Ponderings from the Perch

Most leaders mistake visibility for volume, and that confusion is costing them. On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney sits down with Heather Kernahan, global CEO, founder, investor, and author of Unstuckable, to take on what strategic visibility actually demands from leaders who want to grow a business, not just a following. Kernahan brings 25 years of scaling businesses through transformation, as well as mergers and acquisitions. She currently leads The Content Bureau, a B2B content marketing agency whose clients include Google, Workday, and PayPal. Focusing on what your target audience actually needs is more critical than maintaining a full content calendar. Posting consistently, staying active, and keeping volume high means very little if the content is built around internal assumptions instead of real audience demand. The idea of moving away from generic and toward what’s actually true for people isn’t just a marketing principle. It’s a human one. "If you are out there talking generically to everyone," Kernahan explains. “Then you're not reaching anyone." Women in business are turning down stages, sitting on books, and waiting for the right moment that never quite arrives, and Kernahan is not interested in accepting that as a cultural constant. She has spent years working one-on-one to find the specific thought that stops each person and dismantle it, which means the hesitation is rarely about readiness and almost always about something else entirely. What that something is, and what it takes to move past it, is exactly what makes this worth listening to. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors:Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started. Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information.

The conference floor doesn't lie. Neither does the gap between what brands think they know about their consumers and what's actually happening. On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney hits the floor at Quirks Chicago to do what she does best: getting the real conversations going. This flyover captures the ideas, tensions, and candid moments that don't always make it into the keynotes, from the AI measurement gap hiding inside the consumer path to purchase, to what it actually means to do research with kids, to a major industry merger that changes the terrain for data quality and platform integration. One fault line keeps surfacing across every booth and every exchange. The industry has never had more tools to study human behavior. Yet somehow, the most important signals – emotional, linguistic, behavioral – keep slipping through. Brands confidently measure clicks and conversions while an entirely invisible layer of consumer decision-making unfolds inside the black box of AI interfaces. Language is research design, not a logistics detail, and the audiences that get left out of studies entirely (children, senior B2B decision-makers, multilingual consumers) represent a category of insight that standard methods simply cannot reach. The brands that get this right start with language. The ones that don't are making a persona development mistake with compounding consequences. "Language is left for an afterthought," Jill Kushner Bishop explains. "And when you do that, you run the risk of missing out on so many essential insights." The merger news, the platform demos, the GLP-1 shopper data, the agentic commerce conversation, none of it lands the same way once you've heard what's actually being said on the ground at Quirks Chicago. There are 11 voices in this episode, and every one of them is pointing at a version of the same problem from a different angle. Connect with the professionals featured in this episode and if you do, let them know Little Bird Marketing sent you their way: Hannibal Brooks at Olson Zaltman, Andrew Seinfeld at Bolt Insight, Jill Kushner Bishop of Multilingual Connections, Malina Simanowski at Brainsuite.ai, Genevieve Becker at Strella, Clemens Johnson at Dynata, Pete Maginnat Beano Brain, Tim Lawton at SightX, Bobbi Barkley at Listen Labs, Margie Strickland at Luth Research, and Anna O'Brien at Curion. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started. Ever feel like your company is sitting on a goldmine of opportunities, but they keep slipping away? Most companies already have their next big win hiding in their database. Little Bird Marketing's Revenue Sprint is a proven system that works backward from your revenue goals to create a focused plan for building a sales pipeline and predictable growth. No massive budget required—just strategic execution that delivers measurable results. Ready to turn missed opportunities into new wins? Click here and build a predictable pipeline for sustainable growth.

Every social media platform you are building on is someone else's property. On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney makes the case that most B2B brands have built their audience strategy on land they do not own, cannot control, and will never get back if the landlord decides to change the locks. With long sales cycles and real revenue on the line, the stakes of that misalignment are not theoretical. They are already showing up in the pipeline. Follower count feels like progress. It produces real dopamine, real momentum, and occasionally real numbers. But the platform collecting that audience has its own business model, and it has never once been aligned with yours. A brand can go viral, hit a million views, and walk away with nothing to show for it. The companies that weather algorithm shifts are not the ones who mastered the carousel or cracked the reel. They are the ones who got clear on what the right metric actually was. "Social engagement is not a business outcome," McKinney explains. "Conversions [and] revenue generation are." Borrowed attention and owned audience are not interchangeable, and the difference between them shows up exactly when it matters most. McKinney points to content distribution as the strategic through-line that most brands skip on their way to the next post. The reader who feels the gap between those two things already knows what to do next. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Ever feel like your marketing plan is just... meh? You've got the pieces, but are they really working together? We often find that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The results are, well, no results. Curious how you can effectively evaluate your marketing efforts? Want clarity on your next best strategic move? Take our Marketing Assessment Quiz and in just minutes, discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going. Click here and take the quiz today and don’t leave success to chance. Ever feel like your company is sitting on a goldmine of opportunities, but they keep slipping away? Most companies already have their next big win hiding in their database. Little Bird Marketing's Revenue Sprint is a proven system that works backward from your revenue goals to create a focused plan for building a sales pipeline and predictable growth. No massive budget required—just strategic execution that delivers measurable results. Ready to turn missed opportunities into new wins? Click here and build a predictable pipeline for sustainable growth.

The gap between surviving and performing is not a mindset shift. It is a physiological one. On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney sits down with Helena Bourdillon, four-time World Champion freediver and four-time World Record holder, whose path from the depths of depression to the depths of the ocean reframes what it actually means to perform under pressure. Bourdillon's work spans elite sport, clinical mental health recovery, and professional breathwork instruction, and what she brings to high-stakes sector audiences is not a wellness program. It is something far more comprehensive than that. Most organizations address stress at the surface. They offer flexibility perks, mental health days, and well-intentioned check-ins that treat symptoms while the root system goes untouched. But mental fitness is different from mental wellness. The architecture of the practice is built on science-backed tools that retrain the nervous system rather than soothe it. The distinction matters because leaders and teams that skip this foundation do not plateau. They erode. And no marketing performance metrics or customer insights dashboard will surface the real reason why. What freediving reveals is that the body and the mind must be in alignment, or performance becomes friction. Bourdillon speaks to a state she calls "quiet clarity," and what she says next is worth sitting with. "When we can do it from that place we are so much more present for ourselves," Bourdillon explains, "for what we're doing, so we actually get it done a lot faster and a lot better and more importantly we are there for the people around us, some who might really need us." The tools that produce quiet clarity are not complex. That is precisely what makes them easy to dismiss and costly to ignore. Bourdillon's five science-backed tools are the kind of thing a 15-year-old could learn and a seasoned executive has likely never tried. Watch her award-winning documentary Light Beams for Helena and connect with her at helenabourdillon.com. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

