P1
Honest numbers.
Every metric in a published case study is one the brand and Mainstage agree to in writing. No inflated reach. No selective time windows. No vanity metrics dressed up as outcomes.
01 · Case studiesPublished as they land
Most agency sites open with a wall of client logos. Half are exploratory conversations relabelled as work. A third are jobs that did not go well. The rest are fine.
We do not do that. Our case studies live here when there are honest case studies to publish. Right now, there are none. This page exists so you know what to expect, what we will put here, and what we will refuse to put here.
First case study
Month 6+
When one is earned
02 · The policyWhat we refuse to publish
Three rules. Each one
rules a lot out.
P2
Written brand consent.
No case study goes live without the brand reading it, editing it, and signing off in writing. Brand-side context that the brand prefers not to publish stays out, on request.
P3
No fabrication.
We do not list brands we have not worked with. We do not list pitches we lost. We do not rebrand pre-engagement conversations as engagement work. The wall stays empty until the wall is earned.
03 · What it containsWhen a case study lands
Four sections,
in this order, every time.
C1
The situation.
What the brand looked like before the engagement. Where the audience was. What had been tried. What was working, what was not.
C2
What we built.
The engine, in plain language. The pod composition. The weekly rhythm. The strategic bets that drove the editorial direction across the engagement.
C3
The numbers.
Honest, attributable numbers across a defined time window. The metrics the brand and Mainstage chose to track together at the start, read at the close.
C4
What we learned.
Including what did not work. Cases studies that only show wins are marketing. Cases studies that show the misses are the ones worth publishing.
04 · The auditThe way in
Until the first case study lands,
the audit is the proof.
The Mainstage audit is one focused hour. Free. Capped monthly. Ends in a written proposal scoped to your brand, inside two business days. The proposal is the most specific artefact we publish about how we would work with you.
Apply, sit through the audit, read the proposal. If the answer is no, you leave with a clearer read on your content. If it is yes, you sit inside the engagement we publish here when the time comes.