<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[MarketAPeel]]></title><description><![CDATA[We help brands define their stories and tell them to the marketplace by creating everything from a tweet to a book. ]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Thu, 11 Jun 2026 08:33:45 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.marketapeel.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Why BC’s Forest Industry Was Already Dying Before Trump Showed Up]]></title><description><![CDATA[Trump's tariffs on the BC forestry industry is not the only reason for the crisis, it's not even the main reason mills are closing.  The BC forestry industry is under pressure from decades of compounding damage. It's time we understood the larger problem to see if this industry can be saved.]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/post/did-trump-just-kill-the-bc-forest-industry-the-real-story-is-more-complicated</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a0a4773df43effc8ce30c15</guid><category><![CDATA[Economic Trends]]></category><category><![CDATA[Careers]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 14 May 2026 07:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="http://youtu.be/pW5otBp9RDA" length="0" type="video"/><dc:creator>Shannon Peel</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Is SEO Dead? What Brands Need to Know About Traffic in the Age of AI GEO]]></title><description><![CDATA[Did AI kill SEO, are all the websites dead. Are they all going to be modern day ghost towns? let's look at AI and if it will steal content without giving back or will be a partnership.]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/post/is-seo-dead-what-businesses-need-to-know-about-getting-traffic-in-the-age-of-ai</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a03f01a68a3e7adcb144dde</guid><category><![CDATA[Search Marketing]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 09 May 2026 05:25:11 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_3e94fc38f9a84b09b97db04c02a5f0a9~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Shannon Peel</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Slack: When You Grow So Big the Sharks Come for You]]></title><description><![CDATA[The trouble with building something people love is that larger, better-resourced companies notice. And Microsoft noticed.

