Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories
Dusty Weis 79 episodes Oct 29, 2026
Lead Balloon is a storytelling podcast about marketing, public relations, branding and strategic communications. Host Dusty Weis speaks with communications professionals and revisits notable campaigns, intense PR situations and spectacular public relations disasters. The show mixes immersive storytelling with a wry sense of humor while drawing practical lessons from other people's worst days. It is aimed at communicators and media consumers and releases new episodes monthly.
Episodes
74. But, Can AI Be a Podcast Host's ASSISTANT? with Aneri Shah & "Gabby"
We've been dunking on AI a whole lot lately.
And that's not going to change any time soon.
Because most of the uses for AI that we're seeing are cheap, sloppy and anti-creative.
But there are people out there who are using it to do things that are interesting... and dare we even say it? Even artistic?
One of those people is writer, filmmaker and podcast host Aneri Shah.
She's pioneered an
73. AI Podcasts Scrapped: Inception Point CEO Jeanine Wright Explains Pivot, Rebrand as Liquid Studios
As they promote their new AI technologies, executives at tech startups have said some outlandish things.
Making bold claims gets headlines. It secures meetings. It closes funding deals.
It also runs the risk of being seen as manipulative, insincere and opaque.
So in this episode, we have a big update to the story of Inception Point AI.
This startup burst onto the scene a year ago using AI p
72. Bald as a Brand: What is Baldmaxxing and Why Should Marketers Pay Attention? w/ Harry James and Brennan Johnson
For decades, baldness has been seen as undesirable—for men AND women.
Traditional and social media both have reinforced the message that a thick, luscious head of hair is synonymous with desirability and success.
And marketers have hocked products to prevent, hide or "cure" baldness—but never to embrace it.
However, a new online trend—"Baldmaxxing"—is changing the narrative around hair loss,
71. America's Brand: Reclaiming Patriotism for Regular Americans, with Joe Trahan (APR Fellow PRSA)
Every nation on the planet is its own brand.
And love of country plays a part in each one.
But here in the U.S., the very notion of patriotism has been polarized.
Culture warriors have attempted to unilaterally define what it means to be American, and they paint anyone who disagrees as unpatriotic.
So how did one extremist ideology corner the market on branding American patriotism? Why is it
70. How to Go Viral and Not Screw Up Your Kid's Life, with the Original "Hysterical Bubbles" Laughing Baby (All Grown Up)
The annals of internet history are littered with cautionary tales from young people who became internet famous.
From “Star Wars Kid” (Ghyslain Raza) to “Overly Attached Girlfriend” (Laina Morris), many viral stars of the early internet did not intend to become memes.
And the unintended attention and even bullying that accompany online celebrity can have a profound—even damaging—impact on a kid’s
69. How the Snapple Brand Won Our Hearts in the 90s, Then Lost Them
The strategy at the heart of the Snapple brand's precipitous rise... and its cataclysmic fall... is simple.
"Embrace your roots. Celebrate authenticity."
It's a lesson that's been served up again and again in the brands and marketing ecosystem. But it never seems to sink in.
So in this episode, we'll pop the top on a Snapple double feature.
First, Jane Cavalier tells us about pitching Snapple'
68. Seth Rogen Film, The Interview, Sparks a North Korean Hack Attack and a Hollywood PR Debacle for Sony Pictures' CEO
In 2014, Sony Pictures Entertainment sparked an international diplomatic crisis when it announced its latest comedy, which they called “The Interview.”
Starring Seth Rogen, James Franco, and Randall Park as a parodied version of North Korea’s Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-Un, the film features a slapstick plotline where a couple of bumbling journalists are recruited by the CIA to assassinate the rec
67. Coca-Cola's Master's Tournament Sponsorship Triggers 2002 Boycott Threat, with Ben Deutsch and Dr. Martha Burk
Home to the Masters Tournament, the Augusta National Golf Club typically serves as a backdrop for sports drama.
But in 2002, the club itself became the story, as its men-only membership policy came under the microscope in an unexpected and sensational showdown between women's rights activists and the club's defiant adherence to "tradition."
The tale of how the conflict came to a head is an unlik
66. Cracks in the ICE: Legal Observers in Minneapolis Use the First Amendment to Swing Public Opinion About Immigration Crackdown
Since the government shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, something has changed in the national conversation about the Trump Administration’s immigration policies.