*This episode of Ponderings from the Perch is brought to you by PatientSight, an agile primary research service providing timely medical insights of interest to your organization.* For most B2B companies, the problem is not creating content. The problem, instead, is distributing content. On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing content marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney draws a hard line between two things that are not interchangeable and not even close to the same thing. B2B teams that have published well-researched, well-written, and genuinely useful content only to hear nothing back will recognize the gap most people are too uncomfortable to admit exists in their own organization. Posting and distributing are not the same thing, and the difference between them is not subtle. Most b2b digital marketing efforts are built backwards, and the real weight of a social media marketing strategy has very little to do with what gets published and everything to do with what happens next. Earning the right to ask before ever making an ask sounds like common sense until you look at how few teams actually operate that way. "Content creation is about 30% of the work and distribution is about 70%," McKinney explains. "And honestly, most people are doing it absolutely backwards." Good content and a good audience are not enough if the two never actually meet. That tension sits at the center of every B2B marketing conversation worth having, and it is the one that most teams keep deferring. The content is not the problem. The question is what happens to it after it exists. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Ever feel like your marketing plan is just... meh? You've got the pieces, but are they really working together? We often find that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The results are, well, no results. Curious how you can effectively evaluate your marketing efforts? Want clarity on your next best strategic move? Take our Marketing Assessment Quiz and in just minutes, discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going. Click here and take the quiz today and don’t leave success to chance. Ever feel like your company is sitting on a goldmine of opportunities, but they keep slipping away? Most companies already have their next big win hiding in their database. Little Bird Marketing's Revenue Sprint is a proven system that works backward from your revenue goals to create a focused plan for building a sales pipeline and predictable growth. No massive budget required—just strategic execution that delivers measurable results. Ready to turn missed opportunities into new wins? Click here and build a predictable pipeline for sustainable growth.

The research industry has a data quality problem it keeps politely talking around. On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney sits down with Matt Kleinschmit, founder and CEO of Reach3 Insights and part of the broader Rival Group family of companies. With nearly 30 years in the research industry, Matt brings a rare combination of entrepreneurial range and deep methodological conviction to a conversation about what the insights industry keeps getting wrong and why fixing it requires owning the problem from the ground up. Most quantitative research still runs through email. That single fact, unremarkable to many and alarming to few, sits at the center of a much larger tension between how research has always been done and how people actually live, communicate, and share. The gap between a clinical survey experience and a genuine human response is not a design preference. It is a data integrity issue. And in a world where customer insights drive high-stakes business decisions, the cost of that gap compounds quietly until it doesn't. Owning the human source data layer is not a common commitment in this industry right now. Aggregation is easier. Subcontracting is cheaper. And the downstream consequences of river sampling, bot contamination, and unvalidated respondents are someone else's problem until they aren't. "Leaning into the future, but not losing touch with the past," Kleinschmit explains. "[This] is the notion that a lot of the client researchers that we work with, [that] they want to be innovative. They want to bring new things into the organization, but they also have to have trust and credibility that what they're bringing into the organization is legitimate." The brands drowning in AI options, synthetic data promises, and methodology noise are not asking the wrong questions. They are asking them to the wrong partners. What it actually takes to guide a Fortune 100 client through that landscape, with transparency, calibration, and something worth trusting, is a much harder thing to build than a platform or a panel alone. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started. Ever feel like your marketing plan is just... meh? You've got the pieces, but are they really working together? We often find that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The results are, well, no results. Curious how you can effectively evaluate your marketing efforts? Want clarity on your next best strategic move? Take our Marketing Assessment Quiz and in just minutes, discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going. Click here and take the quiz today and don’t leave success to chance.

*This episode of Ponderings from the Perch is brought to you by Rival Technologies. Ranked among the world's most innovative insights suppliers in Greenbook’s 2025 GRIT Report, Rival Technologies uses AI-powered video analysis to unlock deeper meaning from unstructured data.* Shopping online and shopping in-store are two different animals. On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney sits down with Vesna Fuiorea, Senior Consultant at Next Level Trends, to examine why shopper behavior operates on an entirely different frequency than consumer behavior. Vesna brings over 20 years of experience in consumer goods to a conversation that challenges assumptions about how people make purchasing decisions when time, emotion, and mission collide at the point of sale. The gap between how brands communicate and how shoppers actually process information in-store represents one of the most expensive blind spots in retail strategy. Packaging redesigns that seem like progress can obliterate brand recognition. Promotional displays positioned outside the mental map shoppers carry into stores might as well be invisible. The autopilot mode that makes shopping efficient for consumers creates a fortress that most marketing performance metrics fail to penetrate. Fuiorea points to cultural differences that complicate global retail strategies, convenience trends reshaping store formats across continents, and the reality that an aging population demands fundamentally different approaches to shelf arrangement, flavor differentiation, and package design. "Making sure that your brand is visible and accessible in the store are two things that sound silly when we are talking about," Fuiorea explains. "But brand owners need to make everything possible to differentiate their brand." But the relationship between online and offline retail continues to defy predictions of brick-and-mortar extinction. E-commerce growth patterns vary dramatically by geography and culture, with southern European markets maintaining strong preferences for fresh food purchased in physical stores while northern countries adopt digital grocery shopping at higher rates. The real disruption may come not from the channel itself but from AI agents that intercept purchase decisions before shoppers even enter stores or open apps, creating an entirely new battlefield for customer insights and brand visibility. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started. Ever feel like your marketing plan is just... meh? You've got the pieces, but are they really working together? We often find that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The results are, well, no results. Curious how you can effectively evaluate your marketing efforts? Want clarity on your next best strategic move? Take our Marketing Assessment Quiz and in just minutes, discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going. Click here and take the quiz today and don’t leave success to chance.

