What’s New
Article: Plagiarism or Sloppiness: What Happened to Jill Abramson's Merchants of Truth?. Linda discusses lessons that anyone who produces work to be published should follow.
Article: Who blinked? Business lessons from the recent government shutdown. Linda discusses what business people can learn from the government shutdown. on MultiBriefs: Exclusive.
Article: Cut Through the Noise: Traditional vs. Digital Marketing Part II by Carie Ferg, Manta Contributor, Midlands Directory. Linda Popky discusses whether to use traditional versus digital marketing based on your audience and prospects.
Podcast: "We Built This City" - Linda Popky shares stories about her 40+ years in tech marketing in Silicon Valley. She says, "Don't ever listen to somebody who tells you you can't do something." - Listen!
Podcast: Interview of Linda Popky about Using Friction to Improve Your Marketing by Gene Hammett on Leaders in the Trenches.
SAC® Press Release: "Hiring Top Talent With Passion and Enthusiasm Key to Beating Talent/Skills Gap" - Linda observes that building a strong brand attracts strong talent. – Read release.
Podcast: Linda Popky interviews Carla Hall who discusses her journey through the culinary world from chef to author to celebrity. - Listen.
Take our Marketing Above the Noise Assessment.Video: Just a Moment for Marketing: If We Build It, They Will Come. Build a product that customers actually want. – View the video.
NEW eBOOK: Top of Mind: 101 Insights to Transform Your Business
Purchase PDF or ePub book.
Book Video Trailer How can your message be heard in today's crowded, chaotic environment? Learn more about Linda Popky's new book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters, in this short video trailer.
Harvard Business Review: "Identify the Marketing Metrics That Actually Matter" by Linda J. Popky - Read article
Subscribe to the Top of Mind Thursday Newsletter
Free articles download with sign up
Marketing Above the Noise
Introducing Dynamic Market Leverage™, an approach to help cut through the clutter, stand out, and effectively build business.
Available in Hardcover and eBook formats
Top of Mind Thursday February 21, 2018: The Power of the Herd
Measles is a highly contagious disease that sickened nearly 50,000 people a year, killing 500 in the mid-1950s. It was practically eradicated by the end of the 20th century.
Until it wasn’t. In 2012, there were only 55 cases reported throughout the country. The state of Washington alone has already reported more than 150 cases so far this year.
Why? Many parents, concerned about vaccine side effects, have decided to not vaccinate their kids . While the original studies that said vaccines were unsafe were debunked years ago, the perception remains that it is somehow more dangerous to get vaccinated than to contract any of the serious, potentially deadly diseases the vaccines prevent.
Scientists talk about herd immunity–vaccinating a large percentage of a group, or herd, nearly eliminates the possibility of any individual unvaccinated member catching the disease. When vaccination rates drop below a certain threshold, that immunity disappears. The people most likely to get sick are infants and children too young to get vaccinated, the elderly, or people with compromised immune systems.
We live in a country where individual freedom is highly prized–we feel we should be able to choose what we can and can’t do without government intervention. But when the actions of one individual endanger others, we need to consider the greater good.
Smoking has been eliminated in most public places, because of the danger to nonsmokers, as well as the smoker. Driving under the influence is illegal because it endangers others on the road, in addition to the driver. Children without vaccinations endanger other school children–which is why vaccinations should be mandatory unless there is a compelling medical need for a specific child to not be included.
Sometimes the safest place to be is in the midst of the herd. And to maintain that safety, we need to be vigilant about maintaining the power of the herd.
Contact me to find out how to get heard above the noise.
Limited time to devote to marketing? Check out our weekly Just a Moment for Marketing videos. They only take a minute.
Check out our marketing thought leadership podcasts.
Check out the new video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday February 14, 2018: Too Much of a Good Thing
If going to the movie theatre once or twice a month is a good thing, going much more often would be even better, right?
That was the premise behind the all-you-can-eat ability to see unlimited films in theatres introduced by MoviePass in 2011 for one low fee.
How did they make money on that? They didn’t. In 2016, they revamped the program to limit the number of movies that could be seen. Theatres pushed back, so in 2017 the service limited options even further, with still other limitations in 2018.
Meanwhile, the number of subscribers grew from 20,000 in 2016 to 3 million in 2018, when they lost $40 million dollars. They were losing money and hoping to make it up on volume.
This week, the stock of MoviePass’s parent company was delisted by NASDAQ because it no longer meets the minimum price threshold ($1) for listing.
It’s not that the idea itself was bad–Cinemark and AMC have created their own versions of the concept, albeit with limitations on what’s included. It’s that MoviePass focused totally on gaining market share without any consideration of what this would do to their bottom line.
You can’t continue to hemorrhage money forever. Which is why this week MoviePass is seeing the final credits begin to roll.
Contact me to find out how to get heard above the noise.
Limited time to devote to marketing? Check out our weekly Just a Moment for Marketing videos. They only take a minute.
Check out our marketing thought leadership podcasts.
Check out the new video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday February 7, 2018: Bowled Over
The New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl on Sunday in Atlanta to win their sixth NFL championship since 2002.
Kudos to the Patriots and Tom Brady for pulling this off. They did it in what was the lowest scoring game in Super Bowl history, with the smallest television audience for a Super Bowl in 11 years–98 million people.
That’s still a pretty impressive group of people to gather for a single televised event. Many of these folks tune in not to watch the game, but for the halftime show or to see the ads–the most expensive TV ad placements available ($5.25 million for a single 30-second spot).
While there were a few clever or interesting commercials this year, many of the ads weren’t any more exciting than watching a low-scoring Super Bowl game with just a single touchdown. It almost seems like rating the events on Super Bowl Sunday has become more interesting than the game itself.
There was a time when Super Bowl Sunday was a not-to-be-missed event. The NFL has been struggling recently with head injury issues, the controversy about the national anthem, and decreased television audience–plus a plethora of other sporting events that distract viewers.
Maybe it’s time for the league to take a fresh look at how they approach the game, their players, and their target audience. It’s time to huddle about how to improve their offering–before we’re all totally bowled over.
Contact me to find out how to get heard above the noise.
Limited time to devote to marketing? Check out our weekly Just a Moment for Marketing videos. They only take a minute.
Check out our marketing thought leadership podcasts.
Check out the new video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Cooking Up a Career: When You Say Yes, Adventure Follows
Carla Hall
Author and Chef
www.carlahall.com
Carla Hall is a food contributor on Strahan & Sarah (formerly Good Morning America Day), and was formerly a co-host of ABC’s Emmy award-winning popular lifestyle series The Chew. She has also been a competitor on Bravo’s Top Chef and Top Chef: All Stars. Carla is the author of the cookbooks Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration, Carla’s Comfort Food: Favorite Dishes from Around the World, and Cooking with Love: Comfort Food that Hugs You.
In this podcast, Carla discusses her journey through the culinary world from chef to author to celebrity. She talks about why authenticity is at the foundation of her business decisions, why food memories are so critical to us, and how she built a personal brand around comfort foods.
Listen to this podcast.