Kathleen Schaub

Kathleen is an author, speaker, and strategist on marketing management. She draws on decades of experience, combined with science to deliver fresh, practical insights for organizations seeking to thrive in complex, uncertain, markets.

About the Book

Marketing leaders face an uphill battle: their teams are expected to deliver predictable, measurable results in a world characterized by uncertainty, human behavior, and complexity. Traditional approaches attempt to treat marketing as a vending machine where input guarantees output. But this outdated approach sets CMOs up for frustration in today’s dynamic business environment.

Kathleen Schaub, marketing innovator, former CMO and research analyst, reveals a radically needed shift in thinking that will not only bring clarity to the whole organization but help CMOs thrive in the chaos. Drawing on decades of experience combined with relevant science, Schaub explains why industrial-era practices fall short today and outlines a more flexible approach that embraces marketing as a complex system. Schaub’s method begins with four essential mindset shifts—think like an investor, navigator, statistician, and ecologist—and builds on them with actionable operational changes in intelligence, teams, work methods, and change management.

Marketing in the (Great, Big, Messy) Real World empowers marketing leaders to create adaptable, resilient marketing systems that thrive in uncertainty. Unlock your team’s full potential and turn complexity into opportunity.

Praise for Marketing in the (Great, Big, Messy) Real World

"Kathleen does a superb job of weaning us away from the false allure of deterministic operating models of a prior era of industrial automation to embrace instead more agile approach to our ever-changing digitally transforming marketplace. "

Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm and Zone to Win
"Marketing is complex and uncertain. Rather than wish that away, Kathleen Schaub shows how to strategically harness that reality to your advantage. She's delivered an insightful and thought-provoking playbook for how marketing teams can embrace the great, big, messy real world and thrive in it. A must read for today's marketing leader."

Scott Brinker, Editor, chiefmartec
“For marketing leaders scratching their heads over unpredictable results despite all their best efforts, this book doesn't just explain why — it shows you a better way forward.”

Jon Miller, B2B expert and cofounder of Marketo and Engagio
"Drawing from her experience advising Fortune 500 companies and startups, Schaub helps leaders embrace uncertainty as an opportunity to unlock organizational potential. Rather than following traditional strategies, she provides pragmatic, actionable capabilities to build adaptive marketing systems in today’s modern world. With her guidance, marketing leaders can gain the agility and strategic foresight needed for long-term success. She’s also an exceptional storyteller; this is a must read!”

Holly Rollo, former CMO, author of The Power of Surge, CEO of Surge Strategies
“Kathleen Schaub is no stranger to the battle for customer mindshare and market share in a digitally connected economy. A veteran of Silicon Valley and beyond, she delivers a timely treatise for the AI-powered marketing era with a call for collective, on-demand intelligence in the enterprise and agile operation by cross-functional, integrated teams. Perhaps marketing today has to resemble modern warfare relying on automated drone oversight and real-time data feeds to guide adaptive, predictive, and opportunistic tactical action in the field.”

Donovan Neale-May, executive director, CMO Council
“Kathleen Schaub’s new book Marketing in the (Great Big Messy) Real World is a primer on the new rules of the game that are barreling down the road fast.Teams and leaders have to see going to market as a network of many causes and effects. They must be bookies, using their view into causality to place better bets and make better decisions. Kathleen tells it like it is, and if you don’t listen to what she says in this new and provocative book, you’ll wish you had.”

Mark Stouse, CEO of ProofAnalytics.ai and FIDUCIARI.ai

Recent Articles

Are You Great at Marketing, or Just Lucky?

With the right mindset and practices, marketers can become drivers of luck, not just passive receivers. (CMSwire, Dec 2024)

Two “Gotchas” that Make Predictions Go Crazy Wrong

There’s an old saying, “Predicting the future is easy. Getting it right is hard.” Why? Many predictions start off already biased and the future is non-linear. (LinkedIn, November 2024)

5 Steps to Marketing Innovation with Creative Problem-solving

Break free from boring ideas with these actionable steps to spark innovation and solve marketing problems. (Martech.org, October 2024)

Don’t Forget Marketing Leaders, Take Care of Yourself

Whether it's a walk with the dog before a stressful Zoom or just sitting quietly reflecting, marketers need to find some me time. (CMSwire, September 2024)

Better than Average: The Dunning-Kruger Effect in Marketing

Why does almost everyone think they are an above-average driver? Or parent or leader or marketer? Of course, this is statistically impossible, yet repeated research demonstrates proof of this phenomenon. (LinkedIn, August 2024)

Nature’s Inspiration for Transforming Your Marketing Plan

Revolutionize your marketing with pace-layered planning inspired by nature's resilience, balancing quick adaptations with long-term stability. (Martech.org, August 2024)