And the primary reason it’s happening is not a brilliant PR campaign, Pulitzer-winning journalism, or organized political strategy.
It’s because of regular folks with camera phones documenting what’s actually happe
65. Delicious Redemption: Getting Fired for an Infamous PBR Tweet Made Corey Smale the CCO at Garage Beer
It was four years ago that the Twitter account for legendary beer brand Pabst Blue Ribbon tweeted out:
"Not drinking this January? Try eating ass!"
And we're FINALLY talking to the guy who did it.
Because Corey Smale—who was promptly fired for the Tweet and owned it publicly—isn't just PBR's ex-social media manager.
He's now been named Ad Age's "Marketer of the Year" for his current work as
64. The Wikipedia Prank: Why the Internet Mistakenly Thought the Movie Good Luck Chuck was Based on Ben Kollenbroich
15 years ago, if you had googled Ben Kollenbroich’s name, you would have discovered that his life story was the inspiration for “Good Luck Chuck,” a mid-budget, critically-panned romantic comedy starring Dane Cook and Jessica Alba.
That’s not REMOTELY true, however.
In fact, Ben Kollenbroich was just a regular 25-year-old guy in 2010. There certainly weren't any movies based on his life.
And
63. A.I. Podcast Host Invasion: Inception Point's Business Model & the Podcast Industry's Reaction
Earlier this month, a new startup announced that they would be using artificial intelligence to churn out thousands of podcast episodes voiced by A.I. podcast hosts.
Inception Point A.I. claims to be able to fashion 3,000 podcast episodes a week at a paltry cost of $1 per episode, and plans to flood the market with massive amounts of content in the hopes of generating revenue through programmati
62. Modernizing the Way We Communicate About Road Closures (Especially During Emergencies), with Scott Oppman from ArcGIS
Most people get travel information about road closures from Google Maps, Apple Maps or a similar smartphone-based application.
But when a road is closed, most transportation agencies put out a press release.
And this disconnect is not only annoying—it can be a public safety hazard.
So after the recent catastrophic flooding in his Southeast Wisconsin community, Dusty wants to start a convers
61. Will Wikipedia survive Artificial Intelligence? (And Can A.I. Survive Without Wikipedia?)
Wikipedia readers consume nearly one billion articles per day from the online encyclopedia.
In its 25 years of operation, this compendium of human knowledge has become an integral tool for understanding the world in which we live.
But artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT could threaten Wikipedia's viability over the next 25 years.
And in fact, by diverting fundraising traffic, undermin
60. Recession Lessons from Content Marketing Institute Founder Joe Pulizzi: Double Down, Dig In
In the world of business, yet again, things looks grim.
A brewing trade war, the uncharted fallout of artificial intelligence, and political upheaval around the world...
All these factors have created an atmosphere of business uncertainty. Marketing jobs and budgets face the specter of the chopping block once again, and many are taking a "batten down the hatches" approach.
But at a time like
59. Bot Farms Have Made Social Media Engagement Metrics Meaningless, with Eric Schwartzman
What you see online is not real.
This has long been a reliable axiom for information consumption on the internet.
But social media and SEO marketers have long relied on their engagement metrics as an exception to that rule—critical quantitative data that can't be faked and can be leveraged to demonstrate the value of a campaign or piece of content.
Except in 2025, it's just not reliable any
58. The Mystery of the I-94 Sales & Marketing Tip of the Week Billboard, with Ken Hoffman & Kyle Brown
There is a weird, enigmatic old billboard along the interstate in Wisconsin promoting a "Sales & Marketing Tip of the Week."
Without any branding or context, this weathered sign invites thousands of motorists daily to call a mysterious phone number.
And that has been driving Dusty CRAZY because, frankly, nothing about this billboard makes any sense in 2025.
So we're going to SOLVE A MARKETING
57. Why Have Streaming Services Put So Many Ads In Our Shows? with Film Critic Matt Zoller Seitz
After more than a decade of living in an entertainment golden age...
Filled with more and better options, with less advertising, than ever before in human history...
Are the good times over?
Almost every major streaming service has recently begun inserting advertising into its programming.
And it's NOT your imagination... the ads really are more disruptive and obnoxious than traditional te
56. What Happens at American Airlines After a Plane Crash: Behind the Scenes with Former Spokeswoman Jennifer R. Hudson
Three weeks after accepting a new role as an American Airlines spokeswoman in 1995, Jennifer R. Hudson was paged out of bed in the middle of the night.