]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/post/slack-when-you-grow-so-big-the-sharks-come-for-you</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a264c2d21d97bda36222010</guid><category><![CDATA[Brand Stories]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 10 Jun 2026 04:03:15 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f33fba_447256f82d3c495e8e1685c92c71c36f~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_600,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Shannon Peel</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The MEC Story: What Happens When a Brand gets a Second Chance]]></title><description><![CDATA[By Shannon Peel Every brand has a story. The best ones start with a problem, a purpose, and people who care deeply about both. Mountain Equipment Co-op had all three. What happened next is a masterclass in what goes wrong when a brand drifts from its identity, and what it takes to find its way back. This is not just a business story. It is a brand story, and a complicated one. MEC was Born in a Tent on Mount Baker In 1970, a group of Vancouver climbers were pinned down by a storm on Mount...]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/post/the-mec-story-what-happens-when-a-brand-gets-a-second-chance</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a263b782a2229e8e5a9a25d</guid><category><![CDATA[Brand Stories]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 03:49:19 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f33fba_e3bc292a64e240e4a8fc6bf6369d7ea2~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Shannon Peel</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Future Shop had No Future once Best Buy Bought it]]></title><description><![CDATA[The story of Future Shop is a story about a scrappy Canadian brand built from scratch by an Iranian immigrant, sold to its biggest incoming competitor at what looked like a moment of strength, and then slowly absorbed until it ceased to exist. The central question this article examines: Was selling to a U.S. competitor the act that killed the Canadian brand? And if so, could Canadian law have stopped it, and should it have?]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/post/why-future-shop-had-no-future-once-best-buy-bought-it</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a25ce89bcf454bfefd94a34</guid><category><![CDATA[Brand Stories]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 07 Jun 2026 22:40:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f33fba_13a66c03eac24711902634eb68509b42~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Shannon Peel</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Is Tim Hortons Still a Canadian Icon?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Shannon Peel | Narrative Strategist | Founder, MarketAPeel* Without being asked. Without a campaign. Without a single maple leaf on a cup. Canadians decided Tim Horton's was a symbol of something they recognized as essentially and specifically Canadian. Wendy's bought Tim Horton's without knowing about its Canadian iconic brand value because Timmy's didn't even know how Canadians felt about the company. A year after they bought the Canadian company, Wendy's executives wanted to understand why...]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/post/is-tim-hortons-still-a-canadian-icon</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a21177a800e2e1c2bb673e2</guid><pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:46:01 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f33fba_a96a479d794f4b2d8603e20662ab7111~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_674,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Shannon Peel</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Canada's Investment Crisis: Five Governments Over Thirty Years Watched the Money Leave]]></title><description><![CDATA[Shannon Peel | Narrative Strategist | Founder, MarketAPeel* Canada is technically in a recession. Two consecutive quarters of negative annualized GDP growth, minus one percent in Q4 2025 and minus 0.1 percent in Q1 2026. Politicians are arguing about who caused it. Economists are arguing about whether it even qualifies as a real recession. The problem is Canadians Investing outside of Canada The GDP number is a lagging indicator. It tells you what already happened. The number that tells you...]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/post/canada-s-investment-crisis-five-governments-over-thirty-years-watched-the-money-leave</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a1fa3ebae0d73d1087fbef4</guid><category><![CDATA[Economic Trends]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 03 Jun 2026 04:20:51 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_dafbafcdc84a421c89a36df6b902b695~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Shannon Peel</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Crown Royal: Crafted for a King, Abandoned by a Corporation, and the Trade War That Gave Them Cover]]></title><description><![CDATA[The trade war did not cause Diageo to abandon Crown Royal's Canadian manufacturing. The internal decisions were made two years before the first tariff. Here is the full story — from Samuel Bronfman's 600 blends to the empty field in Lambton County.]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/post/crown-royal-crafted-for-a-king-abandoned-by-a-corporation-and-the-trade-war-that-gave-them-cover</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a1c9670b1e07a04572f92e7</guid><category><![CDATA[Brand Stories]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 31 May 2026 21:52:17 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f33fba_0df43478af974be6bc7bcba3e3cf1264~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_706,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Shannon Peel</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[AI Content Marketing Without a System is a FAIL]]></title><description><![CDATA[by Shannon Peel | Narrative Strategist | Founder, MarketAPeel I have been building content with AI tools for over a year now. Blog posts, LinkedIn articles, economic analysis, brand narratives, video transcripts turned into fully researched pieces. I have used Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and a rotating cast of supporting tools to produce more content in the past twelve months than I produced in the previous five years combined. So when I see AI-generated articles about AI content marketing,...]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/post/ai-content-marketing-without-a-system-is-a-fail</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a18889534554029974fd1fa</guid><category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category><category><![CDATA[Brand Storytelling ]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 28 May 2026 18:39:18 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9abd6dedb6ab4bfc91ab9034d9538ec2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Shannon Peel</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bick's Pickles: A Canadian Brand Story Killed Before Tariffs]]></title><description><![CDATA[Since June 2025, Bick's Pickles have been disappearing from Canadian retailers. At Safeway stores in Edmonton, a sign on the shelf reads: "Bick's pickles are currently unavailable as an unfortunate impact of tariffs." Sobeys has delisted the brand entirely. The CEO of Treehouse Foods — the American company that now owns the Bick's brand, confirmed that retailers told him the 25% Canadian counter-tariff makes them "just too expensive, frankly" to stock.]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/post/bick-s-pickles-a-canadian-brand-story-killed-before-tariffs</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a178b72a7aaf20e8c53a742</guid><category><![CDATA[Brand Stories]]></category><category><![CDATA[Economic Trends]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 28 May 2026 00:47:17 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="http://youtu.be/YsvgV6P5LJA" length="0" type="video"/><dc:creator>Shannon Peel</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Website Traffic in the Age of AI: What Works, What Is Dead, and What to Do]]></title><description><![CDATA[Every business owner and marketing team is sitting with creeping anxiety about website traffic in the age of ai. If people are getting their answers from ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity instead of clicking through Google results, what exactly is the point of online marketing anymore?



The uncomfortable answer is: the point has changed. Not disappeared. The businesses that understand the new rules are quietly building an enormous advantage over those still playing the old game.]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/post/website-traffic-in-the-age-of-ai-what-works-what-is-dead-and-what-to-do</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a08aee0b5a26725fc91658d</guid><category><![CDATA[Search Marketing]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2026 05:22:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4675d03a382547e09fef2f23abecb65f.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Shannon Peel</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Enterprise AI Needs Better Storytelling]]></title><description><![CDATA[Enterprise AI buyers are not afraid of the technology. They are afraid of being the person who approved something that failed publicly, cost millions, or created a compliance nightmare. Why? Because a bad decision will affect their reputation within the organization resulting in their career advancement becoming limited. 

