January 2026
Written by
Abbie Mason
E-commerce
Marketing strategy
Product launch
Tech
Rubber Ducking And How It Helps Solve Our Clients’ Needs
Marketing problems rarely arrive as tidy questions. A client might come to us because sales are flat, footfall is unpredictable, or a new opening needs momentum.
Sometimes the product is strong but awareness is not building.
Sometimes the brand feels right in person but weak online. These are not issues with the client. They are real world challenges that need practical answers.
When the situation is complex, the most valuable first step is getting clear on what is actually happening. Rubber ducking is one of the simplest ways we do that at Lala Comms. It helps us turn a messy symptom into a clear diagnosis and a plan that solves the right need.
What Rubber Ducking Is
Rubber ducking is a thinking technique where you explain a problem out loud, step by step, as if you were teaching it to someone new. The name comes from software teams who literally talk through bugs to a rubber duck on their desk. The listener is not the point; the act of speaking is.
You can rubber duck with a colleague, a voice note, or a blank document. The key is that you are making your thinking explicit, not letting it stay as a vague cloud in your head.
Why It Works So Well For Client Challenges
Most client needs sit across multiple parts of the marketing system. Audience behaviour, channel mechanics, creative hooks, timing, budgets, website experience, and commercial pressure all interact. When something is not moving, the danger is fixing the loudest symptom instead of the real cause.
Rubber ducking cuts through that by forcing clarity. When you speak a problem through, you naturally:
Define the objective in plain terms
State what is actually happening using evidence
Walk through the journey or campaign in order
Spot the first place where reality diverges from expectation
Build actions that match the cause, not a hunch
That is how we stay precise, even when the situation is noisy.
A Client Focused Example
A hospitality client tells us that weekend trade is strong but midweek covers are inconsistent. In your head that can instantly become a long list of possibilities. Audience fit, offer strength, creative fatigue, booking friction, competition, seasonality... If we start tweaking before knowing which lever matters, we waste time and spend.
Rubber ducking gives us a clean route to the root cause. We ask out loud
"What is the objective?"
- Consistent midweek covers from local audiences without cheapening their experience.
"What is happening now?"
- Reach is healthy but click-through is low.
- Sessions rise after social posts but bookings do not follow.
- Exits cluster on menu and booking pages.
- Search interest is steady but social engagement varies by format.
Then we walk the chain from first touch point to booking:
What people see in ads and content
Whether the message answers a midweek reason to visit
How quickly the offer is understood
How the menu reads on mobile
How easy it is to book midweek
How competitors frame midweek and why that works
Somewhere in that explanation the gap becomes obvious. For example:
The creative sells atmosphere but not a midweek prompt
Mobile users drop off before reaching key dishes
The booking page defaults to weekend dates and adds friction
Once the gap is clear, the actions write themselves. That might mean tightening midweek messaging around a clear behaviour driver, improving mobile menu flow, reordering booking availability to surface midweek first, and testing formats that frame Tuesday to Thursday as distinct occasions.
The solution appears because the thinking became structured.
Where We Use Rubber Ducking At Lala Comms
We use this technique whenever a client problem needs speed and accuracy.
Performance Reviews and Audits
Talking through a funnel out loud shows where attention drops, where intent weakens, and which change is likely to create commercial impact.
Strategy Development
Explaining a strategy in full sentences stress tests it. If it cannot be explained simply, it is not ready to act on. That protects clients from overcomplication.
Creative and Messaging
Saying the message out loud as if the audience knows nothing helps us hear what is unclear, too busy, or missing relevance. That leads to sharper hooks and cleaner positioning.
Launch Planning
Walking through a launch sequence out loud highlights dependencies and risks early, which keeps timelines realistic and budgets protected.
Client Updates
Explaining our reasoning aloud before writing helps us land on the simplest true explanation, which builds trust and makes decisions easier.
How to Rubber Duck a Client Challenge in Five Minutes
You can do this alone or with someone else. The shape is always the same.
say the client objective out loud
describe what is happening now using specifics
walk through the journey or campaign in order without skipping steps
at each stage, say what you expected to happen
notice the first point where expectation and reality split
write a short list of actions tied to that split
A hesitation while explaining is usually the clue. That pause marks the edge of the real issue.
Why This Benefits Clients
Clients do not just need answers. They need confidence in the reasoning behind them. Rubber ducking strengthens both sides.
Internally, it sharpens judgement and speeds up diagnosis. Externally, it gives clients a clean narrative they can trust. We can show the path from objective to insight to action in a way that is grounded in evidence and easy to follow.
That matters because most client needs are not solved in one move. They are solved through good decisions over time, and good decisions start with clear thinking.
A Small Habit with a Big Payoff
Rubber ducking is not a gimmick. It is a practical way of organising thought when the work is complex and the stakes are real. Next time a client challenge feels stuck, talk it through out loud as if you are handing it to a new teammate. The moment you hear yourself pause, you have found the real edge of the problem. That is where the solution starts.