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Top of Mind Thursday – January, 29, 2026: Cold as ICE
America was hit by two major storms last week.
A huge winter weather front caused severe snow and ice conditions throughout much of the Midwest and the Eastern part of the country—even deep into the Southeast—snarling air travel and causing disruptions to schools and businesses that continued for days.
Another storm hit Minneapolis at about the same time: Clashes between Immigration & Customers Enforcement (ICE) agents and people protesting ICE tactics, resulting in the deaths of two US citizens.
ICE has been brought by the president into cities like Minneapolis to enforce federal immigration laws. However, their tactics are too often extremely rough and strong-handed—capturing legal residents and citizens who protest ICE actions, as well as undocumented individuals.
In the first incident, the protester killed appears to have been trying to obstruct ICE efforts and may have attempted to use her car to hit the ICE agent who shot her. Perhaps she should have been arrested, but she didn’t deserve to be shot and killed.
In the second, an ICU nurse was shot 10 times after trying to help a woman who had been pushed to the ground by ICE. Video footage shows him already subdued by a handful of agents when at least 2 ICE agents pumped a full array of bullets into him.
Individuals have the right to protest, and federal agents have the right to arrest people who prevent them from doing their job. However, when tempers flare and situations escalate, doubling down on an already bad situation doesn’t help either side.
Today, it appears that the ICE commander who has been leading the Minnesota deployment has been replaced with someone less confrontational. The two agents who shot nurse Alex Pretti have been removed from duty and will likely face discipline or even criminal charges. Border czar Tom Homan has been sent to Minnesota to try and calm tensions. He admits there’s “room for improvement” in ICE operations—which is a move in the right direction.
We seem to forget that two things can be true at once: Most Americans don’t want an open border, and most also don’t want US citizens, green card holders, and undocumented individuals who are not causing trouble rounded up and deported as criminals—or shot by federal agents.
What’s been happening the last few weeks isn’t helping anyone. It’s time for both sides to take a step back and come up with a solution that doesn’t leave anyone out in the cold.
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the 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 – January, 22, 2026: We Loved You Better Before We Knew You
Long-term customers are a valuable asset for most companies: They cost less to service and provide a steady stream of revenue. So why do some companies treat their existing customer base so poorly?
Here’s the latest example. Comcast/Xfinity has been advertising a great promotion to offer high speed internet for low rates that will remain fixed for five years.
That sounded terrific to me, so I called Comcast to find out first, why my existing bills have risen nearly 50% over the last 3 years for the same service, and second, how to take advantage of this great promotion.
The short answer: You can’t. Promotions like this one are reserved for new customers only. And we don’t know why your rates have been going up: just because.
Huh? I’ve been a loyal customer for years—decades, perhaps—and yet my bills continue to rise, while great promotions are only available to new customers. Is this a way to reward your long-time steady partner?
The customer service rep to whom I spoke seemed to understand how bad this sounded, but he couldn’t help beyond offering me a minimal discount for being a long-term customer. What the company was really telling me was they wanted me to break up with them, then maybe if we restart the relationship, they’ll bring me flowers and chocolates and a sweet low rate again.
No wonder that the rate at which customers are divorcing their cable providers has skyrocketed in the last few years. This year, the number of households with cable is projected to be only half of what it was in 2010. Ouch.
You’d think that would convince Comcast to try and hold on to its long-term relationships. But no, they’d rather have a fling with someone new. And experience tells us, that’s not likely to last very long.
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the 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 – January, 15, 2026: Iran Away?
Tomorrow is the 47th anniversary of the fall of the Shah in Iran and the rise of the repressive Islamic regime that took over the country.
Many times over the last five decades, Iranians have tried to fight back and reclaim their country from the Ayatollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), who enforce martial law and sponsor terrorism. However, the situation in Iran over the last year has gotten so bad, both economically and politically, that people resisting the regime have been protesting in record numbers over the last month.
The regime does not tolerate dissent. It’s estimated that as many as 30,000 civilians have been killed in the last four weeks. The official numbers are much lower, but photos of body bags overflowing hospitals and morgues indicate the death toll is significant. Hundreds of additional protesters have been arrested and threatened with execution.
Think about this: In four weeks, nearly as many civilians have been executed in Iran as were killed in Gaza during two years of war.
The regime has no problem killing its own citizens or pushing them into poverty so they can spend billions of dollars arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and Houthi terrorists, under the directive: Death to Israel. Death to America.
Yet, amazingly, the reactions of the Western world have been meek at best, and in most cases, non-existent. There have been no protests on college campuses, and very few rallies to support the Iranian people. There’s been significantly more coverage of the conflict between ICE and protesters in Minneapolis (where one woman was tragically killed).
Why is this? For over two years we’ve seen ongoing protests against Israel’s efforts to defend itself against Hamas terrorists—but no reaction when a nation tries to free itself from decades of abuse? Why are Americans who supposedly cherish freedom turning their backs on the Iranian people?
Formerly known as Persia, Iran is one of the world’s oldest continuous operating civilizations—older than both China and India. Its 90 million people yearn to join the modern world. We cannot ignore their plight any longer.
Zendeh Baad yek Iran-e Aazaad. Long live a free Iran!
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the 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 – January, 8, 2026: What on Earth is Going on?
Welcome to 2026. If you were expecting things to be different than last year, you may have gotten your wish—but perhaps not in the way you were expecting!
In just the first week of the year, the US invaded Venezuela, captured the sitting president and his wife, and brought them back to this country to stand trial on existing warrants. This was followed by the interception of an oil tanker full of Venezuela crude oil that was flying a Russian flag.
In the US, demonstrations between ICE enforcement teams and people protesting ICE actions have gotten more and more tense, culminating in the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE agent in Minneapolis yesterday. It’s not clear yet whether the shooting was justified.
This follows the decision by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz not to run for re-election after allegations of massive fraud amongst Somalian communities in Minnesota.
In the Middle East, the situation in Iran is escalating. Thousands of Iranians are protesting the repressive Islamic regime that has ruled their country for decades. Protests have occurred before, but they’ve always been extinguished quickly. This time, the calls from the public for regime change seem stronger and there’s a rumor the Ayatollah is looking to escape to Russia, where he may join former Syrian dictator Assad. Perhaps Iran will be free soon?
Much of Europe is up in arms over Donald Trump’s renewed attempts to somehow gain control of Greenland—if not by force, than by perhaps “buying” the territory from Denmark.
In the Caribbean, Cuba and Colombia are worrying they may be next in line for US action, after Venezuela.
The common thread through all these events is that a year or two ago, none of these seemed at all feasible, and certainly not imminent. Massive change is happening on a global scale—and we’re only in week 1 of the year!
We don’t know what will happen next, except that the one constant appears to be change. Grab you popcorn, fasten your seat belts, and get prepared for a wild ride!
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the 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