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# The marketing hypothesis — Kelford Labs Daily
- URL: https://kelfordinc.com/the-marketing-hypothesis-kelford-labs-daily/
- Published: 2025-05-08T10:24:36.000Z
- Updated: 2026-01-27T13:15:48.000Z
- Description: What will work?
- Author: Joel Kelly
- Tags: Daily Labs, experiment, position, patience

> “A good strategy is, in the end, a hypothesis about what will work. Not a wild theory, but an educated judgment.”  
>  
> — Richard P. Rumelt, Good Strategy/Bad Strategy

What do we do with a hypothesis?

Well, we test it.

**That’s what marketing comes down to: Creating a** [**position**](https://kelfordinc.com/the-condition-of-your-position-kelford-labs-weekly/) **based on what we *know* about our ideal customers.**

And then creating messages that *reinforce* and *demonstrate* that position, that value, at a distance.

But since our messages must cross space and time, must be converted from nonverbal thought into language and then back again, some things might get lost.

Some impact might get muted.

Some idea might be missed.

**Which means we must** [**experiment**](https://kelfordinc.com/marketing-is-making-small-mistakes-kelford-labs-weekly/)**. We must test. We must try.**

Not wildly, not randomly. But carefully. Thoughtfully.

And [patiently](https://kelfordinc.com/marketing-is-something-you-do-kelford-labs-weekly/).

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