]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/post/why-enterprise-ai-needs-better-storytelling</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69ff929eecab90113754b4cb</guid><category><![CDATA[Brand Storytelling ]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 19 May 2026 20:20:34 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_72f0aa7517804cc191f63542da280081~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Shannon Peel</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[What If There Is No Canada-US Trade Deal? The CUSMA Reality Every Canadian Business Needs to Understand]]></title><description><![CDATA[CUSMA, the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, is now heading into its mandatory July 2026 review. This is the question on every Canadian business leader's mind:What happens if talks fall apart? Does CUSMA end? Can Trump pull the plug unilaterally? And what does that mean for Canadian businesses?]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/post/what-if-there-is-no-canada-us-trade-deal-the-cusma-reality</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a0a2e64df43effc8ce2e145</guid><category><![CDATA[Economic Trends]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 17 May 2026 22:00:36 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f33fba_b5a6446c294548749496c822e5a213cd~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_934,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Shannon Peel</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Is AI Killing SEO Jobs or Changing Them?]]></title><description><![CDATA[The conversation has been swirling through every marketing Slack channel, LinkedIn post, and conference hallway for the past two years: AI is coming for SEO jobs. The tools are writing the content. The algorithms are choosing the keywords. The platforms are generating the reports. What exactly is left for a human being to do?]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/post/is-ai-killing-seo-jobs-or-just-changing-them</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a07be9622114a9aa2a8a0b8</guid><category><![CDATA[Economic Trends]]></category><category><![CDATA[Careers]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 17 May 2026 02:40:46 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_6a9fde52d4f54428b1d62f30691afc2c~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Shannon Peel</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[How to Combat Fear and Find Opportunity When Media Scares You]]></title><description><![CDATA[The news is designed to make you afraid. That is not a conspiracy theory, it is a business model.





Researchers at the University of Michigan analyzed over 105,000 variations of news headlines generating more than 370 million impressions and found that for every additional negative word in a headline, the click-through rate increased by 2.3%. Positive words had the opposite effect, each one decreased clicks by 1%. Fear sells. Outrage sells. Anxiety keeps people coming back.]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/post/how-to-combat-fear-and-find-opportunity-when-media-scares-you</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a0a3d630b9e4f37fd2b0789</guid><category><![CDATA[Personal Growth]]></category><category><![CDATA[Leadership]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 15 May 2026 07:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="http://youtu.be/AsqIMl7anrc" length="0" type="video"/><dc:creator>Shannon Peel</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Virtual Events Fail After the Live Session Ends And the Content Lifecycle System That Fixes It]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most virtual events lose their audience the moment they end. Here's the content lifecycle system that keeps virtual event audiences engaged for 6 months after the live session.]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/post/why-virtual-events-fail-after-the-live-session-ends-and-the-content-lifecycle-system-that-fixes-it</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a03a98168a3e7adcb13c38e</guid><category><![CDATA[Brand Storytelling ]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 12 May 2026 22:43:36 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_c15a9c9b4a874e288b1e828d9d621261~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Shannon Peel</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[What Is Brand Narrative Architecture And Why Your Business Can't Afford to Ignore It]]></title><description><![CDATA[Brand narrative architecture is the strategic framework that organizes and structures every storytelling element of your brand. Think of it as the blueprint of your brand's story the load-bearing structure that holds everything else up.]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/post/what-is-brand-narrative-architecture-and-why-your-business-can-t-afford-to-ignore-it</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a02408f618ba45174fa9bc9</guid><category><![CDATA[Brand Storytelling ]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 11 May 2026 21:11:41 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f33fba_77c7818c7d494486a3fb330332bdf03c~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Shannon Peel</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Your Job Ad Is a Brand Story, Most Companies Are Telling Wrong]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most job ads are terrible brand stories. Learn how to write a better job posting to attract better talent



Not because companies are bad. Not because HR teams don't care. But because somewhere along the way, somebody decided that a job ad should describe a job — the tasks, the requirements, the qualifications, the reporting structure — instead of telling the story of why a great person would want to spend their days there.]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/post/why-your-job-ad-is-a-brand-story-and-most-companies-are-telling-the-wrong-one</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a00da220cf45a42cca8c00d</guid><category><![CDATA[Brand Storytelling ]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 10 May 2026 19:32:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_506bcf12ff5243208f3cb3594ed2ecae~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Shannon Peel</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Building Clear Brand Storytelling Through Defined Values and Audience Alignment]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most brands do not struggle because they lack ideas. They struggle because their ideas are not translated clearly into the market.]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/post/building-clear-brand-storytelling-through-defined-values-and-audience-alignment</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a021db148aeb3fcb23da26e</guid><category><![CDATA[Brand Storytelling ]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 06 May 2026 18:41:32 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_b38a2e7ec0b54708b4586e33806227a6~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Shannon Peel</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Most Marketing Systems Break and What That Breakage Actually Costs You]]></title><description><![CDATA[When a brand feels like it is “posting consistently but not growing,” or when campaigns generate activity but not revenue clarity, the issue is rarely creativity. It is usually fragmentation across the system that is supposed to turn attention into action.



And this fragmentation is not a small operational inconvenience. It is one of the most persistent structural issues in modern marketing.]]></description><link>https://www.marketapeel.com/post/why-most-marketing-systems-break-and-what-that-breakage-actually-costs-you</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69fa5379b27e981e27c7f243</guid><category><![CDATA[Brand Storytelling ]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 05 May 2026 20:52:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_567167383039422d537245~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Shannon Peel</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>