Story Behind the Strategy I Marketing Insights

A funeral home sponsoring a Community Calendar? I sold that. A divorce attorney sponsoring a wellness segment? That, too. After ten years in broadcast promotions, I challenged myself to invent eight sponsorship pairings even I couldn't justify. Unfortunately, I kept finding ways to pitch them. Sometimes the difference between a brilliant partnership and a terrible idea is the story connecting the sponsor to the audience.

I once maintained a list of businesses we absolutely should NOT approach for sponsorship. It started with two columns: advertisers who would appreciate the unscripted chaos of a Facebook Live show, and businesses our hosts had already made fun of on camera. Guess which column was longer? Sometimes the smartest sponsorship strategy isn't finding another advertiser. It's knowing which ones to avoid.

Remember when Meryl awkwardly interrupted conversations in The Truman Show to promote Mococoa? It's hilarious because the sponsorship feels completely out of place. From fictional product placements to the recent Berlin Marathon sponsor change, let's explore why sponsorship brand fit matters—and why getting a brand noticed isn't always the same as making a sponsorship successful.

“Build your network before you need it” is great advice—unless you’re reading it after a layoff. One unexpected referral reminded me that building a professional network isn’t about collecting connections. It’s about creating relationships that still matter long after the original reason you met is gone.

When a creator recommends your product, you aren't just buying access to their audience. You're borrowing the trust they've spent years building with it. From Ray Narvaez Jr. to Fyre Festival, what happens when marketing becomes dependent on someone else's reputation?

I signed up for two webinars this week and attended neither. The recordings are sitting in my inbox, but I missed something they can't reproduce. From a live AI course to conference conversations and a surprise connection at a Cardinals game, some of the best learning happens because other people are there with you.

Remote work proved we don’t have to be in the same room to work, learn, build communities, or even run a marathon together. So why are remote-first companies still investing in offsites, conferences, and trade shows? From a virtual Boston Marathon to unexpected conversations over coffee, I dug into what research says about the value of purposeful presence—and what happens between the agenda items.

Did you generate 200 leads, or did 200 people let you scan their badges? From hula hooping at a radio station booth to B2B trade shows and client dinners, measuring event marketing ROI starts with knowing what you showed up to accomplish.

If concerts, conferences and games can all be experienced through a screen, why do we still want to show up? Sing, the Savannah Bananas and one memorable conference reveal how digital content can make live experiences more desirable—not less.

A contest offering a two-year Chevy Cruze lease was bound to generate plenty of entries. The more important question was what we could learn from them. One Big Data presentation changed how I thought about turning contest participation into actionable marketing insights.

Marketing data gives us more numbers than ever, but collecting data isn't the same as knowing what to do with it. Sometimes the most useful marketing question is also the simplest: “So what?”

AI search makes answers easier to find, but good research still depends on asking the right questions. What The Matrix can teach us about AEO, search, and understanding.

When executive opinion becomes a directive, marketing strategy can quickly turn into compliance. But who actually has the authority to push back? A look at power, customer insight, and why silence doesn't always mean agreement.

Mean Girls offers a surprisingly useful lesson about consensus in leadership: compliance can look like agreement when people don't feel comfortable saying no.

Job titles can become part of how we define ourselves. But what happens when the title disappears? The work you keep doing when nobody requires it may be a better clue to your professional identity.

What happens when your job title no longer reflects the work you've actually done? After one successful career pivot from broadcast to digital marketing, I'm facing that question again as I explore product, partnership and integrated marketing—and whether another certification can help bridge the gap.

Experienced professionals aren't always looking for a new career when they explore another course, certification or degree. Good continuing education marketing recognizes what they've already accomplished, understands what they're trying to learn next, and gives them a reason to keep exploring.

What happens when an experienced professional becomes the student again? The Intern offers a refreshing lesson in lifelong learning: gaining new skills doesn't invalidate what you already know. Experience and curiosity can coexist—and together, they can lead your career somewhere new.

Larry Crowne goes back to college after losing his job, but the most valuable thing he gains isn't a degree. From professors and classmates to friends who offer advice, confidence and opportunity, his story shows why starting over is easier when you don't have to figure out what comes next alone.

Being right doesn't automatically make you persuasive. Don't Look Up shows what happens when sound science enters a world of politics, media, competing incentives, and public skepticism. From Randall Mindy's attempt to become a science educator to the missing call to action, the film offers a surprisingly useful lesson in what science communication requires from both the expert and the audience.