About · Gary McRae · MCR.AE

A practice built on discipline, sequence, and systems that survive.

MCR.AE is the fractional CMO practice of Gary McRae, operating solo, by design. No junior team behind the work. No white-labelling. The work that lands at your team is the work I made.

The point of view

Most marketing problems are sequencing problems wearing other costumes.

Founders rarely have a marketing problem in the way the term implies. They have a sequencing problem, building channels before naming a beachhead, hiring junior before defining the role, running campaigns before agreeing on the audience. The work looks like marketing; the failure mode is order.

The practice is built around fixing the order first. Discovery, then GTM, then scale. Every engagement has a named gate at which you can stop. Every phase ships an artefact your team uses without me. The discipline isn't a style, it's the only way the work compounds after I leave.

Principles

Four things that are always true of the work.

01
Discipline over volume
A weekly decision beats a monthly campaign. A named owner beats a shared inbox. The first job is to build the operating cadence.
02
Sequence over speed
Discovery before GTM. GTM before scale. Skipping the order is the most reliable way to burn six months on the wrong customer.
03
Systems that survive me
If the work depends on me to keep moving, you've bought a dependency. The point is to leave a system your next hire inherits intact.
04
Honesty about fit
If a Discovery Sprint won't help you, I'll say so on the call. Not every founder needs a fractional CMO, some need an agency, a hire, or six more months.

Credentials, in context

Two certifications that have commercial meaning, not decoration.

PMC. The Singapore Practising Management Consultant designation. Recognised under the Enterprise Development Grant, which means SG-registered SMEs can claim part of the advisory cost back from Enterprise Singapore.

CAIG. Certified in AI Governance. Useful when your marketing function touches data the regulator cares about. In 2026, that is most of it.

Twelve years inside APAC marketing teams. Transformations across fintech, legal tech, professional services, and regulated industries. Based in Singapore.

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Prefer to see the thinking before the call?

Long-form essays. No gate, no email capture. They are the same arguments I would walk through with you anyway.

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