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Top of Mind Thursday Memo Archive
Top of Mind Thursday – December 28, 2023: Wishing You Less Next Year
This is the time of year when we receive holiday greetings from friends, relatives, colleagues, long-lost connections, and of course everyone we ever did business with—ever.
Most of these well-meaning messages wish you more of something or another in the coming year. But this message is different: I think we’d all be better off with LESS in the future.
So here’s what I’m wishing you:
- Less illness: COVID, flu, RSV, more serious stuff like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and more boring stuff like the common cold. Let’s have less of all of it.
- Less conflict in your everyday life: Whether it’s a driver who cuts you off, a rude or unhelpful sales person, or someone in your life who drains the energy from you—we could all do with less of this.
- Less violence in the world: This includes gun violence, rape, murder, terrorism, or the horrors of war.
- Less bias and hate: We’d have a better world with less racism, sexism, antisemitism, and other types of institutionalized discrimination.
- Less drama: Wouldn’t it be nice if people could just interact with each other in a kind, friendly way without having to bring an agenda to each encounter? What if people could do their job right the first time?
- Less time spent on things that don’t matter: We all have things we do just because we’ve always done them. What if we could eliminate those activities and have more time to spend on things that are really important?
I’m sure you have your own list of items in your personal or business life that you’d like to see less of. Feel free to add to the list. But remember: The goal is to create less angst, anxiety, discontent, and distraction in your life—not more. The less said the better!
p.s. I’d wish you less annoying political campaigns and ads, but given that we’re entering an election year, that’s not something we’re likely to see in 2024.
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
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Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – December 14, 2023: Dodge Ball
This week, Shohei Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ohtani is a unique entity—perhaps the best two-way player (both pitcher and hitter) since Babe Ruth. He was the first player in history to unanimously be named Most Valuable Player multiple times.
Ohtani’s contract is a quarter of a billion dollars larger than the previous highest salary in Major League Baseball—in fact, it’s the largest contract in the history of sports. Nearly the entire amount—$680 million—will be deferred to the end of the contract, allowing the Dodgers to meet payroll ceilings for the next decade.
While Ohtani is an outstanding talent, one wonders how wise it is to invest such an enormous amount of money in one player for such a long period of time—especially since Ohtani had surgery on his pitching arm in September (for the second time).
Athletes who appear healthy today can easily be derailed by accidents and injuries. Yet, the Dodgers will owe Ohtani nearly 3/4 of a billion dollars, regardless of whether or not he stays healthy and is able to perform.
Ask the NY Mets what happens when a big investment like this goes south. In 2000, they agreed to pay Bobby Bonilla a deferred $1.2 million per year for 25 years, starting in 2011. Bonilla last played in the major leagues in 2001, but he’ll be paid by the Mets until 2035 (when he’ll be 72 years old).
Will the bet on Ohtani pay off? Only time will tell. Will he bring a championship to LA? Or will his new team be on the hook for a payment that’s hit long and deep but doesn’t score?
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
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Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – December 7, 2023: A Light in the Darkness
Tonight marks the start of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
Hanukkah celebrates the victory of a small band of Jewish rebels who resisted the efforts of the Assyrian king Antiochus to prevent them from practicing their religion. The Maccabees were able to defeat Antiochus, but when they went to light the menorah in the Holy Temple, they only found enough oil to last one day. Miraculously, the oil lasted for 8 days, until more could be made.
For the last 2200 years, Jews the world over have celebrated the victory of light over darkness, of good over evil, of communal strength over bigotry and repression. We light candles in our own menorahs for 8 days, and eat foods cooked in oil, such as potato latkes or doughnuts.
This year, with the atrocities perpetuated against innocent men, women, and children by Hamas, skyrocketing antisemitism in many countries in the world, and Ivy League colleges refusing to condemn those calling for the genocide of Jews, some are questioning how much celebrating we can do.
The answer to me is simple: We must continue to light menorahs, to celebrate small victories, and to refuse to buckle before seemingly unsurmountable challenges.
This year, some non-Jews are lighting menorahs in support of their Jewish friends. Many of us will be setting candles in an additional menorah and leaving it unlit—in memory of those who were murdered on Oct 7th and to honor the hostages who are still held in captivity two months later.
This year, we celebrate the strength of the Jewish people worldwide against antisemitism and terrorism, and we join with others who believe that good does triumph over evil.
This year, it is even more critical that we continue to spread the light.
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
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Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – November 30, 2023: Thanks for the Memories
In a time when most commercials are less than 30 seconds—with some only 10 or 15 seconds—Chevrolet hits the mark with a long-form sentimental holiday video about the power of memory.
The video walks us through a holiday gathering where Grandma’s deteriorating mental condition puts a damper on the celebration—until one of her grandchildren uncovers the old Chevy truck in the garage and takes Grandma for a ride that triggers old memories and brings her back to the family for a short while.
Will this video sell Chevy trucks? Maybe, maybe not. But in a world with escalating political conflict, two ongoing wars, massive polarization, and just general nastiness, it was nice to watch a heartwarming story and remember a less antagonistic time.
Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet. Those were the days.
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