The worst had happened.
Flight 965 had disappeared in the mountains of Colombia, and Jennifer needed to report to the scene of the crash to coordinate the company's public relations response. Unnerved and uncertain, she had to push aside her doubts
55. Liquid Death Spoofs the Pepsi Harrier Jet Giveaway, with Andy Pearson & Jeff Beer
At the height of the Cola Wars in the mid-90's, Pepsi committed one of the most notorious PR and marketing fiascos of all-time.
An eye-catching spot promised brand fans that, if they saved up 7 million Pepsi Points, they could win a Harrier fighter jet.
However, no one at Pepsi or their ad agency ever expected anyone to try to claim that prize. And when Washington business school student John Leon
54. The Election of the Podcast? 2024 Presidential Campaign PR Focuses on Podcasts & Social Media
Earned media has long been the holy grail of public relations.
For decades, getting your client's message in the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal has been the gold standard by which PR agencies are judged.
But as we march further into this age of new media, those public opinion gatekeepers in the traditional media are losing their dominance of the American attention span.
And as evidenced
53. Alex Jones’s Infowars Being Purchased by the Onion and Sandy Hook Families, with Onion CMO Leila Brillson
Alex Jones, founder of the extremist conspiracy-theory-peddling digital brand Infowars, has proved again and again that there is no lie he will not embrace and no moral line he will not cross.
For his own, personal benefit, he has victimized the grieving parents of children who were killed in school shootings. He has deliberately stoked fear among his followers in order to sell them snake oil. He
52. FEMA Public Affairs Team Still Carries Scars from Hurricane Ike Assignment, with Molly McPherson & Mike Moore
The videos and stories we’ve seen and heard from Hurricanes Helene and Milton over the last month have been truly horrific.
They're an important reminder that the rescue and recovery crews who rush into these disaster zones are invaluable...
...as is the work of public affairs crews and reporters who document the aftermath of these storms.
They’re giving the outside world a window in to the carnag
51. The Legend of Dukakis in a Tank: White House Comms Pros Talk Presidential Optics, with Josh King and Kevin Sullivan
The image of 1988 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis riding in a tank has become synonymous with abject public relations failure.
For marketers and PR practitioners, it serves as an enduring reminder of the power that our mistakes have to burn down powerful people and institutions in one moment of lapsed judgment.
And in the spirit of the upcoming election, in this episode we'll exp
BONUS: Literally, the Grammar-Nerdiest Conversation You'll Ever Hear, with Dr. Valerie Fridland
Sociolinguist Dr. Valerie Fridland says we need to relax about the changing nature of language.
In her book, "Like, Literally Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English," she notes that language has always evolved. Every generation adds its own spin, and the English language is almost unrecognizable from what was spoken centuries ago.
And for the most part, we agree.
But Dusty thinks there's a *fig
50. Grumpy Cat, the Sound of Freedom, Watergate and More: A Look Back and a Look at What's Next
When you're working with high-profile people in fields like PR, marketing and branding, things are always changing.
History gets uncovered. New information comes to light that changes everything. And sometimes an opportunity comes along to learn just a little bit more about a topic of interest.
So in this episode, we're revisiting three separate tales from Lead Balloon’s four-year run to dig deepe
49. How I Almost Got Fired in My 1st Week in PR, and the Important Life Lessons I Learned
At the end of his first week working in public relations, Lead Balloon host Dusty Weis did something so dumb, he could have been fired on the spot.
During a meeting with one of his new bosses, prominent Milwaukee politician Jim Bohl, Dusty made a bad assumption and recklessly insulted Jim to his face.
Dusty wasn't fired, and the pair went on to work well together at City Hall for five years.
But t
48. A UAP PR Campaign: Mainstreaming the Conversation About Unexplained Anomalous Phenomena, with Lt. Ryan Graves
UFOs have traditionally been more of a pop culture phenomenon than an actual science.
But with the recent declassification of Navy gun camera footage that shows unexplained craft seeming to defy the laws of flight and physics, there's a growing movement among the aviation, military and science communities.
They insist it's vital to destigmatize the conversation around Unidentified Anomalous Phenom
47. Sliding into DMs on the Dating App Hinge, with NextGen America's Kristi Johnston
Let's be honest: political groups don't have a great success rate when it comes to their strategic communication tactics.
