Description:

Things are feeling... crunchy.

In this episode of Catch 22, we're unpacking what happens to marketing when business confidence drops and budgets start tightening.

We break down why "fractional" seems to be the buzzword of 2026, whether it's actually a sign of the economy, and why consultants might need a rebrand. Then we tackle one of the biggest shifts happening across agencies right now: the disappearing junior workforce. Is AI replacing entry-level roles, or are businesses creating a future skills shortage?

From there, we dive into marketing budgets. Why is marketing always the first thing to get cut? What should businesses protect during an economic downturn? And how do you decide what to stop without breaking your entire acquisition funnel?

Finally, we wrap up with a discussion on sunk cost fallacy, making faster decisions with data, and a debate about whether phones belong in the workplace at all.

A conversation about uncertainty, smarter marketing, and why playing it safe isn't always the safest option.

Links from the episode:

📊 NAB Business Confidence Index

🎓 TRMNL Agency Report

👤 Mikayla Nicol on LinkedIn

👤 Ashton Tuckerman on LinkedIn

🌐 TwentyTwo Digital

In this episode of Catch 22, we’re throwing open the agency doors with our very first guest.

Joining us is Sarah Pelecanos - founder of TwentyTwo Digital, creator of Full Stack Marketer, 30 Under 30 winner, and, well… our boss.

Sarah shares her thoughts on the AI panic, what people underestimate about running an agency, and the hidden mental load that comes with leading a growing team.

We unpack what’s changed as the business has scaled, why founders need to stop being the smartest person in the room, and the challenge of finding your place as a business grows beyond you.

Then we get into the messy stuff: hiring friends, being “unmanageable” as an employee, career growth, TikTok, agency hot takes, and the marketing advice Sarah thinks people get wrong.

A mix of founder lessons, marketing debates, and chaos.

Links from the episode:

🎓 Full Stack Marketer

👤 Sarah Pelecanos on LinkedIn

👤 Mikayla Nicol on LinkedIn

👤 Ashton Tuckerman on Linkedin

🌐 ⁠TwentyTwo Digital⁠

In this episode of Catch 22, we’re going from the future to the past, and somehow finding our way back to the present 🔮

We kick things off with a slightly terrifying story about AI psychosis (seriously, check Nan’s phone 👵📱) before diving into the ethics of AI “therapy”, therapy bots, and whether guardrails around AI are keeping up with reality.

Then we open up the generational group chat: millennial managers 🤝 Gen Z teams. From dial-up internet and Ask Jeeves to “what’s a dongle?”, we unpack why younger generations are romanticising an offline world they never actually lived through.

Finally, we throw it way back (and it’s not even Thursday) to unpack the rise of nostalgia marketing: why brands are leaning into Y2K aesthetics, loud visuals, retro internet culture, and how to tap into the trend without the cringe.

Links from the episode:

• Coinbase “Your Way Out” advert
• Victa Mowers
• Apple “For All Mankind” Time Capsule
• What's a Dongle

Catch 22 is here! This is our debut, so it could be terrible... we'll let you be the judge.

Welcome to Episode 1 of Catch 22: the marketing podcast from TwentyTwo Digital where Ashton Tuckerman and Mikayla Nicol turn down the noise and turn up the conversations that actually matter.

In this episode, we're breaking down five marketing trends defining 2026, including:

🤖 AI influencers: hype, helpful, or quietly unsettling? #Hashtags: dead, reborn, or just misunderstood?🔥 Plus: Rage-bait as a brand strategy, The offline marketing resurgence, and ChatGPT ads in Australia (early adoption play or wait-and-see era?)

Finally, a little segment we call "UNspo", where we drag the campaigns that really needed another draft.

Brands and campaigns we get into: Good Rituals (and the founder-led content playbook), the Dove Reddit campaign and its Real Bodies platform, Priceline Pharmacy's menopause campaign, and the industrial resin TikTok account we're secretly obsessed with.

Hit play and let's catch up!

🎧 Find us at twentytwodigital.com