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Top of Mind Thursday Memo Archive
Top of Mind Thursday – November 23, 2023: A Different Thanksgiving This Year
Thanksgiving this year feels different.
This year, we have two wars waging. The Ukrainians are still fighting to preserve their independence from Russian aggression, and in Israel, the war against Hamas atrocities and terrorism continues.
It’s not the first time families will feel sadness and loss at the absence of family members who have been killed, tortured, or are missing in action. This year, though, there are also nearly 240 Israelis—including the elderly, women, and young children—who are being held hostage underneath Gaza by Hamas. Communities around the world have set empty tables, like the one above, to ensure we keep them in our minds and in our hearts.
This Thanksgiving, while we are grateful for all we have in our lives, we need to remember those who are less fortunate. While we wonder how to handle prickly family discussions over dinner, we need to remember those who would give anything to have a missing family member back to argue with. And while we are relieved that a temporary pause in the fighting will allow some Israeli hostages to be brought home imminently, we need to remember that no one in that region will be really safe while Hamas holds not just Israel, but all of Gaza hostage.
This year, let’s serve reflection and concern together with our festive holiday meal. And let’s be grateful for those who are willing to stand up to all forms of hatred and oppression—even at the risk of their own lives. For all those who fight back and will accept nothing less than what’s right, we are truly grateful.
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 16, 2023: Meeting Needs
I spent most of this week in San Diego, attending the final in-person meeting for the Society for the Advancement of Consulting, as well as an Alan Weiss event.
This was the first in-real-life event for SAC since the pandemic. While we’ve run a full slate of virtual programs since 2020, members have suffered Zoom fatigue over the last year—yet weren’t ready to return to in-person meetings either.
While virtual or hybrid meetings can be effective in many cases, there’s still something about 1:1 and small group interactions that happen on the sideline and in the breaks of a live event that can’t be replicated in a virtual environment.
Will we go back to only live events? Unlikely, for many reasons, including costs and the hesitance of many people to travel for business or professional development.
So, will we be satisfied with strictly virtual events instead? Also, unlikely.
As we continue to find ways to network, build relationships, and develop professional alliances, the trick will be understanding the right balance for each group and need. . . then determining how best to meet those needs effectively.
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 – November 9, 2023: WeWork Doesn’t
Founded in 2010, WeWork exploded on the real estate scene over the next decade as THE co-working space. At one point, the company was estimated to be worth $47 billion and was the largest commercial real estate operator in Manhattan.
This week, WeWork filed for bankruptcy—its value estimated to be less than 1% of what it was worth at its peak.
What caused this precipitous fall? WeWorks invented the co-work space category and brought an innovative option to gig workers and others who wanted the companionship of an office environment, but on a part-time basis. Certainly the pandemic and the change from in-person working environments to remote and hybrid had a huge impact. But the company was showing big cracks as early as 2019—before any of us could spell COVID.
The arrogance, excessive spending, and poor decision making of its founder, Adam Neumann, derailed the company’s planned IPO and resulted in Neumann’s departure. The shift in workspace needs just added fuel to the fire.
But beyond all that, there was something else off about WeWork. They acted as if there was no limit to the people and organizations who would buy into their concept. They ignored the fact that business models tend to have a lifecycle and that no brilliant idea lasts unchallenged forever. They expected the robust economic environment would go on forever, and acted as if there was no downside and they would always be the best game in town.
It’s easy to get arrogant when you’re on top, and to breathe too much of your own exhaust. The lesson for all of us is to not get too caught up in the hoopla of the moment and lose our perspective of the bigger picture around us.
What works when things are great may not keep us going when things change. Ask WeWorks what works. . . and what doesn’t.
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 – November 2, 2023: What’s a Few Billion—Give or Take?
“A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon it begins to add up to real money.”
Senator Everett Dirksen supposedly said that in 1969, but it’s even more true today. While there are nearly 23 million millionaires in the US now, there are estimated to be only 735 billionaires.
Yet, you hear so many numbers being bandied about in the billions, as if we were talking about Monopoly money or candy coins. Just today, Disney announced they are acquiring Comcast’s 1/3 interest in Hulu for $8.61 billion dollars. But that pales in comparison to Kroger’s acquisition of the Albertson supermarket chain for $25 billion, or Broadcom’s intended acquisition of VMware for $61 billion dollars.
Sports stars are regularly paid in the hundreds of millions. Tiger Woods, Lionel Messi, and LeBron James are among that group of 735. Eight athletes currently make over $100 million per year, which means they—and others in the queue for big paydays—will soon be joining this elite list.
This would not mean much if it weren’t for the fact that 70-90 percent of all acquisitions fail. And many highly paid athletes get injured or don’t deliver on the promise of those big, fat contracts.
There’s no guarantee that just because something looks or sounds expensive, it’s better. Sometimes the best deals come without all those zeroes at the end. The difference between discovering the next Tiger or Messi or LeBron before they become established? Just a few billion dollars, give or take.
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