA fixed retainer redesigned as a core team plus a variable open layer, with influence-to-commerce as the always-on spine, inside the same feethe specificsnot mine to publishread the study →
- № 092016Pampers (Procter & Gamble), JapanListening to Japanese mothers, with the sample size written downA year-round social insights program that ran: three questions, three methods, a ten-week framework and a stated statistical standardoutcomeA year-round social insights program that ran: three questions, three methods, a ten-week framework and a stated statistical standardthe specificsnot mine to publishread the study →
- № 102016Pampers (Procter & Gamble), ChinaConnecting influence to sales, for a brand that had never been able toContent to Commerce ran for Pampers in China: earned content converted into targeted programmatic units, measured against sales lift by a third partyoutcomeContent to Commerce ran for Pampers in China: earned content converted into targeted programmatic units, measured against sales lift by a third partythe specificsnot mine to publishread the study →
- № 112016Clear (Unilever), IndiaAnswering a brief with the three questions the client had actually askedAn approach rather than an answer: the client's own three questions played back as the agenda, with a workshop, a filter for emerging technology, and a definition of what would count as successoutcomeAn approach rather than an answer: the client's own three questions played back as the agenda, with a workshop, a filter for emerging technology, and a definition of what would count as successthe specificsnot mine to publishread the study →
- № 122016Malaria No More, IndiaThe counting failure underneath India's malaria failureA health problem re-described as a data problem, with the funding chain tracedcolleagues5malaria deaths, 2013, as reported440as certified5,428as estimated by the ICMR committee40,297as estimated in The Lancet205,000funding per person, one district₹2.5of which survived establishment costs₹1paid to a health worker for a positive slide₹75the specificsnot mine to publishread the study →
- № 132017XynteoA stack is a training schedule that happens to include softwareA digital strategy for the organisation built from seventeen interviews, five guiding principles, and a stack where every tool carried a named owner, a learning resource and a quarter to learn it inoutcomeA digital strategy for the organisation built from seventeen interviews, five guiding principles, and a stack where every tool carried a named owner, a learning resource and a quarter to learn it inthe specificsnot mine to publishread the study →
- № 142017DB SchenkerThe second wave is not the first wave againA culture-change programme designed to run in waves for five years, and the technology stack to carry it — built on the distinction between inventing a future and transmitting oneoutcomeA culture-change programme designed to run in waves for five years, and the technology stack to carry it — built on the distinction between inventing a future and transmitting onethe specificsnot mine to publishread the study →
- № 152017Xynteo, India 2022Making a cross-sector coalition something a company could actually joinFour impact tracks, each with a founding partner and named pilot projectsimpact tracks4skills, against a goal of500,000,000 peopleenergise, enough for10,000,000 peopleconnectedness, broadband to600,000 villagessanitation, an indoor toilet inevery homefounding partner per track1pilot partners named in the skills track8the specificsnot mine to publishread the study →
- № 162019An Indian conglomerateWhen a company can no longer be believed about its own good worksA commissioned business-led coalition incubating profitable, sustainable projects in energy, food, water and work, publishing a quarterly state of the nationoutcomeA commissioned business-led coalition incubating profitable, sustainable projects in energy, food, water and work, publishing a quarterly state of the nationthe specificsnot mine to publishread the study →
- № 172019A global bankMeasuring hate speech in a language the machines could not readA commissioned detection, discovery and classification method for Hindi and Hindi-English code-mixed hate speech, run across the 2019 Indian general electionoutcomeA commissioned detection, discovery and classification method for Hindi and Hindi-English code-mixed hate speech, run across the 2019 Indian general electionthe specificsnot mine to publishread the study →
- № 182019Xynteo, Europe DeliversEurope Delivers: reading twenty-nine countries with machines and analysts togetherA 211-page study whose processing never left the reader's browserpublishedApril 2019pages211countries29analyzed in depth7themes4collection window30 daysnumbers reported for sentiment2data sent to a server0the specificsnot mine to publishread the study →
The estate
Thirty-four workflows running at a 0.47% failure rate — seven failures in 1,498 runs, a private retrieval corpus on hardware I own, public semantic search across two domains, and an 11,278-person relationship graph. None of it is a product. It exists so that when I tell a client the advice is executable, there is something running to point at.
- № 192026MarainA real-time attention index fused from many public signalsSix noisy signals, one decision-ready scorepublic signals fused6entities trackednearly 100scores out1refreshedevery few hoursweightingexposeddescribedcompletelyread the study →
- № 202026MarainA private AI appliance that runs entirely on hardware you ownOpen models on-device, with nothing leaving the buildingmachines1external API calls0data leaving the device0automations, always on3the estate's private corpuslives heredescribedcompletelyread the study →
- № 212026MarainThe Foundry: a machine that turns an idea into a live repositoryFrom a market signal to a repository an agent can build incommands from idea to live repository1stack every project inherits1cadencelabmoney at riskminedescribedcompletelyread the study →
- № 222026MarainAI-assisted deal authoring inside a revenue-operations platformA pasted brief becomes a structured, priced dealinputa pasted briefoutputa structured, priced dealcatalog the model is constrained tothe platform's ownhumans in the loop where money is committed1describedcompletelyread the study →