Every election cycle, American voters are bombarded with mailers, emails and text messages that mostly just get trashed or deleted.
And when a Political Action Committee like NextGen America is charged with reaching out to younger voters, they face an even more substantial task
46. Why Are Wireless Emergency Alerts on Your Phone So Terrible? A Strategic Communication Conundrum
On January 18, 2018, the entire State of Hawaii received an ear piercing alert on their cell phones.
"BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL."
Those with a keen memory will recall that the Aloha State was NOT, in fact, wiped off the map by a missile strike.
It was a false alarm.
But what it revealed about the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system sh
45. Replaced by Chat GPT: Are Creative and Copywriting Jobs Threatened by Artificial Intelligence?
The robot revolution has arrived.
And they're coming for your marketing or content creation job.
The advent of generative artificial intelligence chatbots—most notably tools like Chat GPT and Midjourney—is poised to revolutionize creative industries. These tools use deep learning technology to generate new content based on prompts from human users.
But will this be the end of creativity as we know
44. How a Real Life Ad Agency Inspired the Robin Williams CBS Sitcom, "The Crazy Ones"
Every professional communicator has had a day that seems like it came straight out of a TV sitcom.
For Rob Davis and John R. Montgomery, working at the Chicago ad firm Leo Burnett in the early 2000’s, it was a regular occurrence.
In fact, the stories from their time there were so singular, that when they shot a pilot and pitched it to Hollywood, it was picked up and run as a CBS sitcom starring Ro
43. Brands Don't Have the Rizz: Appropriating Gen Z Slang Is Falling Flat in Social Media Marketing
"How do you do, fellow marketers? We think it would be pretty 'on fleek' if you would stop trying to use slang terms to make yourself more relatable to young people."
Certainly, brands swooping in and trying to leverage youth culture to drive sales is nothing new.
But as bad as it was in the 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s, the advent of social media marketing made it 1000 times worse.
The internet n
BONUS: Covid is—Air Quotes—Over. What That Means for Strategic Communicators, with former HHS Spokesman Bill Pierce
Communicating during and about the Covid-19 pandemic is a topic we've discussed several times on this show, including in our most recent episode.
And, as of today, May 11, 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services coronavirus Public Health Emergency is expiring.
But just because Covid is "over" doesn’t mean we won’t still have to discuss it as strategic communicators.
And so in this bonus
42. OkCupid Stays On Target During the Covid Pandemic: PR Messaging and Online Dating Apps
When the unstoppable force of online dating met the immovable object of global pandemic social distancing, there was no road map for what would come next.
Michael Kaye is the director of brand and communications for the online dating app OkCupid. And, in the early days of the Covid lockdown, he and his team faced decisions that weighed on no less than the continued existence of the company.
After
41. Deepfakes: How Communicators Must Prepare Now for this Imminent Reputation Threat
It is now only a matter of time until someone attacks your reputation with a deepfake, according to the experts.
So-called deepfake technology, which can synthesize audio and video of things that never happened, has arrived en masse.
And, while these tools for generating potential disinformation were previously only available to trained experts and big institutions, recent advances in artificial i
40. In Event of Moon Disaster: The Greatest Speech Never Given
It has been called “The Greatest Speech Never Given.”
Drafted as a contingency plan for President Richard Nixon on the occasion of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the memo entitled "In Event of Moon Disaster" is inarguably a better piece of writing than any of the presidential remarks actually delivered on that day.
Penned by White House speechwriter William Safire, today it is hailed as a work of r
39. Pernicious Copyright Robots Are Targeting Your Website: PicRights and the Practice of "Copyright Trolling"
There’s a disturbing new trend making waves in the world of online content creation.
Corporate blogs, mom-and-pop business websites, podcasts…
Even stuff that you posted years ago to your personal website or social media.
It’s now being examined, sifted through and screened by artificial intelligence bots, which are programmed to search for copyright violations.
The practice has become known as “
38. The Bud Light CoRntroversy, Revisited: Miller Lite Strikes Back
Now with 50% new footage!
During Super Bowl LIII in 2019, Bud Light launched a new advertising strategy that was... unconventional, even for them.
Instead of frogs or "wazzap" guys or silly superstitions, this campaign focused on attacking Bud Light's rivals for using corn syrup to brew their beers. Stranger still, outside observers noted that the beer giant borrowed other conventions from the wor
BONUS: Celebrating 20 Years Behind a Mic With Dusty's First Audio Boss, Scott Thompson
It's been a busy year here at Podcamp Media.
