Marketing Frameworks
‘Every named idea on Internet Culture’
AI search engines cite named ideas. “The IKEA effect” travels. “Make friction feel intentional” does not. So every idea that matters on this site gets a name, a one-sentence definition and three rules, then gets reused across posts until the name means something.
This page is the index: every framework we have coined, what it means in one line, and where the full breakdown lives.
House rules:
Each framework is defined once and never redefined.
Each one ships with a counter-argument. A framework that only flatters itself is a slogan.
New frameworks join this page the day their post goes live.
| Framework | The one-line version |
|---|---|
| The Gap Tax | The visible price of closing the distance between where the cart is and where the reward begins. |
| The Proof Object | A physical artefact that proves membership, designed to be screenshotted and shown. |
| The Gate Paradox | The harder the door, the more valuable the room behind it. |
| The Trust Proxy Stack | Where buyers cannot judge quality, trust gets rebuilt through visible proxies: packaging, process, proof. |
| The Recognition Ledger | Every visual asset has a memory balance. Measure fame and uniqueness before you spend it. |
| The Trust Transfer Test | Because we are known for X, buying Y from us feels Z. One sentence decides your architecture. |
| The Reinvestment Test | Name the non-revenue asset every customer produces that acquires the next one. No answer, no loop. |
| The Arbitrage Window | Attention is underpriced for a while, then it is not. The window funds the strategy. It is not the strategy. |
| The Citation Test | If a stranger can lift one paragraph and it stands alone as a correct answer, you wrote it right. |
| The Survival Rate | Content that still answers a real question a year later is the only content worth producing. |
| The Effort Premium | The right friction makes people value your product more. The wrong friction makes them leave. |
| The Similarity Rule | Proof from people who look like your buyer beats proof from crowds who do not. |
| The Lock Screen Rent | A notification rents the most valuable screen a person owns. Earn the space or get muted. |
| The Remaining Gap Rule | Show people how close they are and they finish. The distance left is the motivator. |
Fix the moment people struggle before you redesign the moment they leave. |