Most companies hand their CMO and CRO different scorecards and then act surprised when they fight over the same leads. On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney examines why the relationship between chief marketing officers and chief revenue officers breaks down before a single lead changes hands. The tension isn't about incompatible personalities or departmental turf wars. It exists because bonuses are tied to different outcomes, "qualified" definitions remain unspoken, and timing expectations never align. When one executive optimizes for brand awareness while another chases quarterly closes, no amount of collaboration workshops will bridge the divide that the org chart itself has severed. The marketing qualified lead becomes the flashpoint. Marketing celebrates engagement metrics and demographic fit. Sales dismisses anything short of active intent. Neither side agrees on what distinguishes browsing from buying. Yet, both departments defend their interpretations as if revenue depended on being right rather than on alignment—the argument over lead quality masks a deeper issue. Nobody defined what sales qualification actually requires before the first campaign launched. "If marketing thought that was a marketing qualified lead, then instead of getting more of them to try and solve this problem by a numbers game, why don't we all get back in the room and talk about what a marketing qualified lead would actually look like?" McKinney asks. "The salesperson's job is to qualify them for sales, but there is a piece that marketing can do." Fixing the CMO-CRO relationship doesn't require new software or revised messaging. It requires rebuilding the foundation both roles stand on. Shared incentives, transparent data, and defined handoff criteria transform what feels like a personality clash into what it actually is. A solvable systems problem. Companies that treat b2b lead generation as a shared accountability rather than a departmental transaction stop arguing over who's responsible for failed conversions and start optimizing the entire revenue path together. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started.

The incentive at every layer of market research is to pass as many respondents through as possible, which means the behavior follows exactly as you'd expect. Priscilla McKinney, host of Ponderings from the Perch and CEO of Little Bird Marketing, welcomes Joey Maddox and Henry Legard, Chief Strategy Officer and CEO respectively at Verisoul, for a conversation about where fraud prevention in market research keeps missing the mark. A LinkedIn video, equal parts nerdy and genuine, sparked the connection that led to this episode about structural problems most people in the industry would rather not acknowledge and what they are doing about it!. It can be said that market researchers today inherited a volume problem disguised as a quality solution:Sample providers get paid per respondent. Aggregators get paid per completed survey. Every middleman in the chain benefits from passing bodies through, not from stopping to verify who those bodies actually are. The result is predictable. Data quality tools chase yesterday's fraud techniques while bad actors stay three steps ahead, and businesses make million-dollar decisions on compromised customer insights. The real kicker? A worst-case scenario is aA three-week diligence survey can collapsinge entirely when someone finally checks if the data makes sense, leaving clients without answers at the exact moment they need them most. But not all respondents are fake, bad or trying to cheat the system. So, how do you let those into your ecosystem while keeping the bad actors out? "One of the crusades that we've had at Verisoul is how do you block as much fraud as possible with essentially zero false positives," Joey Maddox explains. "We need to block as much fraud as possible, but we can't just go willy-nilly blocking a bunch of people."  So, it’s about striking the right balance. And they discuss new technology in this episode and how they are collaborating with other data quality experts already in the industry to make everything ship shape and better than it was yesterday!  They discuss how respondent integrity matters more than response integrity now that AI makes faking expertise trivially easy. They get specific about why trap questions alone don't work anymore, how IP deduplication blocks hospital workers from taking legitimate surveys from the same network, and more. Their technology is built around one important question, “What if respondents could own their verified identity across the industry instead, choosing what to share and earning more for providing greater certainty?”  It's the kind of idea that makes some people uncomfortable, which is exactly why this conversation matters. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell Sponsors: Is your concept testing budget disappearing without driving better decisions? Most insights teams waste 30 to 40 percent of their research spend on preventable leaks. Socratic Technologies has created a free audit to help you identify what leak is costing you the most—and exactly how to fix it.  Click here to download the audit today and start making concept testing that drives growth. Ever feel like your marketing plan is just... meh? You've got the pieces, but are they really working together? We often find that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The results are, well, no results. Curious how you can effectively evaluate your marketing efforts? Want clarity on your next best strategic move? Take our Marketing Assessment Quiz and in just minutes, discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going. Click here and take the quiz today and don’t leave success to chance.

Most insights professionals are too busy completing studies to notice their reports end up in the trash. Dan Womack, president of KLC, joins Priscilla McKinney on Ponderings from the Perch to dismantle the "study mindset" that keeps research teams from driving real business outcomes. He brings over 20 years of corporate research experience from Fortune 500 firms, including GE Capital, Genworth Financial, and Aflac, plus a provocative take on why the industry needs to stop obsessing over executive access and start focusing on organizational action. Womack presents a four-pillar framework that redefines effective insights work. First, understand what customers know and believe, the baseline of primary research. Second, understand how they arrived at those beliefs, going beyond simple "why" questions. Third, translate those findings into business implications, which requires commercial literacy that most researchers never develop. Fourth, and most critical, ensure the organization actually acts on the market research insights. AI will likely automate the first three pillars within years, leaving the fourth as distinctly human territory and the future of the profession. "How do you ensure that the business actually does something? How do you ensure that they act on what you brought to them?" Womack explains. "If an insight falls to an empty room, nothing happens to it." The industry's decades-long fixation on "getting a seat at the table" misses the point entirely. Not everyone gets interviewed after the game, but that doesn't diminish their contribution to the win. Data-driven marketing decisions require commercial literacy, understanding P&Ls and business implications, more than proximity to executives. Gateway's willingness to scrap an expensive ad campaign in the mid 1990s after research revealed parents wanted complete computer packages demonstrates what true customer centricity looks like when combined with organizational courage to act on findings. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Ever feel like your marketing plan is just... meh? You've got the pieces, but are they really working together? We often find that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The results are, well, no results. Curious how you can effectively evaluate your marketing efforts? Want clarity on your next best strategic move? Take our Marketing Assessment Quiz and in just minutes, discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going. Click here and take the quiz today and don’t leave success to chance. Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information.

