What’s New
Podcast: Linda Popky appears as a guest expert on Technically Speaking to outline your steps to launching and promoting your book! - Listen
Podcast: Linda Popky and Dan Weedin (Shrimp Tank Podcast) talk with Brett Clark from BC Fitness about the importance of staying active and doing resistance training to slow down muscle loss as we age. - Listen
SAC® Press Release: "Companies Eye Innovation and Disruption in Volatile Economy" – Read Release.
Video: Just a Moment for Marketing: One-minute marketing tip videos. – View over 100 videos.
eBOOK: Top of Mind: 101 Insights to Transform Your Business
Purchase PDF or ePub book.
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 Memo Archive
Turmoil & Trouble
Last weekend, a lone gunman attempted to assassinate former president Donald Trump during a campaign rally.
The attempt was unsuccessful: Trump was only slightly injured when a bullet grazed his ear, though an attendee behind him was killed and two others were wounded.
It appears the gunman was seen on a rooftop before the shooting, but not stopped before he started firing. Obviously, there were glitches and holes in the security coverage for the former president, and those need to be identified and corrected.
But should we be surprised that this happens in a country with as many guns as people—where rhetoric from politicians to passersby is filled with vitriol and hatred, animosity and threats?
I am currently on an extended visit to Israel, a country that is fighting a war against terrorists from Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah firing upon the northern communities from Lebanon. It’s a country that’s divided on a number of key issues, including how to return the hostages kidnapped 9 months ago and the best way to ensure the safety of civilians moving forward.
Yet, I can walk down the streets of Tel Aviv—a big bustling city like New York on a smaller scale—and not worry about gun violence, street crime, petty theft, homelessness, racial or anti-semitic violence. In many ways, I feel safer here than I do at home.
In spite of their differences, Israelis are dedicated to their country and their people. They may disagree vehemently with their political opponents, but when the sirens blare and threats come in, they’ll come together to defend those around them without regard to their political beliefs.
In the US, on the other hand, we see nothing but turmoil and divisiveness. We look to vilify the other side and find a way to make them take the blame.
Americans are more than 26 times more likely to be killed by gun violence than people in other countries. Over 100 people die in the US per day from gunshot wounds. We lose children, parents, celebrities, and ordinary people. Last week, we almost lost a presidential candidate.
What will it take to move on from this mess? Or are we doomed like Sisyphus to repeat the cycle again and again, without learning from past experience? Will we be surprised when this happens again?
Top of Mind Thursday – August 8, 2024: Civil Matters
This week, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate for November.
Before this week, Walz was not well-known to many Americans outside of the Midwest. Among other things, we’re learning that he was a long-time National Guard reservist, a respected school teacher, coach, and principal, and that his two children were conceived through infertility treatments.
What we’re also learning is that he seems to be a fairly even-handed type of guy. Walz seems friendly and open and doesn’t seem to have an ax to grind. He seems unlikely to openly attack his opponents. In fact, for now, he appears to be the model of civility.
What a refreshing change! For too long, we’ve had candidates on both side of the aisle who delighted in making personal ad hominem attacks on their political opponents. We’ve seen members of Congress nearly come to blows within the Capitol (sometimes with members of their own party!). We’ve seen university and government buildings destroyed by protesters who somehow think vandalism helps them prove their point.
In short, we’ve been drowning in incivility.
Is Walz the right running mate for Harris? Is he too progressive to attract moderates? Are his values what Americans want in the next administration?
It’s too soon to say. And we certainly can’t expect any one individual will be able to put the incivility genie back in the bottle.
But for just a moment, it’s so nice to meet someone who treats people with respect and a smile. Maybe there’s hope for civilization yet!
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 – August 1st, 2024: Re-entry
I returned home this week after a three-week trip to Israel. How much could have happened to change the world in three short weeks?
Well, let’s see. . .
- There was an attempted assassination of former President (and current candidate) Donald Trump.
- JD Vance was named Trump’s running mate.
- President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race.
- A major software snafu from CrowdStrike severely impacted Microsoft systems, bringing
down the world’s airlines, banks, and other critical infrastructure. - Vice President Kamala Harris gathered enough delegate pledges to be the new de facto
Democratic presidential nominee. - The Olympics kicked off in Paris, with warnings of Seine water too polluted for swimming and
major disruptions in high-speed train service in France due to sabotage. - A complex multinational agreement freed two Americans and others from Russian prisons while sending alleged Russian spies and gang leaders back to their mother country.
- A rocket fired by Hezbollah killed 12 Arab children in a Druze town in the Golan Heights, while
Israel eliminated three top terrorist leaders—one of who was personally responsible for the deaths of more than 200 US Marines decades ago.
Yet, some things don’t seem to have changed at all.
The divide between the left and the right in this country shows no signs of narrowing. JD Vance called Kamala Harris “a childless cat lady.” Donald Trump asked a conference of Black journalists when Harris had decided to be Black. (Gee, maybe when she was born?). A large number of Progressive Democrats boycotted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, while protesters outside defaced government property and burned American flags.
And more than 100 hostages from 14 countries remain held in Gaza for 300 days—almost a year—with no clear progress on their release.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
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
Independence
| Greetings!
Two hundred forty-eight years ago, America declared its independence from Great Britain. Could the Founding Fathers have ever envisioned what they were creating? Probably not. Too much has changed since then—from the understanding that people should not be judged by the color of their skin, their ethnicity, or their gender. . . to technological advances even our grandparents could not have imagined. But what has stayed the same for nearly two and a half centuries is this: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. How we interpret these goals remains our challenge. We have not yet reached the state they envisioned back then. With great independence comes great responsibility. The world is watching. Will we rise to the occasion?
|
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
|