Marketing strategy for an AI-mediated world.
Madison & Monroe is a boutique advisory practice working at the intersection of fractional marketing leadership, AI and large language model optimization, and commercial intelligence.
We partner with enterprise leaders, professional services firms, and investment professionals navigating a marketing landscape that is being reshaped by AI-mediated discovery, LLM-driven brand visibility, and the steady collapse of traditional search.
Engagements are senior, focused, and outcome-oriented.
Three connected disciplines.
One principal. Engagements drawn from a coherent set of capabilities, scaled to the question on the table.
Fractional Marketing Leadership
Senior marketing leadership on a fractional or interim basis for organizations that need strategic direction without a full-time hire. Brand and positioning work, go-to-market planning, marketing operating models, leadership rhythms, and cross-functional alignment with executive teams.
AI & LLMO Advisory
Advisory on how AI and large language models are reshaping consumer discovery, brand visibility, and competitive positioning. Large Language Model Optimization (LLMO) audits, AI-mediated discovery strategy, and applied research on how brands surface in AI answer engines.
Commercial Intelligence
Marketing strategy assessments, competitive intelligence, and brand positioning analysis for private equity, venture capital, and institutional investors evaluating consumer, martech, and financial services targets. Diligence support, thesis development, and post-close value creation.
Practitioner. Scholar. Operator.
Madison & Monroe is built around a single principal with sustained engagements rather than a roster of associates and a layered org chart. Clients work directly with the person doing the work.
Our approach is grounded in three things: enterprise marketing experience at the operating level, applied academic research on AI and consumer behavior, and a habit of writing plainly about complex problems.
Most engagements begin with a focused two-to-four week assessment and either conclude with a board-ready deliverable or convert into an ongoing fractional or advisory relationship.
John C. Gale
John is a marketing strategist, adjunct faculty member, and the founder of Madison & Monroe. He serves as Vice President of Marketing Strategy at Synchrony Financial, where he leads enterprise marketing strategy and cross-functional alignment with SVP-level leadership across retail and auto finance.
In parallel, he holds adjunct teaching appointments at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, NYU Stern, and UVA Darden, where he teaches and lectures on customer analytics, marketing strategy, and the impact of large language models on consumer discovery. He is a Research Fellow with the NRF Business of Retail Initiative at Georgetown, and his research on AI and brand visibility is currently under review at the Journal of Marketing.
Full background and publications: johncgale.com.
- Vice President, Marketing Strategy · Synchrony Financial
- Adjunct Faculty · Georgetown McDonough
- Adjunct Lecturer · NYU Stern
- Lecturer · UVA Darden
- Research Fellow · NRF Business of Retail Initiative
Selected sectors.
Engagements concentrate in industries where AI-mediated discovery, complex buyer journeys, and brand visibility intersect.
Professional & Advisory Services
Consultancies, advisory firms, and knowledge-intensive organizations building category authority.
Financial Services
Consumer finance, fintech, and institutional brands navigating regulated marketing environments.
Consumer & Retail
Brands repositioning for AI-mediated product discovery and LLM-driven consideration sets.
Private Equity & Venture
Diligence support, thesis development, and value creation across consumer and martech portfolios.
Start a conversation.
If you are weighing a fractional marketing engagement, an AI and LLMO assessment, or commercial intelligence support, we are happy to talk.
john@madisonmonroegroup.com