The Elastic Truth

In digital marketing, explanations wobble all the time.

"Our metrics are down because of the algorithm change."

"The campaign underperformed due to seasonal factors."

"Engagement dropped because users are platform-fatigued."

The best agencies have rigid explanations — the mediocre ones have elastic ones that stretch to fit any outcome.

Great agencies know precisely why something worked or didn't. Their explanations don't bend to accommodate failures or unexpected results.

The flexible ones create after-the-fact narratives that could explain almost any outcome.

This flexibility isn't agility — it's a warning light.

When you find yourself crafting increasingly flexible explanations for client results, you're not solving problems.

You're hiding them.

The opportunity?

Develop explanatory discipline:

• Make predictions beforehand
• Document your reasoning
• Be uncomfortably specific about causation

The agencies that win aren't those with the most creative excuses, but those whose explanations are too rigid to bend when reality hits.

What marketing explanation have you made flexible lately that should have stayed firm?