It’s not a midlife crisis if you call it a rebrand.

It’s Wednesday. And we’re back.

You might be wondering where we’ve been. Fair question.

The short version? We’ve been rebuilding AdVenture Academy from the ground up.

The longer version—well, that’s what this newsletter is about now.

See, over the past few months, we’ve been knee-deep in something we thought would take a few weeks. It didn’t. It never does. Because what started as “let’s freshen things up a bit” quickly turned into a full-blown rebrand, business model audit, content overhaul, tech rebuild, and existential therapy session for our entire digital education platform.

We asked hard questions.
We made wrong turns.
We threw out good ideas to make room for better ones.

And through all that, we realized something: this messy, strategic, occasionally painful rebuilding process is actually worth sharing.

So from here on out, this newsletter is shifting gears.

We’re taking you behind the scenes—not just for the what, but for the why.
Why we made the decisions we made.
What we learned the hard way.
What we’d do again, and what we’d absolutely never touch with a ten-foot pixel.

And we’ll use each of these behind-the-scenes updates to drop insights that will help you with your own brand — whether you’re running a marketing agency, building a business, or just trying to figure out how to make your ad strategy make sense again.

Think of it like a serialized masterclass on how to build a brand and a marketing strategy without losing your mind (or your margins). You'll get insight into:

The brand strategy decisions we're making
Audience research and positioning lessons
Funnel structure changes
New course design logic
Platform rebuilds and tech nightmares
What we thought would work and didn’t
What we didn’t expect to work but did

But let’s start where we started:

With market research.

Not the “we ran a survey once” kind. I mean deep, ongoing, strategic insight-gathering from our actual users.

Because here’s the uncomfortable truth we all need to face...

If you’re not doing market research constantly, you’re not evolving — you’re guessing. And guessing is expensive.

So here’s what we did — and what you can do too:

1. We built research into our onboarding.

Every time someone bought the Ultimate Digital Advertising Library, we didn’t just send a welcome email. We gave them a custom learning plan. And to do that, we asked them to tell us:

Who they are (role, industry, experience level)
What they’re struggling with
What they want to learn
What kind of results they’re trying to get

Thousands of people filled this out. And the responses didn’t just help us personalize their learning — they gave us an insanely clear picture of what our market is actually struggling with right now.

2. We did direct strategy calls.

We ran a short-term promotion where we offered 30-minute calls with new students. That may sound like a logistical disaster (it was), but it gave us the best qualitative research we’ve ever gotten. People told us their goals, their roadblocks, their frustrations with other courses, agencies, platforms.

We took notes. Then we turned those into real changes in what we teach and how we teach it.

3. We looked for patterns — not just problems.

Once we had all that raw data, we didn’t just tally up the most common answers. We looked deeper.

What’s the gap between what people say they want and what they actually need?
Where are people overestimating their skills — and where are they underestimating their potential?
What questions kept popping up that no one else seemed to be answering?

That helped us design a curriculum that’s not just popular — it’s actually useful. And we're so excited to be rolling it out soon!

So what’s the takeaway for you?

If you're building a business, launching a product, or even just trying to figure out what content to post this week, here’s what I’d recommend:

Embed research into your process. Don’t treat it like a one-time project. Make it a habit.
Make it valuable for them, too. Strategy sessions, assessments, resources — they’ll happily give you insight if they’re getting something useful in return.
Look beyond the surface. Don’t just count how many people said “I need help with Meta ads.” Ask why they’re struggling. What’s missing? What’s confusing? What have they already tried?

And most importantly, keep listening even after you think you’ve figured it out. Your audience changes. Platforms change. Expectations change. And your brand has to change with them.

I’m genuinely excited to have you along for the ride—and honestly, I’d love your help too.

We’re building this with you, not just for you. We love hearing from our students. Your insights, ideas, questions, frustrations—all of it helps us make this better. And the highest honor, always, is when the student becomes the master.

So if something resonates… or doesn’t… or sparks an idea of your own — just hit reply. I read every single one. Mostly because I care. And slightly because it gives me an excellent excuse to procrastinate.

Here’s a little of what’s coming up in the next few issues:

The strategy behind our new positioning
The audience segments we thought we understood
What we tossed out (with only mild regret)
What we held onto (with white knuckles)
The frameworks and tools we’re using that you can borrow, bend, or build on

It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be honest.
And if you’re building a brand—yours or someone else’s—it’s going to be useful in ways you probably won’t expect.

Until then, here’s something fun to play with we built this week.

👉 Influencer Marketing Media Plan Calculator

This is a plug-and-play tool we built to help you scope influencer campaigns. This is just a small sneak peek into what's coming with the new courses. We’ll teach you not just how to use tools like this, but how to build them yourself using AI. Because real value comes from understanding the strategy behind the output.

So buckle up.
It’s going to be creative.
It’s going to be strategic.
And somewhere in between, we might all figure out how to make advertising make sense again.

More soon.
We’re just getting started.

— Isaac

P.S. If you’ve been meaning to join the Academy, now’s the time.
It’s 50% off for a limited time — and after what we’re building next, you’ll wish you got in early.