Ponderings from the Perch

Time to get in shape. 

Relax. We aren’t talking about the “running a mile for gym class” in shape. We’re actually talking about practicing and building up your empathy skills. Make empathy your new superpower and change the way you work and live. Joining Priscilla on The Perch is Rob Volpe, CEO and Empathy Activist at Ignite360. Rob is sharing the most impactful way forward with insight into his book, Tell Me More About That: Solving the Empathy Crisis One Conversation at a Time. 

Plain and simple, no one has a hankering for an apathetic friend, employee, boss, partner — the list goes on. Now, just because you aren’t practicing and strengthening your empathy skills now does not mean you’re inherently apathetic. Instead, think of it as an opportunity to set yourself on a path towards better connections and experiences. With empathy, we can all learn and understand more than we ever imagined possible. 

Tune in to hear how Rob Volpe is solving the empathy crisis one conversation at a time.

Grab your copy of Tell Me More About That: Solving the Empathy Crisis One Conversation at a Time! 

In his book, brand strategist and thought leader, Rob Volpe draws on his thousands of interviews with everyday people to illustrate the 5 Steps to Empathy™ — actions you can use to build a reflexive empathy muscle. 

Check out Rob’s last podcast episode with us! https://podcast.littlebirdmarketing.com/mr-leadership-week-rob-volpe-of-ignite-360

Does your company or team (marketing, sales or dodgeball) take part in the crucial practice of briefing and debriefing? If not, please see the definition of “crucial” and then continue reading to learn how to Be Vigilant! Many companies have undergone major changes due to recent global events, this we all know, but what we often don’t consider is if these blindside adjustments were due to an issue rooted far deeper in strategy and day-to-day operations. Enter, complacency. 

com·​pla·​cen·​cy | \ kəm-ˈplā-sᵊn(t)-sē, noun: self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies

“If you ask most people in business, whether they debrief things today, most likely they'll say yes, but most people do it when things go wrong and it becomes a blame game. What we don't do, a lot of the time, is self-reflection. Debrief when things are going right. The reality is that so much of complacency is bred in success.” 

- Len Herstein, Author of Be Vigilant!

In this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, Priscilla McKinney brings in Len Herstein, author of Be Vigilant!, for a productive and insightful chat on how continued innovation drives top companies (we’re talking Netflix here) to lead the pack in their industry. Tune in as Len combines his 30+ years of business with his recent ventures in law enforcement to find the keys to brand marketing and lasting company success. 

In his book, Be Vigilant!, Len combines all his experiences to provide a detailed roadmap for individuals and organizations to stop complacency, improve performance, and safeguard the success they’ve worked so hard to achieve. Check it out here!

COVID-19 put the insights industry on an accelerated path to digitalization, much like every other industry impacted by the pandemic. Before COVID, the research industry relied heavily on in-person interviews—and they likely won’t go away—however, research has changed. 

The Research Technology industry, nicknamed ResTech, quickly identified the need for insights that were fast, scalable AND affordable. Now, high-quality data can be available in a matter of seconds, helping businesses make the right decisions at the right time. 

Joining Priscilla McKinney on the Perch is ResTech expert Marc Hubbard. Marc has 20 years of research experience from Analyst to Country Manager with various research firms and tech firms including Nielsen and Google. We told you he’s an expert, right? Living and working in the UK and US on domestic and international projects throughout his research career only elevates his status as a thought leader in the industry. 

Tune in to hear more about what “staying curious” means for businesses as new processes and technology propel the market research industry into the future. Priscilla is asking the important questions; Is ResTech all it's cracked up to be? Where is ResTech going? How can companies leverage it?

Make clients unignorable. That’s a pretty good basis for working in the marketing industry, right? We think so, and so does our guest on this episode of Ponderings from the Perch. Introducing thought-leader Peter Levitan, Owner, Peter Levitan & Co. So, put on those headphones, plug into your aux cord or play it over Bluetooth for your daily commute — either way, don’t miss this intriguing discussion between Peter and Priscilla on B2B marketing in the 21st century. 

“What in fact is that 'ideal client work' for your experience and skill set? Who would be interested in talking to you? Write down that criteria list because you can't do direct marketing of any sort without knowing who it is that you want to direct market to." -Peter Levitan

With expertise working alongside the world's most recognizable brands, Peter is lending us his insight to discuss where brands fall short when it comes to working with marketing companies. Peter provides advice, coaching, and kick-ass, actionable business development strategies to advertising, digital and smart B2B companies all over the world.

Peter wrote The Levitan Pitch. Buy This Book. Win More Pitches — a 'how-to' book on pitching & presenting designed to help advertising agencies dramatically improve their odds of winning pitches. Check it out.

'Tis the season to see your local Girl Scouts posted up at your favorite grocery store. It only makes sense to talk about cookies in this episode — well, maybe not those types of cookies (though a Little Bird Marketing fan favorite is Thin Mints... in the freezer). Priscilla McKinney and Ashley LeBlanc are back on the Perch to give you 3 strategies to leverage for success on social media. 

