<div class="gn-article"><div class="gn-hero gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-hero__image"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a16dbd5cd1f679fb0e15464_entry-001-banner-69724c49ef104199170266.webp" alt=""></div> <div class="gn-hero__head"> <span class="gn-kicker"><span class="dot"></span>Expression</span> <h1 class="gn-title">The Secret Diary of a CMO Entry 006: January Changes the Questions</h1> <div class="gn-meta"> <strong>The GO Network</strong> <span class="pip"></span> <span>22 January 2026</span> <span class="pip"></span> <span>3 min read</span> </div> </div> </div> <div class="gn-body"> <p class="gn-lede gn-reveal">It's been a while since the last entry and that wasn't a deliberate pause or a loss of nerve, it was simply reality. November and December in this role aren't reflective months, they're operational ones, and by the time Christmas arrives you're usually too tired to explain what's happening, let alone write it down in a way that's honest.</p> <h2 class="gn-reveal">January changes the tone</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">January, though, always changes the tone.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Not because it's a fresh start. In this business it never is. Our financial year runs April to March, which means January is the start of our Q4, and that's when the space disappears. By now the plans are set, the big bets are already placed, and the room for manoeuvre narrows fast.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">What January brings is both optimism, naturally, but also scrutiny. The festive period drops away, trading performance lands properly, and suddenly every conversation sharpens.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The questions move from "what are we trying to do?" to "is this actually working?" and "what happens if it doesn't?"</p> <p class="gn-reveal">You may have seen some of the industry coverage doing the rounds again about flatlining marketing budgets and cautious outlooks. That reporting has been circulating internally too, but in a business like ours it's less about panic and more about pressure. When margins are tight and supply chains are still unpredictable, marketing doesn't get cut first, but it does get examined more closely.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">That examination shows up in small, relentless ways.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Retail partners want clearer commitments. Finance wants firmer forecasts. Legal and regulatory teams are suddenly in earlier conversations, particularly now that the practical implications of tighter food and drink advertising rules are being felt rather than discussed in theory. None of this is unreasonable, but all of it slows things down.</p> <h2 class="gn-reveal">Protecting focus</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">What I've spent most of January doing so far is not reimagining strategy, but protecting focus.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Protecting the team from noise that doesn't help them do better work. Protecting the agencies from being dragged into circular debates that don't change the outcome. And protecting the core direction we agreed back in September, even as it gets pulled at from multiple angles.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Behind the scenes, my team has been doing the work that never gets written about.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Closing Q3 properly rather than glossing over it. Being honest about where campaigns underperformed and not blaming execution by default.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Updating briefs to reflect what we now know about shopper behaviour rather than what we hoped would be true six months ago.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Sitting with sales colleagues and listening to uncomfortable feedback without becoming defensive.</p> <aside class="gn-quote gn-reveal"><q>The agencies who have helped most over this period haven't been the loudest or the most theatrical. They've been the ones who came back with clear options, who were explicit about trade-offs, who understood that in January clarity matters more than charm.</q><cite>The Secret CMO</cite></aside> <h2 class="gn-reveal">Narrowing, not starting</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">There's a misconception that January is about starting new things. But in our business and for me, it's about narrowing. Narrowing priorities. Narrowing language. Narrowing the number of decisions we're willing to revisit.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">By now, most of the big choices are made. The job is to execute them without panic and without unnecessary reinvention. There are moments when the organisation looks at marketing as the lever it can still pull, the variable it can still adjust, and that's when leadership becomes less about creativity and more about judgement. Knowing when to hold your ground and when to adapt without unravelling the whole plan.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">We're heading into the final stretch of the year now. Q4 is where confidence either compounds or collapses. We've had a good year to date, but the next few months could make it a great year.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">What keeps me steady at this point is not the dashboards or the forecasts, it's watching the team operate with more maturity than they did a year ago, seeing agencies engage with the commercial reality rather than pushing against it, and recognising that progress in a role like this is rarely loud.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">January tightens everything. But it also clarifies what actually matters.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">More soon.</p> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>The Secret CMO</strong></p> </div></div> <aside class="gn-related gn-reveal" data-auto="related-reading"> <div class="gn-related__label">Related reading</div> <ul class="gn-related__list"> <li class="gn-related__item"> <a href="/articles/the-secret-diary-of-a-cmo-entry-003-we-spent-four-months-aligning-on-a-slide-no-one-used" class="gn-related__link"> <span class="gn-related__category">Expression</span> <span class="gn-related__title">The Secret Diary of a CMO Entry 003: We Spent Four Months Aligning on a Slide No One Used</span> <span class="gn-related__excerpt">A CMO&#39;s candid account of four months refining one slide that never shipped. 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