So busy, in fact, that we almost forgot to recognize a pretty significant milestone in Dusty's career.
20 years ago, Dusty got his first job behind a microphone. He was 17-years-old, working an after school gig at his local radio station in Monroe, Wisconsin, when he was afforded the opportunity to voice the overnight shift and eventually ride the news
37. Blue Angels Ride Along: Lead Balloon Becomes the First Podcast to Fly with the US Navy Blue Angels
For the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron, media relations is not a job that just happens on the ground.
Each year, dozens of media reps, influencers and VIPs are invited to take a ride in the back seat of one of the squadron's F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets.
And, in order to help tell the story of the Blue Angels public affairs team, Lead Balloon was invited to be the first p
36. The US Navy Blue Angels: Public Affairs and Marketing at 500 Miles Per Hour
The U.S. Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron is not only the world’s most well-known group of elite performing aviators.
It’s also—and people forget this—a group of elite public affairs and marketing practitioners.
From the pilots to the technicians turning wrenches on the planes, every Blue Angels team member is trained to uphold the unit's 76 years of tradition and legacy. As a bran
35. Post-Cold War PR Trip to Uzbekistan Boosts Fundraising for United Jewish Appeal's Operation Exodus, with Dick Grove
In 1993, the world watched as two bitter rivals shook hands on the South Lawn of the White House, presenting the best hope for peace in the Middle East seen in centuries of bloodshed.
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization Chair Yasser Arafat’s signing of the Oslo Accords—and the handshake that followed, cajoled by U.S. President Bill Clinton—comprised an iconic
Trailer—The Lead Balloon Podcast—PR, Marketing and Strategic Communications Stories
Adweek's 2020 "Marketing Podcast of the Year."
Webby Award-nominated.
Profiled on Forbes.com.
On Lead Balloon, professional communicators share tales of the do-or-die situations that defined public relations and marketing careers--what went wrong, how unexpected obstacles were overcome, and what was learned in the process.
With immersive storytelling and a wry sense of humor, host Dusty Weis revis
34. Murder in Boston Blamed on Sega's Virtua Cop Video Game, with Lee Caraher
On a busy evening in Boston's financial district in 1995, gunshots ring out. When the smoke clears, a prominent divorce attorney is dead and a police officer is wounded.
And Lee Caraher, then the Vice President of Corporate and Consumer Communications for the Sega Corporation, doesn't know it yet...
...but she's about to have a public relations crisis on her hands.
Police would eventually uncover
33. National Airlines' Saucy "Fly Me" Ad Campaign, and the Great Stewardess Rebellion of the 1970s
Sexist advertising that objectifies women reached its heyday in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
But, in that era, it was very seldom that any company actually faced backlash or consequences for its ad practices.
That began to change, however, when National Airlines deployed a racy new ad campaign in which alluring young stewardesses invited travelers to "Fly Me" on their next business trip.
Nation
32. Tesla’s Elon Musk Fires the Entire Public Relations Team—What Could Go Wrong?
As the world’s most valuable automotive manufacturer, electric car giant Tesla is the largest company in the world that operates without any kind of public relations personnel.
That means no media relations arm. No crisis comms plan. No PIO.
In fact, the entire PR team was purged just a couple years ago in 2020, and CEO Elon Musk has defended the move, saying the company doesn't believe in "manip
31. Snapple: Pitching the Best Catchphrase On Earth, with Jane Cavalier and Richard Kirshenbaum
The strategy at the heart of the Snapple brand's precipitous rise... and its cataclysmic fall... is simple:
Embrace your roots. Celebrate authenticity.
It's a lesson that's been served up again and again in the brands and marketing ecosystem. But it never seems to sink in.
So in this episode, we'll pop the top on a Snapple double feature.
First, Jane Cavalier tells us about pitching Snapple's icon
30. Inside the PBR "Eating Ass" Tweetstorm, with Adweek Editor David Griner and Kyle Brown
On January 3, Pabst Blue Ribbon lit the internet on fire with one obscene tweet:
“Not drinking this January? Try eating ass.”
The uproar was swift and loud. And PBR deleted the tweets and apologized publicly, even as some writers blamed a “rogue employee” for the tweets.