*This episode of Ponderings from the Perch is brought to you by Rival Technologies, using AI-powered video analysis to unlock deeper meaning from unstructured data.* Candidates are going through 200 interviews before landing offers, yet companies are still losing top talent because their hiring processes are too long. Diana Benedikt, executive recruiter at Newman Search Group, joins Priscilla McKinney on Ponderings from the Perch to discuss what it truly takes to land and thrive in top CPG brand and marketing roles. Benedikt brings over 20 years of startup and VC ecosystem experience, along with deep expertise in growth strategy and talent acquisition for companies ranging from early-stage ventures to established consumer packaged goods brands in the better-for-you segment. They explore the complex skill set required for brand strategy leadership, from stage-gate experience and cross-functional relationship building to the ability to execute data-driven decisions under pressure. Brand managers operate at the hub of organizational success, with spokes reaching into R&D, finance, sales, and operations. Beyond technical expertise in persona development and go-to-market strategy, the most successful candidates demonstrate genuine passion for the brand's mission, whether that's a B Corp commitment or a fast-paced product launch cycle. Companies in the high-growth, better-for-you space, which is expanding at roughly twice the rate of traditional CPG, need professionals who can move quickly without sacrificing strategic thinking, pulling insights from data they analyze themselves rather than delegating to analysts. "I always want to note, are you pulling the data? Are you analyzing the data yourself, or do you have a bunch of analysts doing it for you? And if you're pulling it, give me an example of where you've pulled the insights, made a move," Benedikt explains. "Whether it's a pivot or a new product or pricing or whatever you're doing, being able to pull the insights into strategies that drive a positive outcome." To fill a top CPG Brand Manager role, experience requirements remain strict in today's competitive market. Companies want candidates who have already succeeded as Senior Brand Managers, not those simply ready to step up. Her advice? Candidates should diversify their opportunities and demonstrate genuine listening skills in every interaction, while companies have compelling job descriptions that serve as sales documents. When hiring processes drag on too long, top talent gets lost to competitors who move with greater urgency. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Ever feel like your company is sitting on a goldmine of opportunities, but they keep slipping away? Most companies already have their next big win hiding in their database. Little Bird Marketing's Revenue Sprint is a proven system that works backward from your revenue goals to create a focused plan for building a sales pipeline and predictable growth. No massive budget required—just strategic execution that delivers measurable results. Ready to turn missed opportunities into new wins? Click here and build a predictable pipeline for sustainable growth. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

*This episode of Ponderings from the Perch is brought to you by PatientSight, an agile primary research service providing timely medical insights of interest to your organization.* Most marketing teams are drowning in AI-generated content that sounds impressive but lacks the one thing that actually converts, and that's humanity. Priscilla McKinney, host of Ponderings from the Perch and CEO of Little Bird Marketing, cuts through the AI hype to reveal what actually works. She explains the critical difference between tasks you should delegate to AI and work that demands human expertise, focusing on three areas where this balance matters most, namely, content creation, strategy development, and quality control. AI excels at mechanical tasks like generating structured outlines, brainstorming blog titles at scale with SEO considerations, and providing fresh perspectives on complex topics. But, AI fundamentally lacks authentic industry experience, personal anecdotes, and the ability to build genuine emotional connections. AI has no war stories from conferences, no colleagues to quote, and no ability to call in favors for expert insights. The skeleton it builds needs human flesh on the bones, specifically the storytelling, context, and networking insights that only come from real experience. "AI tells you what happened before, but only you can decide what's going to happen next with that information," Priscilla explains. Letting any tool do your work for you without that context and insight can really get you in serious trouble, or worse—get you nowhere. Yup, if you’re using it to write compelling content that differentiates you from your competitors, good luck!  While AI handles marketing automation tasks exceptionally well by compiling KPI reports, tracking performance trends, and generating benchmarks, it cannot grasp the nuanced context of your business goals or understand how priorities shift between quarters. It misses performance anomalies that aren't statistically significant but might reveal important patterns in team behavior. AI processes information like a typewriter, one line at a time, which creates inconsistencies and redundancies within projects. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

*This episode of Ponderings from the Perch is brought to you by Rival Technologies. Ranked among the world's most innovative insights suppliers in Greenbook’s 2025 GRIT Report, Rival Technologies uses AI-powered video analysis to unlock deeper meaning from unstructured data.* Most companies don't have a product problem but an operational problem that's quietly destroying their customer experience. On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with Lasandra Barksdale, Founder and Principal at Kompass Customer Solutions about using customer insights to improve customer experience (CX). They examine how service-driven businesses often excel at marketing and sales but fail at the handoffs, workflows, and internal processes that determine whether customers stay or leave. Barksdale talks about her work helping companies transform support tickets, online reviews, and frontline feedback into actionable customer insights to create a clear roadmap for removing friction from the customer journey. And that is the crux of great CX! Specifics they discuss include how friction typically occurs at the handoff between departments, where no one truly owns the customer experience. While marketing drives interest and sets expectations, sales closes the deal, but breakdowns happen during delivery. This is when slow onboarding, internal efficiency policies, and disconnected tech systems create customer frustration. Barksdale emphasizes that the real challenge is recognizing that customers evaluate the entire experience as one seamless interaction, not as separate departmental functions. "I think we have to remember that customers really don't separate your marketing from your operations. It's, and we should either, right," Barksdale explains. "It's all one experience." The conversation also addresses how companies can identify friction by examining support tickets, online reviews, customer surveys, and feedback from frontline teams. Barksdale explains that call reduction itself is not a customer experience strategy because the real goal should be eliminating the need for customers to call at all. She shares practical examples, including how Amazon proactively refunded her for a subpar movie rental before she even thought to complain, demonstrating how companies can address friction before customers experience it as a problem. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

