Everything Is Marketing

Tech companies don't usually think about crisis communications as part of their PR plan, but when a crisis hits, they wish they had thought about it. Today on the show, I speak with Melissa Golden, EVP at Weber Shandwick, about how companies should think about their crisis communications strategy, how it's part of a bigger reputation strategy, and why that planning should happen way before you ever talk to a PR agency about placing articles in the media.And yes, we talk about what to do if your CEO is caught doing something they probably should not have been doing. There's a plan for that... This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gobbledy.substack.com/subscribe

In the podcast this week, I speak with a data engineer named Nik Suresh who runs a consulting firm called Hermit Tech. Nik wrote an essay just about a year ago called “I Will F’ing Piledrive You If You Mention AI Again” that went viral because it resonated with lots of people who felt like the marketing around AI had gotten out of control. I felt that way, too - and so I reached out to Nik to see - 1 year after he originally wrote that essay - whether the reception to the marketing message around AI has changed at all.You can write to the show at jared@sagelett.comSubscribe to the Gobbledy Newsletter at gobbledy.substack.comAnother essay from Nik:Brainwash an Executive Today This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gobbledy.substack.com/subscribe

When I saw that Mondelez (the former Nabisco and maker of Oreos) sued the supermarket Aldi for copying their cookie and cracker packaging, I had a whole bunch of questions about why it’s illegal to copy packaging - after all, private label brands create packaging that is very, very, very similar to the main brand. Where is the line between legal and illegal?I speak with attorney Marc Reiner about where that line is, and why marketers have far more leeway than they might think to copy existing packaging…and why he hears one misconception over and over about how much you can copy another product.Marc Reiner’s law firm:Hand Baldachin & Associateshttps://www.hballp.com/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gobbledy.substack.com/subscribe

If you have children (or had children at some point in the last 20 years), you’ve likely heard Laurie Berkner’s music in your house (or your car, or wherever your 3, 4, 5 or 6 year old was at the time). I once heard Laurie say that one of the challenges of being in the music-for-kids business is that every 2 years your audience ages out and you need to - as we say in marketing - replenish them.Laurie’s though a lot about marketing - about how to replenish those kids when they age out, but also about positioning yourself in a crowded field, about creating a mission statement to help drive career decisions, about making sure you’re always thinking about new distribution channels, and about why Free to Be You and Me is so amazing (it really is). This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gobbledy.substack.com/subscribe

I've wondered how policy ideas move from political media to becoming a law - in other words, how are ideas marketed to legislators? To find out, I talked to David Dayen, the Executive Editor of the magazine The American Prospect about how ideas they publish have influenced policy. Don't worry - this is mostly a conversation about the marketing of policy, not a conversation about politics.(Well a little about politics - but it's not a partisan conversation...) On a side note, I think The American Prospect does an amazing job of talking about policy without the vitriol I find almost everywhere else. It's a non-profit - if you're interested in progressive ideas, visit them at Prospect.org. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gobbledy.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit gobbledy.substack.comI’m fascinated with the airline industry, and I thought it would be interesting to look at how airlines have learned over the past 20 years to do a much, much better job of segmenting their customers and offering products that align with that segmentation. It’s been a long while since airlines just offered a first class and economy class, and I wanted t…

If you grew up going to a place of worship every week, you likely never thought of it as a choice - your parents expected you to go, and so you went. Well, “expected” isn’t really the right word. “Expectation” leaves some wiggle room that you might not go. Back when I was growing up, people who went to church every Sunday went to church EVERY Sunday. It wasn’t an expectation, they just went.That has changed. And as part of that change, houses of worship have had to change. They’ve had to market to new members. And I was curious how a place of worship thinks about marketing. So I called Rabbi Eric Solomon of Beth Meyer Synagogue in Raleigh, North Carolina to discuss that. I didn’t want to talk about Judaism, specifically, but I don’t know any priests or imams, so here we are. Also, Rabbi Eric is thoughtful and wasn’t annoyed by the very idea of me asking how he markets Judaism to people.Here’s the link to the congregation:Beth Meyer Synagogue This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gobbledy.substack.com/subscribe

This week on the podcast, I talk to Gary Schnierow, the VP of Investor Relations at Build-a-Bear Workshop about how Investor Relations is really a marketing role (according to me), and what Wall Street actually wants to know about marketing. And what they want to know is whether marketing will drive better financial results. That’s about it. As Gary tells me, if a company has better-than-expected financial results, then the campaign probably worked. If they don’t, then the campaign didn’t work. Which isn’t quite how marketing thinks about marketing…You can listen to the Podcast on Substack, or (even better!) subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts.I love to hear from listeners - you can email me at podcast@gobbledy.email and you can subscribe to the Gobbledy Newsletter - new issue every Wednesday - at http://www.gobbledy.email This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gobbledy.substack.com/subscribe

This week I wanted to explore something that I’ve seen happen in the startup world: how does a company sell for a significant amount of money, yet the founder takes home nothing?To answer this question, I spoke with Amit Shah, who has decades of experience as a founder, as someone who has worked in venture capital, and who sits on startup boards, to talk about why venture capital exists, and why our collective ignorance about how venture capital investments work can lead to you selling your business and walking away with, as we say in Yiddish, bupkus.You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify…You can subscribe to the Gobbledy Newsletter at http://gobbledy.email and you can email us at jared@sagelett.com. We’d love to hear from you… This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gobbledy.substack.com/subscribe