That was NOT the case. The offending Tweeter was actually an established social media manager by the name of Corey Smale, a crea
29. Ukrainian Creatives Waging an Information War Against Russian Invasion
For Ukrainian ad agencies and freelance creatives, "business-as-usual" stopped on the day that Russian forces launched their unprovoked war three weeks ago.
Now, they need your help to pierce the veil of Russian propaganda and fight for their homeland in their own way--by waging a global information war to win the hearts and minds of the world.
In this episode, we talk to three Kyiv-based creative
28. Wendy's Twitter Account Manager Recounts Battle with Social Media Burnout, with Amy Brown and Sallie Poggi
Wendy’s, the burger chain, is infamous for its punchy, no-holds-barred Twitter account.
And social media manager Amy Brown was the creative instigator of that success. Many internet historians even point to her epic 2017 tweet-roast as the viral moment that launched an entire genre of Snarky Brand Twitter.
It certainly made her a hero to social media managers the world over.
So why, within just a
27. Sherwin-Williams Paints Itself Into a Corner on TikTok, with Tony Piloseno
Tony Piloseno really likes paint.
And as a junior studying marketing at Ohio University, he channeled his passion for a part-time job at a Sherwin-Williams paint store into a wildly successful TikTok channel. His weirdly entertaining videos of mixing paint colors amassed hundreds of thousands of social media followers and tens of millions of views.
Inspired by his meteoric success, Tony pitched th
BONUS: Milwaukee Bucks Senior VP Alex Lasry on the City's "Quiet Swagger," His U.S. Senate Campaign, and the Team's Prospects for 2022
This month on the show, we talked to Alex Lasry, the Senior Vice President of the Milwaukee Bucks, about the team’s dramatic stand for social justice last year during the NBA Playoffs. It’s a really important story and a great case study for how organizations can and should navigate some of these situations we face as a nation.
But Alex has a lot of other irons in the fire, too.
And so in this bon
26. Bigger Than Basketball: The Milwaukee Bucks and the NBA Social Justice Walkout of 2020
With a shot at an NBA title on the line, an entire basketball team refuses to take the court. They won’t even come out of the locker room.
It’s a sports marketing nightmare. And just last year, it came true for the management of the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team.
Alex Lasry is the Senior Vice President of the Bucks. And even though he was shocked just like the rest of us when the 2020 walk-out h
24. The Dreaded Grand Jury Subpoena, with Duct Tape Marketing Founder John Jantsch
There's nothing easy about striking out on your own as an independent marketing consultant.
Work can be scarce and hard to come by, and when an opportunity does come along, there can be a lot of pressure to accept it no matter what.
John Jantsch knows from experience. Before he was the founder, host and author of Duct Tape Marketing the agency, podcast and book, he was a go-getter looking to make
23. Bridgegate: Behind the Scenes at the Port Authority During the 2013 Scandal, with Anthony Hayes
The George Washington Bridge between Manhattan and New Jersey is the world’s busiest motor vehicle crossing, carrying more than 103 million vehicles a year over the Hudson River.
And so in 2013, when accusations came out that hand-picked members of former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s staff deliberately caused massive traffic backups on and around the bridge, the story made national headli
BONUS: Bulletins From an NBA Title-Winning Terrible City
At Podcamp Media, we are *proudly* based in Milwaukee and Wisconsin.
Founder Dusty Weis explains why in this column he wrote for our friends at OnMilwaukee.com.
(Music by Ghost Beatz)
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
22. Scandal at Foresters Financial, with former VP of PR Henry DeVries
Henry DeVries had to choose: a big fat raise and a promotion, or maintain his integrity.
The year was 1996, and Henry was the Vice President of Public Relations at Foresters Financial. He had just found out about an ongoing affair between two high-ranking executives, and they had made their intentions clear. They wanted him to aid in the cover-up, for which he would be richly rewarded.
But stickin
21. Hip-Hop Mogul Russell Simmons Hijacks the Mainstage at LinkedIn's Sales Summit, with Justin Shriber
When Justin Shriber was the Vice President of Marketing for LinkedIn Sales and Marketing Solutions, he was charged with emceeing the social media juggernaut's Sales Leaders Summit mainstage.
And with hip-hop legend and business magnate Russell Simmons lined up to serve as headliner, the hall was packed with people eager to hear Simmons's stories from the early days of hip-hop and his entrepreneuri
20. Plane Crash in Colombia: American Airlines Flight 965, with Jennifer R. Hudson
Three weeks after accepting a new role as an American Airlines spokeswoman in 1995, Jennifer R. Hudson was paged out of bed in the middle of the night.
