Six playbooks. Built from real programs, not desk research.
Practical frameworks across customer data and personalisation, retention economics, regulated marketing, commercial integration and scaling new channels from zero – built from skills honed across roles at Domain, eBay & GCA (Gumtree, CarsGuide, Autotrader) and IAG (NRMA Insurance), ready for when your business is navigating any one of them.
Why these exist
Every business problem below started as one of the patterns we cover on Business Challenges – and every playbook is built from work Tim Lloyd actually delivered, with further context available in parallel on Selected Work. Company names, individuals and specific financial figures have been removed throughout. What’s left is the structural pattern: the frameworks, sequencing and judgment calls that made each case defensible, transferable to your business regardless of exactly which platform or program you’re running.
The six playbooks
Each one runs to a consistent structure: context, the framework itself, an FAQ, a glossary and full references. Read them in any order – they’re a connected series, and each one links to the others where the disciplines overlap. All six come as a single free download – enter your email once, below the cards, and download the complete series instantly, no waiting on an inbox.
The CDP Business Case Playbook
Building a customer data platform business case that survives Finance, not just the vendor pitch.
- Composable, packaged or hybrid: how to pick the right CDP architecture for your team and data maturity
- Building uplift models Finance can independently test, and discounting your own optimism before Finance does
- Pricing the true five-part cost of ownership, not just the licence fee
- Five alternative business cases to try when a full revenue-uplift model doesn’t fit your starting point
The Operating Model Playbook
Scaling personalisation as a governed, cross-functional capability inside a regulated enterprise.
- The four-layer accountability model separating prioritisation, orchestration, execution and governance
- Journey squads versus home teams: who decides what gets sent, and who supplies the channel craft
- A three-horizon roadmap for sequencing the build without over-promising Horizon 3 on Horizon 1 foundations
- Designing governance for a regulated environment from day one, not retrofitted once the platform is live
The Retention Economics Playbook
Why the moments after the sale, not the sale itself, are where the real margin gets built.
- A hero case in automotive retail: layering ownership, behavioural and adjacent-category signals to find the moment that matters
- An omnichannel insurance case built on suppression, win-back, retention proof-points and loyalty bundling
- Why Domain and REA build tools, not just listings, and what that means outside property
- The five-stage orchestration system used by banking, subscription and telco leaders to compound retention gains
The FSI Marketing Playbook
Operationalising regulated marketing at the pace the business needs, inside a compliance environment that wasn’t designed for that pace.
- The 2026 Australian regulatory landscape – RG 234, GICOP, APRA CPS 230/234 and the Privacy Act – treated as one integrated picture, not four separate checklists
- Why legal, risk and cyber need distinct seats in governance, not one collapsed compliance step
- Building vulnerability guardrails into segmentation logic as a technical control, not a manual afterthought
- Generative AI in regulated marketing: why the guardrail is the enabler, not the blocker
The M&A Integration Playbook
Combining marketing operations, brand architecture and commercial revenue after a merger, written for the integration after the deal, not the deal itself.
- Three brand architecture patterns: one market, a federated portfolio, or a phased hybrid approach
- Why data and audience unification is the technical bridge every other synergy depends on
- Three distinct revenue synergy types, tracked separately, each with its own realisation timeline
- Consumer synergy uplift: a customer-value case worth pitching on its own terms, not folded into revenue
The Cold-Start Growth Playbook
Scaling a new channel, product or data proposition from zero, with no dedicated budget and no proof yet.
- Turning first-party audience data into a paid acquisition channel and a network-wide data proposition, both from a standing start
- Launching a self-serve product to a new customer segment with no paid marketing budget behind it
- A bottom-up framework for sizing the opportunity before you build, not after
- Five disciplines for sequencing proof before scale, and funding the next stage with results, not projections
Get all six, instantly
Every playbook above comes bundled into a single download – enter your email once and download the complete series straight away, no waiting on an inbox.
Get All Six Executive Playbooks
Enter your email for instant access to the complete series – all six playbooks, one download, no waiting on an inbox.
All six playbooks were prepared in July 2026 – regulatory detail and platform names may have moved on since. Downloading the series adds you to our list for future playbooks and Media Guides updates; you can unsubscribe at any time. See our Privacy Policy and Terms for how your email and data are handled and protected.
Built from real work, not a generic framework
Every pattern in these playbooks traces back to a case referenced on Selected Work. It won’t give you the full source material behind a playbook, but it’s valuable context to read in parallel.
| CDP Business Case Playbook | The Gumtree CDP business case and the Domain analytics consolidation |
| Operating Model Playbook | The IAG personalisation operating model |
| Retention Economics Playbook | The automotive OEM attribution case and the Domain lead-generation case |
| FSI Marketing Playbook | The IAG operating model, plus ongoing governance work through FMA Consulting |
| M&A Integration Playbook | The eBay & GCA M&A and portfolio integration |
| Cold-Start Growth Playbook | The Domain audience extension case and the Gumtree Ad Manager launch |
These case studies are career experience from Tim Lloyd’s time at Domain, eBay & GCA, and IAG, not Media Guides client deliverables. The distinction is explained in full on the Selected Work page.
Where this fits into what we do
A playbook gets you the framework. If you recognise your business in one of these, the next step is usually a scoped conversation, not another download.
Each playbook maps to a business challenge we help executives solve, and a specific service line:
See the full set of business challenges → or browse all services →
Common questions
What’s actually in the six playbooks?
Frameworks for building a CDP business case, designing a personalisation operating model, building a retention economics case, running FSI marketing governance, leading marketing and commercial integration after a merger, and scaling a new channel or data proposition from zero. Each one is a full document with worked examples, an FAQ, a glossary and references, not a summary or a teaser.
Are they actually free?
Yes. All six playbooks are free in exchange for your email address, which lets us send you the guides and frameworks we add over time. There’s no cost and no sales call required to access them.
Do I get one playbook at a time, or all six at once?
All six at once, instantly. Enter your email once and download the complete series straight away, not one playbook per sign-up and no waiting on an inbox.
Who wrote these, and where does the content come from?
Tim Lloyd and the wider Media Guides team, drawing on work delivered at Domain, eBay & GCA (Gumtree, CarsGuide, Autotrader) and IAG (NRMA Insurance), alongside published industry research cited throughout. Company names, individuals and specific financial figures have been removed – what’s left is the structural pattern, not a case study with the details attached.
Do I need to read all six, or can I start with one?
Start with whichever matches the problem in front of you right now. They’re a connected series and cross-reference each other where the disciplines overlap – a CDP business case leans on the operating model playbook’s governance principles, for example – but each one stands on its own.
How current is the research and regulatory detail?
The FSI Marketing Playbook in particular references 2026 Australian regulatory guidance from ASIC, APRA and the OAIC, current as of publication. Regulatory posture and AI governance in particular move quickly, so treat the specifics as directional and check current sources before relying on them for a specific compliance decision.
Can a playbook replace working with a consultant?
It’ll get you further than most generic content, but a playbook can’t account for your specific data, stack, budget or regulatory context, and that’s the part a conversation solves. Book a free consultation if you want the tailored version rather than the general framework.
I’ve read a playbook, what’s the fastest way to get direct help instead?
Skip straight to it. See our full range of services, or get in touch and we’ll tell you exactly which service or engagement model applies to your situation.
Will you add more playbooks to the series?
Yes, this is an active series. Subscribing when you download a playbook is the fastest way to hear about new additions as they’re published.
Skip the reading, talk it through directly
Every playbook here maps to a business challenge we help executives solve. If you’ve read one and it’s raised more questions than it answered, that’s normal.