In this week’s Gobbledy Podcast, we talk about the sale of publisher The Skimm to Ziff Davis, Food52’s layoffs, and why the financial structures of those companies led them to make decisions that ultimately drove those businesses into decline.Here’s the Workweek article I mentioned about the growth of Morning Brew and the shrinking of The Skimm: https://workweek.com/2025/03/20/perpetual-my-take-on-theskimms-acquisition/The Gobbledy Newsletter is at:http://gobbledy.substack.comYou can reach me at jared@sagelett.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gobbledy.substack.com/subscribe

Today on the podcast, we talk about Southwest Airlines, and whether they didn't get enough credit for making difficult marketing decisions about their business.And do marketers understand how finance and ownership structure dictate marketing decisions?Subscribe to the Gobbledy Newsletter at http://gobbledy.substack.comMusic by East Lansing's greatest band, The Hannibals. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gobbledy.substack.com/subscribe

Today I speak with Parry Malm, CEO of Phrasee, a software company that helps marketers optimize the copy in their email marketing. We’ve all been talking for 20 years about how to make email marketing less promotional. Parry’s got a platform that can actually help with that.The Gobbledy Podcast is produced by Sagelett Digital, a software messaging and positioning agency. http://sagelett.comIntro music by East Lansing’s greatest band, The Hannibals. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gobbledy.substack.com/subscribe

Today I speak with Shirin Oreizy of Next Step about behavioral science and four different concepts in human behavior and how marketers can use those (in a non-evil way!) to improve their campaigns.The Gobbledy Podcast is produced by Sagelett Digital, a software messaging and positioning agency. http://sagelett.comShirin Oreizy runs Next Step at hellonextstep.comIntro music by East Lansing’s greatest band, The Hannibals. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gobbledy.substack.com/subscribe

I’ve been fascinated with the conflict between the PGA golf Tour and the LIV golf tour, and I decided to talk to my friend Nick Green, a longtime golf marketing consultant, about what’s going on there. But I also wanted to talk about the broader marketing issue here - how should you respond when a well-funded competitor shows up at your doorstep. The lessons we can learn from golf definitely apply to the software world - and it turns out that insulting your competition may not be the best option.The Gobbledy Podcast is produced by Sagelett Digital, a software messaging and positioning agency. http://sagelett.comNick Green runs Progressive Sports and Entertainment at https://www.progressivese.com/Intro music by East Lansing’s greatest band, The Hannibals. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gobbledy.substack.com/subscribe

Today I speak with Mike Nelson, one of the founders of Really Good Emails, a website that curates - wait for it - really good emails. I wanted to hear about how email marketing has changed over time, but we ended up talking about vulnerability at work, and the reasons why it’s difficult for marketers to break out of doing the same thing they’ve always done.The Gobbledy Podcast is produced by Sagelett Digital, home of the 10 Week Gobbledy Transformation Program - in just 10 weeks we’ll transform your website copy from a buzzword extravaganza into a selling machine. Visit us at Sagelett.comIntro music from Quincentennial by Lansing’s greatest band The Hannibals.I’d love to hear your feedback - you can reach me at jared@sagelett.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gobbledy.substack.com/subscribe

Today I speak with Brandon Young, founder of the Amazon seller education company Seller Systems.If you haven’t read the Gobbledy Newsletter where I talk about how Seller Systems has the best SaaS website I’ve ever seen (even though it’s not a SaaS company), it’d be worth a gander reading it now: SaaS Marketers Should Steal This Company’s WebsiteBrandon talks about how a website is a “sales page” - meaning, it’s supposed to do the selling for you. That’s definitely not how I hear most (any?) SaaS companies talk about their websites. It’s a unique perspective, and the way he thinks about it is really valuable for any software company to hear.The Gobbledy Podcast is produced by Sagelett Digital, home of the 10 Week Gobbledy Transformation Program - in just 10 weeks we’ll transform your website copy from a buzzword extravaganza into a selling machine. Visit us at Sagelett.comIntro music from Quincentennial by Lansing’s greatest band The Hannibals.I’d love to hear your feedback - you can reach me at jared@sagelett.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gobbledy.substack.com/subscribe

Today I chat with Joanna Wiebe of the copywriting agency Copyhackers about the specific challenges of writing copy for software companies. This is a fun conversation for me because even as a consultant, Joanna deals with the same challenges CMOs do about convincing the leadership team why copy matters, and why less is more. Except when more is more.This sums it up for me:Joanna: (to me) How do you get executives at companies to understand why copy is important?Me: I don’t. I just keep getting fired.Check out Copyhackers’ amazing copywriting tutorials at the website:https://copyhackers.com/The Gobbledy Podcast is produced by Sagelett Digital, home of the 10 Week Gobbledy Transformation Program - in just 10 weeks we’ll transform your website copy from a buzzword extravaganza into a selling machine. Visit us at http://www.sagelett.comIntro music from Quincentennial by Lansing’s greatest band The Hannibals. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gobbledy.substack.com/subscribe