Your best LinkedIn content already exists in conversations you're having every day. On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney reveals how strategic interviews transform the content creation problem from manufactured brilliance into curated snippets of conversations. She walks through a content marketing strategy that turns industry leaders, colleagues, and conference contacts into sources of compelling material while building genuine professional relationships.  Before any tips are handed out a strong warning is given that the approach requires understanding your audience first through persona development. With that settled, asking questions that are relevant to your ideal audience becomes easy!  But how do you get the best answers from experts you’re already talking to? By asking better questions! She explains that most professionals fail at interview content because they ask questions that trigger autopilot responses. Generic queries about leadership style or company background produce forgettable answers because the subject isn't actually thinking. Better questions dig into specific decisions, failures, trade-offs, and frameworks that force people to explore their reasoning rather than repeat rehearsed talking points. This distinction separates content that stops the scroll from content that gets ignored. "When someone has to actually think about an answer to your question, the answer starts becoming interesting," McKinney explains. "In those stories they might even share a framework, or if they start talking about how they frame something up, say whoa whoa whoa whoa tell me about the framework!” Encouraging others to reveal their thinking process creates really interesting content that stops the scrolling on LinkedIn." Interviews solve multiple problems simultaneously. When you interview someone thoughtfully, you're not just extracting content; you're giving them visibility, building a genuine relationship, and positioning yourself as someone who curates valuable insights for your network. A three-minute recorded conversation at a conference becomes weeks of LinkedIn posts. A colleague's solved problem becomes a framework your audience can apply. The interview itself becomes the relationship builder, not just the content source. This approach works because it removes the pressure to be brilliant and replaces it with genuine curiosity about what smart people know. Mischief managed.  Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Is your concept testing budget disappearing without driving better decisions? Most insights teams waste 30 to 40 percent of their research spend on preventable leaks. Socratic Technologies has created a free audit to help you identify what leak is costing you the most—and exactly how to fix it.  Click here to download the audit today and start making concept testing that drives growth. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

Most B2B companies throw away thousands of dollars on conference swag nobody wants, keeps, or remembers. Priscilla McKinney, host of Ponderings from the Perch and CEO of Little Bird Marketing, challenges the bulk mindset destroying promotional budgets across every industry. She introduces what she calls the "stress ball epidemic"—the reality that 90% of conference swag ends up in the trash before attendees even leave the hotel. This episode reveals the psychology behind why people keep certain items while others create nothing but waste, and how strategic promotional giveaways can transform marketing expenses into measurable lead generation strategies. She explains that companies order 3,000 cheap items instead of 300 quality items, believing the math makes sense until they realize 3,000 items thrown away immediately have zero value. The solution lies in what McKinney calls the "three life strategy": the event experience itself, social media amplification through user-generated content, and evergreen brand love created by items people actually use. Strategic giveaway campaigns capture email addresses and generate qualified leads for B2B lead generation rather than simply distributing forgettable stress balls and keychains that end up in landfills. "If you spent $3,000 on a giveaway campaign and it generated 500 qualified leads, that's $6 per lead," McKinney explains. "If you spent $3,000 on traditional swag that you can't point to a single lead from, that's infinite cost per lead." She shares real-world examples of successful campaigns, from Louis Vuitton purses tied to merger messaging to Kindle giveaways that sparked conversations about global connection. These weren't random prizes—each aligned with brand values and created stories worth sharing on social media. McKinney emphasizes that quality items photograph well and generate organic social sharing that amplifies reach without additional cost. Winners naturally post about premium gifts on LinkedIn, creating user-generated content that extends brand visibility across entire networks while following social media marketing strategy principles of organic engagement. And if you're heading to a conference and you realize you need help thinking through the strategy, then this is exactly kind of work we do at Little Bird Marketing. Our peeps would love to talk about conference strategy because that service includes helping clients think through promotional strategies that actually generate leads instead of just generating trash. We bring strategic, organized, accountable, and repeatable approach to everything we do and we like to extend that to how you show up at events so that your brand can SOAR. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Is your concept testing budget disappearing without driving better decisions? Most insights teams waste 30 to 40 percent of their research spend on preventable leaks. Socratic Technologies has created a free audit to help you identify what leak is costing you the most—and exactly how to fix it.  Click here to download the audit today and start making concept testing that drives growth. Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started.

*This episode of Ponderings from the Perch is brought to you by Rival Technologies. Ranked among the world's most innovative insights suppliers in Greenbook’s 2025 GRIT Report, Rival Technologies uses AI-powered video analysis to unlock deeper meaning from unstructured data.* Can market research actually drive your thought leadership strategy? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest and Senior Vice President of Marketing Research at Method Communications, Svetlana Gershman, about how market research and PR must work together to create authentic thought leadership. They explore why these disciplines historically operated in silos and how the rise of large language models (LLMs) is forcing communication teams to unify around consistent narratives that build expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. McKinney and Gershman discuss how thought leadership research differs fundamentally from internal business research. While both require methodological rigor and straightforward storytelling, thought leadership research must find the intersection between what's measurable and what's newsworthy. "Your research has to be timely with what's going on," Gershman explains. "Timely facts, cultural facts, taking advantage of that and understanding what that means for your industry, for your context, for an employer, is important. It's fun, it's timely, it will make the news, but it's also valuable." Gershman explains the "dream headlines" approach her team uses, where they draft potential headlines before designing the survey to ensure the research can generate media pickup while maintaining data integrity. Their conversation reveals how LLMs are reshaping the relationship between customer insights and b2b content marketing. Search engines now act as gatekeepers in B2B decision-making, which means brands must maintain narrative consistency across all channels. Gershman shares how her team at Method Communications bridges the gap between research and PR by ensuring that customer insights inform thought leadership strategy while meeting the standards journalists expect from authoritative sources. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Ever feel like your marketing plan is just... meh? You've got the pieces, but are they really working together? We often find that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The results are, well, no results. Curious how you can effectively evaluate your marketing efforts? Want clarity on your next best strategic move? Take our Marketing Assessment Quiz and in just minutes, discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going. Click here and take the quiz today and don’t leave success to chance.

What if your best LinkedIn content is hiding in conversations you're already having? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney discusses a systematic approach to creating high-quality LinkedIn content without adding another full-time job to your plate. She reveals how to capture moments of unconscious competence—when you're speaking from deep expertise during client pitches, presentations, or team meetings—and transform those insights into a consistent content library. She explains that the most powerful content doesn't come from staring at a blank page at 7 a.m. with coffee in hand. It comes from recording those golden moments when you're in flow, solving real problems, and articulating your unique value naturally. "Workflows [only] work when they fit YOUR workflow," McKinney explains. "Do not try to do something that is so foreign to you that you will not do it. Get inspired to understand how you can get disparate systems to work together and shorten your path to success." By building an automated workflow using tools like Zapier, ChatGPT, and Claude, you can capture transcripts, filter for viral-worthy topics, and create polished posts that actually sound like you. The episode walks through a six-step automation process: capturing transcripts from recordings, using Zapier to connect tools, filtering topics with ChatGPT, crafting spicy takes with Claude, creating project management cards, and scheduling polished posts. Priscilla emphasizes that perfection isn't the goal—adaptation is. Your tech stack and team structure will differ, but the principle remains: multiply the value of work you're already doing by being kind to your future self. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Ever feel like your marketing plan is just... meh? You've got the pieces, but are they really working together? We often find that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The results are, well, no results. Curious how you can effectively evaluate your marketing efforts? Want clarity on your next best strategic move? Take our Marketing Assessment Quiz and in just minutes, discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going. Click here and take the quiz today and don’t leave success to chance.

