The Library
A living anthology of marketing frameworks—showing how the fundamentals have evolved across eras, agencies, and ideas. This is an ongoing project documenting the strategic systems that shaped modern marketing.
The Foundations
AIDA Model
E. St. Elmo Lewis
The original conversion funnel: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.
Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Rosser Reeves
Every ad must make a proposition to the consumer—one that's unique and compelling enough to move the masses.
Maslow's Hierarchy in Marketing
Abraham Maslow
Map products to human needs—from survival to self-actualization.
The 4 Ps
E. Jerome McCarthy
The framework that defined modern marketing management: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.
STP Framework
Philip Kotler / Al Ries & Jack Trout
Segment the market, target your audience, and position your brand in their minds.
The Golden Age
W+K Creative Brief
Wieden+Kennedy
Inspiration-driven briefs that unlock breakthrough creative work.
The Zag Framework
BBH (Bartle Bogle Hegarty)
When everyone zigs, zag. Strategic differentiation through deliberate contrarianism.
Purpose, Insight, Connection
Goodby Silverstein & Partners
The strategic structure behind "Got Milk?" and cultural resonance.
Truth, Tension, Idea
BBDO
Find the truth about your brand, identify the tension in the market, solve it with an idea.
Brand Onion
BBH London
Peel back the layers—from attributes to benefits to values to essence.
Porter's Five Forces
Michael Porter
Analyze competitive intensity through supplier power, buyer power, substitutes, new entrants, and rivalry.
Ansoff Matrix
Igor Ansoff
Four growth strategies: Market Penetration, Market Development, Product Development, Diversification.
Perceptual Mapping
Market Research Practice
Visualize competitive positioning on two-axis grids to find whitespace opportunities.
Brand Equity Model
David Aaker
Brand equity as a strategic asset—awareness, loyalty, perceived quality, associations, and proprietary assets.
The Modern System
Brand Relationship Spectrum
David Aaker & Erich Joachimsthaler
Map brand architecture from House of Brands to Branded House—how sub-brands relate to the master brand.
Jobs to Be Done
Clayton Christensen / Tony Ulwick
People don't buy products—they hire them to make progress in their lives.
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Fred Reichheld / Bain & Company
One question to measure loyalty: "How likely are you to recommend us?"
Design Thinking
IDEO / Stanford d.school
Human-centered innovation through empathy, ideation, and rapid prototyping.
Blue Ocean Strategy
W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne
Create uncontested market space by making competition irrelevant.
POST Model
Forrester Research
Social media strategy framework: People, Objectives, Strategy, Technology.
Customer Decision Journey
McKinsey & Company
The circular, iterative path customers take from consideration to advocacy.
The Lean Startup
Eric Ries
Build-Measure-Learn loop for rapid experimentation and validated learning.
Last-Touch Attribution
Google Analytics
Credit the final interaction before conversion—simple, flawed, but foundational.
Pirate Metrics (AARRR)
Dave McClure
Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, Referral—the startup growth framework.
See-Think-Do-Care
Avinash Kaushik / Google
Intent-based marketing framework that maps content to audience mindset.
Content Strategy Practice
Rachel Lovinger / Razorfish
Content as a strategic discipline—planning, creation, delivery, and governance for digital experiences.
Content Strategy for the Web
Kristina Halvorson
The foundational text on planning, creating, and governing content at scale.
The Algorithmic Age
The Hook Model
Nir Eyal
How products create habits—Trigger, Action, Variable Reward, Investment.
Value Ladder
Russell Brunson
Move customers from low-ticket offers to high-ticket programs through strategic value sequencing.
Brand Relevance Index
Prophet
Measure brand health through four pillars: customer obsession, ruthless pragmatism, pervasive innovation, and distinctive inspiration.
Growth Loops
Brian Balfour & Casey Winters
Design compounding feedback loops where usage drives new acquisition.
North Star Metric
Sean Ellis / Amplitude
Align the organization around a single leading metric that represents delivered value.
Product-Led Growth (PLG)
Wes Bush / OpenView Partners
Let the product be the primary driver of acquisition, conversion, and expansion—freemium as strategy.
ROAS-LTV/CAC Loop
Performance Marketing
Quant model balancing paid efficiency (ROAS) with retention value (LTV/CAC ratio).
Marketing Mix Modeling 2.0
Meta / Nielsen
Statistical attribution that models incrementality, media mix, and cross-channel impact at scale.
Design Language Systems
Google / IBM / Airbnb
Modular, scalable design systems that create consistency across products and platforms.
Platform Narrative Frameworks
Netflix / Spotify / Nike
Brand storytelling at scale through ecosystem integration—where narrative meets infrastructure.
AI-Assisted Creative Frameworks
OpenAI / Midjourney / Various
Human-machine collaboration in creative production—from ideation to execution.
Community-Led Growth
CMX / Common Room
When your community becomes your growth engine—acquisition, activation, and retention driven by member engagement.
Creator Economy Framework
Li Jin
The shift from influencers to entrepreneurs—building independent income through direct audience relationships.
Required Reading
The books that shaped modern marketing thinking—from positioning to behavioral economics.
Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind
Al Ries & Jack Trout
The definitive book on owning a word in the consumer's mind.
How Brands Grow
Byron Sharp
Evidence-based marketing laws that challenge conventional wisdom.
Hegarty on Advertising
John Hegarty
The BBH founder's philosophy on creativity, strategy, and building legendary work.
The Long and the Short of It
Les Binet & Peter Field
Balancing brand-building and sales activation for optimal effectiveness.
Obviously Awesome
April Dunford
Product positioning for B2B—making your value unmistakably clear.
Alchemy
Rory Sutherland
The dark art and curious science of creating magic in brands, business, and life.
FRMWRKS | 42 frameworks + 6 books | Updated 2025