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Top of Mind Thursday Memo Archive
Top of Mind Thursday – October 28, 2021 – No Time to Die
Last week, a cinematographer on the set of a Western being shot near Santa Fe, NM was shot and killed by a gun fired by actor Alec Baldwin.
While the investigation into how this occurred is still underway, what’s been revealed so far indicates this movie set was an accident waiting to happen.
Union crew had walked off the set earlier that day to protest poor working conditions. The assistant director was careless with firearms (which caused him to be fired from his previous job). The armorer was a young girl who admitted to being new on the job. The gun in question had been used for target practice earlier that day, which is likely how the live round wound up in the chamber–yet Baldwin was told this was a “cold” gun (without ammunition).
Movie and TV productions have very stringent procedures to follow regarding firearms: Who is allowed to handle guns, how they are to be stored, how they’re to be cleared before being given to an actor, how ammunition is to be stored, etc. None of those guidelines appear to have been followed here. The result is one woman is dead and a second person injured.
There’s plenty of blame to go around here, and lawsuits are sure to be filed. There may even be criminal indictments for involuntary manslaughter. But there’s a lesson here for all of us.
While we all have a number of safety rules and regulations in our workplaces, most of us likely ignore them. When was the last time you paid close attention to the safety demonstration on an airplane? Yet, we ignore these safeguards at our peril.
In a workplace where safety takes a back seat to profit or time to market, bad things will eventually happen. Most of the time, this might result in only minor injuries, but the consequences could also be a lot worse. The time to reinforce procedures is NOW, not after someone’s been accidentally shot.
If the Rust production had paid closer attention to this, things would be different. Last week was no time for Halyna Hutchins to die.
Contact me to find out how you can get heard above the noise–even in a crisis situation.
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.
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linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
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Top of Mind Thursday – October 21, 2021 – How About a Little Pumpkin With That?
It’s October. The time of year when thoughts inevitably turn to shorter days, falling leaves, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and. . . Pumpkin Spice Everything?
Pumpkin has always been associated with Fall, but we’ve moved way beyond Jack-O-Lanterns for Halloween and even Pumpkin Spice Latte, to pumpkin spiced muffins, cookies, ice cream, butter, protein powder–even Cheerios!
Here’s the thing many people appear not to understand: Pumpkin spice has absolutely no pumpkin in it. It is, instead, the spices one would traditionally use with pumpkin–cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and allspice–all rolled up into one nice neat orange-colored package.
But it’s much easier to order a pumpkin spice latte than one with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, etc. And since this is so trendy, food and beverage companies are rushing to offer every possible permutation they can.
Here’s the other important thing we need to remember: The fact that there’s no pumpkin in pumpkin spice is absolutely irrelevant to the general public. People associate this combination of spices with pumpkin and Fall, therefore that’s what it is.
How often do we see businesses fixate on identifying specific details of their product or service–often insisting that customers know exactly what’s under the covers–when the customer couldn’t care less about that level of detail?
Then there’s the reverse: The customer puts your product or service into the wrong category and all the rational explanations in the world don’t make a bit of difference.
Perception is reality. We need to understand what our customers already perceive, and start from that point. Otherwise we can waste a lot of valuable time and energy trying to separate the pumpkin from the spice.
Contact me to find out how you can get heard above the noise–even in a crisis situation.
Check out our marketing thought 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 – October 14, 2021 – Unclear on the Concept
You’d think living in Silicon Valley it would be simple to get high speed internet connectivity.
You’d be wrong. Three times in the last three weeks Comcast has cut service for my entire neighborhood for hours at a time. No notice. No way to reach a live human being to understand what the issue was or when it would be resolved.
I’ve worked remotely for years, but in the age of COVID, it’s not just me who needs the internet to work, it’s just about everyone. When the net goes down, our productivity stops dead in its tracks.
Yesterday, I was finally able to communicate with a live person via chat (phone support was not available). They suggested I log on to their website to check system status, which was of absolutely no help. Then they told me that I should be sure to take advantage of Comcast’s Xfinity Rewards program: “…members enjoy a special mix of perks, experiences, product benefits, and so much more. It’s free to join and easy to use.”
Huh? Will this get my internet up and running any sooner? The only reward I want is your service to work as advertised. Period.
Too often, we try to placate customers with some feature or benefit we’ve cooked up for them…but they’re too busy being frustrated with a much bigger problem with our main service and couldn’t care less about some “perk” we throw at them.
The net is back today, which allows me to look for a different provider. It won’t be AT&T: The service they sold me yesterday is not what the installer was able to deliver today. But that’s another story…
Contact me to find out how you can get heard above the noise–even in a crisis situation.
Check out our marketing thought 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 – October 7, 2021: Ready for the Rebound
I spent the last three days in a virtual conference for SAC, the Society for the Advancement of Consulting.
This was the second year this annual event was held virtually, because of the pandemic. The bad news: We still couldn’t gather together in one place. The good news: We were able to gather virtually with colleagues from at least seven countries around the world and listen to an outstanding array of speakers.
Last year, we talked about how to thrive amidst the ambiguity around us. This year, the focus was on clarity: The rebound is here and we need to be positioned to help our clients take advantage of the new environment.
That doesn’t mean everything will be smooth sailing. We heard speakers tell us that there is no new normal, that the Great Resignation and supply chain woes are impacting businesses across many industries, and how our relationship to risk impacts everything we do–personally and professionally.
We also heard about the opportunities to develop ourselves and our consulting practices, while helping our clients thrive.
We’re at an inflection point in many ways. It’s up to us to decide what direction we take from here. Do we rebound and score or sit on the sidelines and watch others score big?
Contact me to find out how you can get heard above the noise–even in a crisis situation.
Check out our marketing thought 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