How do you transform abstract brand values into a consistent voice that cuts through the noise? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney discusses the three pillars of developing an authentic brand tone of voice. She breaks down how personality, perspective, and language work together to create communications that sound distinctly like your brand across every touchpoint, from formal proposals to casual social media interactions. McKinney explains that tone of voice begins with understanding your core values and how they translate into daily behavior. She walks through Little Bird Marketing's four core values (care deeply, finish strong, stay gold, and be true) and demonstrates how each value shapes not only what the company says but also how they show up in client relationships. The key is defining both what each value means and what it explicitly does not mean, creating clear guardrails for authentic communication. These values become the foundation for personality, the first pillar of tone of voice, which determines how you say things rather than just what you say. "Your tone should be flexible in different contexts," McKinney explains. "I can go into a formal meeting, and I can go to a fun, happy hour. I'm still Priscilla, right? But it shouldn't be so unrecognizable that there's no flow." The second pillar, perspective, requires brands to take clear stands on industry issues and articulate their beliefs, even if it's unpopular. McKinney shares how Little Bird Marketing built their business around the conviction that every brand deserves a clear and effective marketing plan with tangible deliverables, a direct challenge to the industry norm of vague creative promises. The third pillar, language, involves making concrete decisions about vocabulary, sentence structure, and level of formality. McKinney provides a practical exercise that helps brands identify five non-negotiable tone descriptors. As with many elements of marketing, Priscilla emphasizes that the real challenge isn't creating the document, but implementing it consistently across every communication touchpoint. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Is your concept testing budget disappearing without driving better decisions? Most insights teams waste 30 to 40 percent of their research spend on preventable leaks. Socratic Technologies has created a free audit to help you identify what leak is costing you the most—and exactly how to fix it.  Click here to download the audit today and start making concept testing that drives growth. Ever feel like your company is sitting on a goldmine of opportunities, but they keep slipping away? Most companies already have their next big win hiding in their database. Little Bird Marketing's Revenue Sprint is a proven system that works backward from your revenue goals to create a focused plan for building a sales pipeline and predictable growth. No massive budget required—just strategic execution that delivers measurable results. Ready to turn missed opportunities into new wins? Click here and build a predictable pipeline for sustainable growth.

Years of experience in healthcare insights is worth its weight in gold. On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest and President of the Research & Planning Group, Sean Jordan, about the critical challenges facing marketing research today and the specific experience of working mostly in healthcare. They explore how healthcare organizations lag behind other industries in adopting marketing best practices, why emergency departments create paradoxical brand experiences, and how data quality issues threaten the reliability of modern research methodologies. Jordan also shares about his new podcast, ⁠The Marketing Gateway⁠. Together, they have a few thoughts on the growing crisis in research data quality, particularly the overuse of research panelists who may not provide authentic responses. They discuss the rise of VPNs, spoofing technologies, and how generative AI has created an arms race between researchers trying to verify respondent authenticity and fraudsters finding new ways to game the system. "We're at the point where 30 to 40% of panel respondents can be fraudulent. And that's not a statistic that I made up," Jordan explains. "That's what the people who sell these panels will tell you." But after discussing the insights industry at large, they go deeper, where Jordan explains his work with organ procurement organizations, where the research stakes couldn't be higher. With hundreds of thousands of people waiting for transplantable organs, these federally designated nonprofits face complex challenges around donor family consent, ethical practices, and maintaining public trust. He highlights another interesting conundrum in healthcare with the revelation that healthcare systems often subcontract their emergency departments to physician groups, creating a disconnect in which patients report terrible emergency experiences but excellent hospital care once admitted. This paradox undermines hospital brand equity and underscores why organizations need to reclaim control of their front-door experience.These two issues alone show why it is important to have deep experience in the healthcare vertical in order to come alongside companies and help them make better decisions - based on great data.  Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

What if the reason you struggle with thought leadership isn't a lack of ideas, but writing in a voice that isn't yours? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney discusses the four distinct types of thought leaders and how identifying your natural style can unlock your content creation potential. She breaks down the visionary, revolutionary, radical, and inspirational approaches to thought leadership, explaining how each adds unique value to your audience and brand positioning. She explains that most people mistakenly believe thought leadership requires predicting industry trends or being visionaries like Richard Branson and Elon Musk. "When I hear these kinds of comments from people saying, ‘I know I have something to say and they can say it well,’” McKinney explains. “I get the sneaking suspicion that they're not writing in their natural style and that's what's causing blocks and problems." This misconception causes talented professionals to feel blocked when creating content because they're forcing themselves into an unnatural writing style. Understanding whether you naturally inspire like Mother Teresa, revolutionize like Malcolm Gladwell, radicalize like Brené Brown, or envision like Branson allows you to write authentically and consistently.  Once you understand your natural thought-leadership style, McKinney provides a roadmap to amplify that voice across multiple channels. She tackles the common mistake of one-and-done content promotion, explaining why quality thought leadership deserves strategic resharing with different hooks and angles throughout the year. From her Rule of 15 for balancing social media self-promotion with value-driven content, to understanding how topic clusters now outperform keyword stuffing for SEO, McKinney connects authentic voice with tactical execution that gets your expertise heard above the noise. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started.