The worst had happened.
Flight 965 had disappeared in the mountains of Colombia, and Jennifer needed to report to the scene of the crash to coordinate the company's public relations response. Unnerved and uncertain, she had to push aside her doubts
19. Coca-Cola and the Masters Tournament, with retired Coke Comms VP Ben Deutsch and Dr. Martha Burk
Home to the Masters Tournament, the Augusta National Golf Club typically serves as a backdrop for sports drama.
But in 2002, the club itself became the story, as its men-only membership policy came under the microscope in an unexpected and sensational showdown between women's rights activists and the club's defiant adherence to "tradition."
The tale of how the conflict came to a head is an unlikel
18. Coca-Cola's Retired Comms VP Ben Deutsch on the 1998 World Cup, Coke's Belgium Health Scare and More
Before he went on to become Coca-Cola's global vice president of corporate communication, Ben Deutsch was plucked from his dream job in Coke's Sports PR section and dropped into a global media relations director role that he could only assume would be a snooze fest.
As it turned out, he'd wind up as the media point person while the iconic brand navigated one of the most tumultuous periods in its 1
17. The Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson: Insurrection, Business Comms & Politics
What constitutes "politics" in America has crept into new, ugly territory. And with the deadly Capitol insurrection on January 6, it finally became impossible for businesses to ignore the danger that rising nationalism poses to democracy.
In minutes, that realization changed everything about the way businesses and organizations communicate about politics, and the Lincoln Project is a major force d
16. Vaccine Messaging: How Comms Professionals Can Help Save the World from Covid
With Covid-19 vaccination efforts finally getting underway, communicating properly about this process is critical to saving lives and re-opening the economy.
That responsibility extends beyond the traditional bounds of public health communication, according to public health experts, and touches nearly every strategic communicator in the country--and indeed every American citizen.
In this episode,
15. Going Rogue, Battling Bears, Government Shutdowns and National Parks, with Julie Wright
In public relations, "going rogue" is a notion that sets teeth on edge for most PR practitioners.
But sometimes, when the conventional approach fails, the only way forward is to throw carefully-laid plans out the window and wing it.
In 2013, when a government shutdown closed the National Parks to visitors on the eve of her long-planned PR junket, (W)right On Communications founder Julie Wright fac
BONUS: Adweek's "Marketing Podcast of the Year" Is... Lead Balloon!
We've just received some incredible news here at Podcamp Media world headquarters in Milwaukee.
Lead Balloon is Adweek's 2020 "Marketing Podcast of the Year," and Dusty is "just gobsmacked."
This is like pulling down an "Emmy" or an "Oscar" in podcasting. And since it's 2020 and, well, Covid, there won't be an opportunity to accept some hardware on a podium.
So in this quick special update, Dusty
13. The Squatty Potty Saga and the Science of Going Viral, with Harmon Brothers CEO Benton Crane
Right or wrong, there are some products that most PR and marketing professionals want nothing to do with.
The Squatty Potty, a plastic platform that purports to alleviate constipation, is certainly not any conventional marketer's dream client.
But under the guidance of the Harmon Brothers agency, this ignoble brand launched the most successful viral marketing video of all-time, landing hundreds of
12. A Creative in the Corporate World, with David Allen Moss
Not everyone in marketing set out from Day One to become a marketer.
And for outside creatives transitioning into the corporate world, there are tough lessons to master, dangerous pitfalls to avoid and unwritten rules to learn.
Before he was brand strategist, David Allen Moss was an industrial designer, an artist and a musician. His impressive and meandering career as a marketer has touched brands
11. The Emotional Unsubscribe, and other Marketing Automation Pitfalls to Avoid, with Misty Dykema and Abby Bell from Simantel
With great marketing tools comes great responsibility--and marketing automation, email marketing and customer relationship management are no exception.
Use them correctly, and you can tap into the efficiencies inherent in automation, with a demonstrable return on investment. Use them incorrectly, and you can crater your customer relationships with the touch of a button.
Misty Dykema and Abby Bell
10. Getting Uncomfortable About Race in America, with Randy Crump, Dr. Monique Liston and Kennita Hickman
In the corporate world, unspoken rules about what constitutes appropriate workplace conversation provide white employees with a safe, comfortable space free from discussion about controversial topics like race and police brutality.
