• 09 Dec, 2025 *

Say you’re the head of marketing for a fictional oil company headquartered in a hot country.

I’m talking fifty degrees in the dog days.

You’re head of marketing for a fictional oil company sponsoring a marathon and there’s a four-month timeframe on your hands due to weather constraints.

Not long after Halloween and shortly before Valentine. Those four months are perfect for the World Cup and Expo and this lovely little marathon that you’re responsible for organising.

There’s some math to be done. Mid-December to the new year is a no-go. Christmas and NYE take away one of your core demographics on a holiday to Europe and North America.

And then in January, gym memberships skyrocket but even wistful Sagittarius-rising resolution-setters know that they’re nowhere near 10K-ready.

Why not jump the gun? Early December. Everyone’s still in town. Catch the expats before the flight, catch the resolution-setters who didn’t get to check the marathon run off their list, catch the youngsters freshly out of exam season. Get those registration numbers up. Win-win.

But most runners need 16 to 20 weeks to prepare for a marathon. That’s 16 to 20 weeks before early December. That’s 16 to 20 weeks in the dog days.

That wouldn’t be the case if the marathon was in, say, early February. 16 to 20 weeks before early February is ample time to prepare for a marathon in lovely weather.

It’s only one more step. One more step to show that you care, or how much you do. I don’t think it needs to be complex. Complicated, sure. Sometimes it takes a few extra layers to get it right. But it doesn’t need to be complex.

I’m starting to see poor UX as blatant disrespect.

I don’t even want you to have the change in my pocket. Not for spending on a corny product or dumb service that you clearly haven’t given more than three seconds of thought.

It’s silly to expect any respect from an oil company, frankly, but this is the world that orbits me at the moment, and I still find myself hoping.

Because I know of the little corners of the Internet that show me just how much some people care, like Bear and The StoryGraph.

And because of my visits to my local patisserie, where the baristas hum and giggle, and the service is immaculate, and the pastries are divine.

And because of the people in my writers’ group, and my friends, and the people who make the world feel a little less terrible and lonely.

Pay attention to the little things. Because people notice the little things. And the little things show them that you care.

We could all do with a little more hope.

Best of luck to the runners this weekend.