How It Works
Find a Fact
A specific, cited piece of evidence from your research.
Extract the Meaning
The 'so what?' — what this fact reveals about the business.
Make a Decision
A concrete, measurable recommendation the company should act on.
Build Your Card
Follow the steps to turn one piece of research into a strategic recommendation.
First, pick your bucket
Which area of the Situational Analysis does your fact belong to?
Coaching Corner
"Delete facts that don't change decisions."
Coaching Line #10 of 15
The Recommendation Formula
Every recommendation you write should follow this structure.
Because [FACT], we should [DECISION] so that [MEASURABLE OUTCOME].
FACT
A specific, cited data point from your research — not a vague observation.
e.g., "9-12% of dog supplement subscribers cancel monthly" (Company Data Room)
DECISION
A concrete action the company should take — specific enough that someone could start doing it tomorrow.
e.g., "Launch a 90-day onboarding drip sequence with vet-endorsed content"
MEASURABLE OUTCOME
A number you can track — a KPI that proves the decision is working.
e.g., "Reduce monthly churn from 12% to 8% within two quarters"
Full Examples
🐕 Dog Supplements
Because 9-12% of subscribers cancel monthly, we should launch a 90-day vet-endorsed onboarding drip so that monthly churn drops to 8% within two quarters.
💧 Hydrogen Wellness
Because the $1.5B hydrogen water market is growing 8.6% annually, we should launch a $29 starter kit targeting wellness-curious newcomers so that first-purchase conversion increases 15% in Q1.
🪒 Reusable Razors
Because 72% of consumers say sustainability influences purchases but only 22% switch brands, we should position the razor as "saves you $150/year" with sustainability as a bonus so that DTC trial sign-ups increase 20% in 6 months.
Where This Fits: The Marketing Plan
Your Fact → Meaning → Decision cards feed into a bigger structure. Here's the roadmap for the full semester.
Problem
What's the core issue the company needs to solve? (This is what your Situational Analysis reveals.)
Strategy
What's the big-picture approach to solving that problem?
Campaign
What's the creative concept or big idea that brings the strategy to life?
3 Tactics
What are the specific, measurable actions that execute the campaign?
Right now you're building the foundation (Problem). The rest comes later in the semester.