With the advent of cookies, the marketing world shifted. But not like "getting comfy on the couch" shifted, more like "San Andreas fault line" shifted. And behold — targeted ads that work, and are arguably better on both ends. With Google phasing out cookies by 2023, what does the future of advertising look like? What do we, as marketers, stand to lose? What do we stand to gain? 

Call it a strategy or simply a business practice, either way, corporate social responsibility has rooted itself into every industry. Should you be leveraging CSR into a social media strategy? Yes. Why? You'll just have to tune it to find out. 

Leveraging micro-influencers in B2B marketing is revolutionary, but who qualifies as a micro-influencer? Employees? Customers? People trust each other considerably more than they trust brands or social media algorithms. You don't want to miss out on this easy, exponential value of leveraging micro-influencers for success.

A celebration is in order for our friends at InnovateMR! They have received a significant investment from CIVC Partners, a Chicago-based middle-market private equity firm focused on investments in the business services sector. 

“The big takeaway when you are looking to raise investment is to take your time and find the right partner. And I think we've really done that with CIVC their terrific company. They are a terrific group of folks that are already adding a tremendous amount of value to our business.” -Lisa Wilding-Brown, CEO

On this episode, Priscilla shares a laugh and gets real about investing in growth with Lisa Wilding-Brown, CEO of InnovateMR. Lisa shares insights into her success as the recently-appointed CEO of InnovateMR. They both discuss plans for business development and growth through new investment opportunities in the fast-growing market research industry. Lisa provides priceless insight into how CEOs should guide their companies to ensure every team member maintains their purpose.

Lisa Wilding-Brown has been in the industry for nearly 20 years with specialties including executive business leadership, product innovation, sampling and survey design, panel development and management, online and mobile recruitment as well as full-service mixed-mode field management across a multitude of industry sectors. In addition to her role as CEO of InnovateMR, Lisa serves on the board for both the MMRA and UTA’s Master of Science in Marketing Research. She is an active contributor to WIRexec, the Women in Research mentorship program and the Global Research Business Network. Lisa has published research related to business transformation, operational efficiency, data privacy, multicultural insights, participant engagement, online survey design, fraud mitigation and mobile best practices.

Most people can appreciate the importance of core values, but often, core values are overlooked or poorly implemented into the foundation of an organization. 

Though a business can change over time, core values remain constant, a sturdy backbone helping us to stay rooted and true to our beliefs. For the KJT Group, core values are always top of mind. How are you consciously and unconsciously showing up?

On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, Priscilla sits down with her good friend Michaela Gascon, President and CEO of the KJT Group, to talk about company core values, what leadership means and Michaela's new passion project, 20 Deep Winery. 

Someone cue infomercial king, Ron Popeil because— Wait! There's more! Priscilla and Michaela discuss everything from contagious culture to Enneagram results (and yes, the peeps at Little Bird Marketing are Enneagram advocates). Michaela shares that she is particularly looking forward to the first half of next year—tightening screws a little bit, committing to the core and building that even stronger foundation.  

P.S. If you’re a wine connoisseur like us, you should check out 20 Deep Winery!

Market Research is no longer solely focused on measurement but has grown to include prediction and optimization of the impact of marketing.

On today's episode, Priscilla talks with Emmanuel Probst, a brand health tracker for Ipsos and author of Brand Hacks: How to Build Brands by Fulfilling the Human Quest for Meaning. Emmanuel has a long-running background that combines over 16 years of market research and marketing experience with strong academic achievements. Together they pull back the curtain and reveal how brands are expecting future-proof marketing and consumers just want a little comfort in the buying process.

Tune in to learn how small brands and big brands alike can harness the power of first-party data to foster one on one relationships with their clients, even when the budget is limited.

You can find Emmanuel’s book here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58941508-brand-hacks

On today's episode, Momma Bird, Priscilla McKinney, and her guest, Cheskie Rosenzweig discuss a topic that often gets talked about but never seems to get resolved: Data quality. Cheskie is a Senior Research and Product Scientist at CloudResearch where his work centers around improving data quality in online research. He is also a Doctoral Candidate in clinical psychology at Columbia University. I mean, talk about being an expert in your field. Together, they discuss concepts that include the importance of blending both behavioral technical aspects of data in order to combat fraud and low-quality feedback in responses. A lot has changed since the first survey was conducted with the use of computer-aided statistical tools in 1890. 

One of the tools being used to combat data quality issues is SENTRY™. You can check it out here. 

SENTRY™ is a product that can be applied to any supplier and essentially performs an interview for each participant before they take part in a client survey. It applies both technological security checks, and also behavioral questions. It also has a lot of built-in tech features that are actually becoming more standard in the field and is used by most suppliers.

There's been a tradition in some aspects of the humanities and social science academic world of using narrative research to listen to people and discover unheard messages and ideas. Now that has crossed over into the quantitative research world. Leigh Caldwell, Partner at Irrational Agency, joins Priscilla McKinney in this episode of Ponderings from the Perch to dive deep into narrative research as it relates to behavioral science. So how does narrative research collectively bring a better understanding of consumers to the table?