But for people of color, there's no escaping these conversations--they shape the reality that Black people live every day in America. They can't turn it off or "take a
9. The Ritz-Carlton Hail Mary, with Trusted Media Brands CCO Beth Tomkiw
The Hail Mary: a last-chance, desperation plan with a high risk of failure, turned to as a last resort when all other options have failed.
It's not just a football play; it's a mindset that professional communicators must adopt from time-to-time.
Beth Tomkiw is the Chief Content Officer at Trusted Media Brands, the publisher of Taste of Home, Reader's Digest and many other recognizable publication
8. The COVID Pivot? Content Marketing Institute Founder Joe Pulizzi on Promoting Your Brand During a Recession
There's no need to sugarcoat it: things looks grim. The COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic has exacted a brutal price in lives, public health and global economic activity, and there's little respite in sight.
But with a likely recession setting in, those of us fortunate enough to still have jobs in marketing and communications are looking for ways to do more with less.
Enter Joe Pulizzi. In the midst o
7. COVID-19: Critiquing the Federal Response with former HHS Spokesman Bill Pierce, and Busting Coronavirus Myths with Epidemiologist Dr. Maria Sundaram
Communicating with the public during a crisis is as critical as it is difficult. And if it's seemed to you like President Donald Trump has been hitting many of the wrong notes during his daily media briefings, you're not alone.
"They threw the plan out, and started to make up a new one, and they didn't need to," says Bill Pierce, who served as a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Ser
6. HBO's McMillion$: The PR Crises Behind the Hit DocuSeries, with Directors James Lee Hernandez & Brian Lazarte
Everybody remembers the McDonald's Monopoly sweepstakes.
But until HBO's McMillion$ came out, most folks didn't realize that the reason it suddenly vanished in 2001 was because it was rigged from the start.
In the hit series, directors James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte tell the fantastic story with panache and aplomb of how McDonald's was scammed for $24 million.
And in this episode of Lead Ba
5. The Seinfeld Press Conference, with Tim O'Brien
It might be tough to imagine these days, but public relations work still got done in the era before cell phones and broadband.
Somehow.
But like the show Seinfeld, one of the most popular sitcoms from the '90s, the slow speed of information back then could cause challenges and miscommunications during high-stakes PR events--which might otherwise have been solved with a quick phone call.
In this ep
4. We Don't Do Ribbon Cuttings, with Patrick McSweeney, Katrine Strickland and Jason Maddux
Patrick McSweeney is a cliché warrior. If it's a hackneyed, over-worn marketing and PR trope, he’s gone to battle against it.
But when you choose creativity and innovation over familiarity and stagnation, there can be hidden dangers. They might result in a sticky mess and hundreds of dollars in damage, but ultimately, isn't that a lesser risk than failing as a storyteller?
In this episode, Patrick
3. Bud Light's Corn Syrup-Fueled Ad War, with Neil Caskey from the National Corn Growers Association, Paul Gatza from the Brewers Association, and Kyle Brown
During Super Bowl LIII in 2019, Bud Light launched a new advertising strategy that was... unconventional, even for them.
HEADS UP: We remastered this episode, adding new perspectives, follow-up and... well, we just all-around made it better.
LISTEN TO THAT VERSION HERE
Instead of frogs or "wazzap" guys or silly superstitions, this campaign focused on attacking Bud Light's rivals for using corn sy
2. City Hall Self Destruct, with Jim Bohl, Bill Arnold, Jim Owczarski and Ken Leiviska
At the end of his first week working in public relations, Dusty Weis did something so dumb, he could have been fired on the spot. During a meeting with one of his new bosses, prominent Milwaukee politician Jim Bohl, Dusty made a bad assumption and recklessly insulted Jim to his face.
But Dusty wasn't fired, and the two went on to work well together at City Hall for five years. But they never again
1. Grumpy Cat's Grumpy Manager Vs. the Wax Museum, with Jesse Russell
It was supposed to be a historic day at Madame Tussauds wax museum in San Francisco. The storied attraction was launching, not only the first animatronic exhibit in franchise history, but the first exhibit based on a famous internet cat.
In fact, "Grumpy Cat" herself was there for the big unveiling, along with scores of excited fans and a gaggle of local and national press.
But there was a problem
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