> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://wiki.anatomyofmarketing.org/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://wiki.anatomyofmarketing.org/about-the-aom/about-the-anatomy-of-marketing.md).

# What is the AoM?

### The problem it addresses

*Marketing is widely misunderstood.*

In practice it is a whole-of-business function that connects how an organisation creates, communicates, and delivers value. In most businesses it is treated as a department, reduced to campaigns, communications, or a single team.

There is no shortage of thinking. Proven frameworks, models, and ideas exist across disciplines. The best thinking is already out there. What is missing is a universal way to show how it all connects.

Increasing specialisation and technological complexity have made this harder. Teams develop deep expertise in isolated areas but lose sight of how those areas relate to each other. Customers do not experience a business in silos. Most businesses, however, are structured and managed as if they do.

The result is confusion across teams, inconsistent decisions, and investment that is difficult to prioritise or justify. The same challenge now extends to AI. AI systems operate on the inputs and structure they are given. When those inputs are based on inconsistent definitions and unclear relationships, the outputs reflect the same fragmentation at scale.

Coordinating how value is created, communicated, and delivered across a business requires a shared structure and a common language. Without it, diagnosing problems and prioritising action remains inconsistent, inefficient, and difficult to scale.

The Anatomy of Marketing was developed to address this.

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### What it is

The Anatomy of Marketing (AoM) is a structured model that provides a universal language for how marketing works across a business. It connects established thinking into a single, coherent system, giving teams and the AI systems that support them a common foundation to operate from.

It is not a replacement for existing frameworks, methodologies, or ways of working. It is the structure that shows how they connect. The AoM defines what marketing is made of, how its sections relate to each other, and how decisions in one area affect decisions in another.

The model is organised into six sections or parts, each representing a critical area of decision making across a business. These sections are structured across three layers that move from shared understanding through to practical application.

{% hint style="info" %}
The AoM is publicly available, version-controlled, and designed to be used as a working reference across organisations, teams, and AI systems. All core content is free to access. The model evolves over time through structured governance and practitioner input. For a full explanation of the model, its layers, and its six sections, see [The AoM Model](broken://pages/I9e8mtl5sfAoR5C5xflW).
{% endhint %}

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### How it came to be

The Anatomy of Marketing was created by Kieran Antill and Ross Hastings in response to a problem they observed consistently across organisations. Marketing was being interpreted differently by different teams. The same terms were used in different ways, decisions were made in isolation, and there was no shared structure to connect them.

Kieran Antill's background is in brand strategy, systems design, and creative director. Ross Hastings' background is in organisational psychology, academic research, and team coaching. Their complementary perspectives, one focused on how ideas are structured and applied, the other on how people and teams think and align, shaped the AoM as both a structural and organisational solution.

Together they are also the co-founders of Ne-Lo, a consultancy focused on helping companies reposition for growth. This practice provided one of the primary environments in which the model was applied, tested, and refined alongside collaboration with field experts across industries.

Research underpinning the AoM began in 2000. The model was formally structured and published in 2025, with public documentation released in 2026 to support broader global adoption and integration with AI systems. It continues to evolve through practitioner application, training programmes, and engagement from registered users.

See [AoM Licensing & Governance](/governance/usage-and-licensing.md) for how the model is maintained and updated over time.

***