Can synthetic data truly replace the messy, uncomfortable truths that real humans reveal about your brand? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest and Senior Manager of Brand Insights at Ricard Pernod, Kira Greenberg, about the critical balance between innovative research methodologies and traditional human-centered approaches. They explore why customer insights derived from actual human experiences remain irreplaceable, even as AI and synthetic data promise faster, cleaner answers to business questions. They discuss how the best innovations emerge from contradictions and tensions in consumer behavior rather than sanitized data. Greenberg explains that while quick research methods have their place, deeper qualitative approaches often prevent companies from needing to revisit the same questions repeatedly. The conversation reveals how insight professionals must sit in the messiness of human behavior and translate it for executives who face pressure to move at the speed of business. "Humans are messy," Greenberg explains. "But that's where the best [innovations] live. In contradictions, in tensions, in things that we're trying to solve for. Everything else is boring." The discussion also covers the pendulum swing of research trends, from qualitative at scale to AI-driven insights, and why steadiness matters more than chasing every shiny new methodology. Greenberg emphasizes that consumers deserve more credit than they typically receive, particularly when it comes to articulating what they absolutely don't want. The role of insights professionals, she argues, is to dig deeper with sufficient skepticism to identify gaps in consumer statements and act on those discoveries. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Tired of outdated survey methods while AI transforms the industry? The 2025 Sample Landscape Report from EMI Research reveals which synthetic respondents match real humans, the risks of high-frequency survey takers, and how AI is revolutionizing data collection. Industry leaders trust our insights year after year. This isn't just another report - it's your competitive advantage. Click here to download your free copy today. Your research success depends on it. Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started.

Can research partnerships move beyond the vendor-client dynamic to become valid strategic extensions of your team? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest Paul Mastrianna, Vice President of Business Development at Socratic Technologies, about building research partnerships that prioritize client needs over product pitching. They explore how understanding a client's business objectives, capability gaps, and internal strengths transforms research from a transactional service into a strategic partnership that delivers long-term value. They discuss how successful research partnerships require moving beyond transactional vendor relationships to become valid extensions of client teams. Mastrianna emphasizes understanding what clients need help with versus what they can handle themselves, conducting capability audits that identify gaps rather than pushing unnecessary services. "I hate hearing 'these are [just] our vendors' from clients," Mastrianna explains. "I always look at it as a partnership. We're here to help each other grow and learn." This consultative approach builds trust and creates what Mastrianna calls "stretch before you run" moments, where taking time upfront to understand questionnaire logic, sampling strategies, and reporting needs prevents rushed mistakes while enabling faster turnaround when speed matters. The conversation reveals how institutional memory loss costs research teams real money and time. When team members leave, their knowledge often disappears into shared folders and scattered files. Mastrianna describes how centralized dashboards solve this problem by consolidating all concept testing results in a single, accessible location, enabling teams to compare performance across concepts, identify patterns, and onboard new team members without starting from scratch. This infrastructure transforms one-off research tactics into sustainable strategic programs that deliver compounding value over time. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started. Ever feel like your company is sitting on a goldmine of opportunities, but they keep slipping away? Most companies already have their next big win hiding in their database. Little Bird Marketing's Revenue Sprint is a proven system that works backward from your revenue goals to create a focused plan for building a sales pipeline and predictable growth. No massive budget required—just strategic execution that delivers measurable results. Ready to turn missed opportunities into new wins? Click here and build a predictable pipeline for sustainable growth.

*This episode of Ponderings from the Perch is brought to you by Patient Sight, an agile primary research service providing timely medical insights of interest to your organization.* Can premium brands thrive when consumers tighten their budgets and economic uncertainty looms? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest and Global Director of Premiumization Insights & Foresight at AB InBev Sebastian Schuliaquer about how premium brands navigate economic uncertainty and shifting consumer behaviors. They explore why established brands with proven quality maintain consumer loyalty during tough times, how cultural relevance shapes brand selection, and why smart consumption is replacing impulsive spending across demographics. They discuss how consumer insights evolve through consistent methodologies that honor historical data while embracing new technologies. Schuliaquer explains that premium brands succeed by offering security and proven value when consumers become more deliberate about their purchases. The conversation reveals how younger generations analyze every purchase decision, from focus groups revealing preference patterns to research panels tracking consumption shifts, making transparency and authenticity non-negotiable brand attributes. "Consumers are not just following the trend. They are analyzing. They want to do the smart thing. They want to maximize," Schuliaquer explains. "What is happening now is that producing your money, it's so hard that you're not going to waste it." The conversation also explores how emerging trends like GLP-1 medications are reshaping consumption patterns, pushing brands to focus on quality over quantity. Schuliaquer emphasizes that when consumers become more conscious about what they consume and how often they indulge, premium brands with clear cultural relevance and proven differentiation become the safe choice. The discussion highlights why brands must find cultural forces that connect rather than divide people, especially as values become increasingly compartmentalized across consumer segments. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Ever feel like your company is sitting on a goldmine of opportunities, but they keep slipping away? Most companies already have their next big win hiding in their database. Little Bird Marketing's Revenue Sprint is a proven system that works backward from your revenue goals to create a focused plan for building a sales pipeline and predictable growth. No massive budget required—just strategic execution that delivers measurable results. Ready to turn missed opportunities into new wins? Click here and build a predictable pipeline for sustainable growth. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

Are you spending six figures on conferences and walking away with nothing but branded tote bags? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney discusses how to transform conference attendance from expensive guesswork into predictable revenue generation. McKinney breaks down a three-phase framework that includes three weeks of pre-conference planning, active participation during the event, and three weeks of disciplined follow-up to maximize return on investment. She explains that conferences grow brand trust by 93%, brand recognition by 92%, and directly help 92% of attendees acquire new clients, but only when treated as a lead-generation system rather than just a networking event. She outlines specific tactics for pre-conference research and outreach, strategic booth design, active participation strategies including real-time social media integration, and the critical importance of immediate follow-up within 48 hours of the event ending. "You need a real kickoff meeting, and I mean official. It needs to be on the books, and people need to attend," McKinney explains. "It needs to be sales and marketing teams and everybody who is going." McKinney emphasizes the importance of CRM integration and tracking, sharing how one speaking engagement at Insights Marketing Day in 2017 generated $2.8 million in revenue for Little Bird Marketing over the years because they tracked every connection. She stresses that without proper systems for measuring conference ROI through metrics like leads converted, revenue generated, and meeting quality, companies are simply guessing—and guessing is expensive. The episode concludes with an actionable plan for scheduling kickoff meetings, conducting thorough research on speakers and sponsors, and planning follow-up systems before ever walking into the convention center. If you want to connect with the professionals McKinney references in this episode, their LinkedIn profiles are linked below. If you do decide to connect, let them know Little Bird Marketing sent you their way: Jill Kushner-Bishop, PhD, Carlos Hevia, Anne Brown, Belinda Brown, and Meredith Falvo. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Tired of outdated survey methods while AI transforms the industry? The 2025 Sample Landscape Report from EMI Research reveals which synthetic respondents match real humans, the risks of high-frequency survey takers, and how AI is revolutionizing data collection. Industry leaders trust our insights year after year. This isn't just another report - it's your competitive advantage. Click here to download your free copy today. Your research success depends on it. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

*This episode of Ponderings from the Perch is brought to you by Patient Sight, an agile primary research service providing timely medical insights of interest to your organization.* The strongest client relationships are built by those who ask the best questions. On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest and President of Burke Consulting, Tara Marotti, about the critical importance of asking strategic questions that challenge clients to think beyond their initial requests. They explore how Burke Consulting, the full-service insights and innovation firm, approaches custom research by first understanding what data clients already possess and whether stakeholders are aligned before designing new studies that generate meaningful market research insights. They discuss how successful client relationships develop through vulnerability and collaboration, where both parties admit when they don't know something and work together to find solutions that transform data into actionable customer insights. Marotti explains that Burke positions itself as the research partner clients turn to for complex, gnarly problems that don't have ready-made solutions, requiring custom approaches that meet clients exactly where they are in their decision-making process. "Nine times out of ten, whether it's an employee or client or anybody, people know what they need to do, but they need somebody to spar with to give them the confidence to say, okay, I think I know what I need to do," Marotti explains. "And sometimes that's about getting more information in the business, but sometimes it's just about accessing what you already know." The conversation reveals how Burke Consulting has maintained its irreplaceable position through decades of industry disruption by leaning into whatever direction their clients are headed, whether that involves DIY solutions or new AI tools. Marotti emphasizes that their role often involves helping clients navigate organizational culture challenges and ensuring stakeholder buy-in for research initiatives, recognizing that great data from research panels means nothing without proper organizational support for implementation. Sponsors: Ever feel like your company is sitting on a goldmine of opportunities, but they keep slipping away? Most companies already have their next big win hiding in their database. Little Bird Marketing's Revenue Sprint is a proven system that works backward from your revenue goals to create a focused plan for building a sales pipeline and predictable growth. No massive budget required—just strategic execution that delivers measurable results. Ready to turn missed opportunities into new wins? Click here and build a predictable pipeline for sustainable growth. Ever feel like your marketing plan is just... meh? You've got the pieces, but are they really working together? We often find that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The results are, well, no results. Curious how you can effectively evaluate your marketing efforts? Want clarity on your next best strategic move? Take our Marketing Assessment Quiz and in just minutes, discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going. Click here and take the quiz today and don’t leave success to chance.

Can pharmaceutical companies truly understand their customers without hearing directly from the patients who use their products? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest and PatientSight President, Dave Muggler, about the critical importance of patient-centered research in the healthcare industry. They explore how rare disease patients face complex diagnostic journeys averaging four to five years from initial symptoms to diagnosis, and how pharmaceutical companies are adapting their research approaches to capture these authentic patient experiences through agile methodologies. Patients today are more informed and collaborative with their healthcare providers than ever before, with many actively researching their conditions and advocating for specific treatments. PatientSight's subscription-based model allows pharmaceutical companies to quickly pivot their research strategies based on customer insights from initial findings, rather than following rigid project timelines that may miss crucial patient perspectives gained through specialized research panels. This shift reflects a fundamental change in the healthcare landscape where traditional power dynamics are evolving. "Patients are more informed than ever because not only do you have Google search now, you have AI tools to work with. Information is at people's fingertips, literally," Dave explains. "And the other thing is that patients no longer put their physician on a pedestal. I mean, not that they disrespect them, but they view the relationship with their physician as more of a collaboration." The conversation reveals how AI technology is transforming patient research through capabilities like AI-generated patient persona videos that combine survey data from multiple patients into compelling narratives for pharmaceutical teams. Muggler shares how these tools help companies develop deeper empathy for patient experiences while maintaining the ability to customize presentations for different audiences within their organizations, from senior leadership to sales teams. Sponsors: Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started. Ever feel like your company is sitting on a goldmine of opportunities, but they keep slipping away? Most companies already have their next big win hiding in their database. Little Bird Marketing's Revenue Sprint is a proven system that works backward from your revenue goals to create a focused plan for building a sales pipeline and predictable growth. No massive budget required—just strategic execution that delivers measurable results. Ready to turn missed opportunities into new wins? Click here and build a predictable pipeline for sustainable growth.

What happens when you walk into a company with no insights function, where everyone is conducting their own research? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest and Head of Consumer Insights at StarKist, Raina Rusnak, about building an insights function from the ground up. They discuss how she transformed a fragmented research environment into a strategic advantage by focusing on customer insights and establishing proper survey design standards that serve multiple internal stakeholders. Rusnak got to work when she discovered teams were about to launch a 30-minute survey. A 30-minute survey! Instead, she applied her insights expertise and was able to help everyone shift gears, right size the survey and still get everyone the insights they needed. She got some quick wins by conducting low-budget DIY research to establish credibility quickly. Rusnak revealed how she worked hard to get market research insights efforts aligned with executive-level discussions by taking the initiative to understand business needs and deliver strategic recommendations. "I spent time being curious and asking people what their pain points were," Rusnak explains. "I would ask, ‘If I could wave a magic wand and give you an insight right now, what would that be?’" The discussion also covers Rusnak's experience during 18 months of unemployment right before she landed this job at StarKist, which led her to write "Sampling Life: 100 Ways to Find Joy in Unemployment." She shares how being time-rich during unemployment allowed her to engage her mind, body, and connections while staying present and maintaining resilience through the job search process. She uses this book to encourage others now in that place and promotes the great job of networking and connection available through the Insights Career Network.  Sponsors: Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started. Ever feel like your company is sitting on a goldmine of opportunities, but they keep slipping away? Most companies already have their next big win hiding in their database. Little Bird Marketing's Revenue Sprint is a proven system that works backward from your revenue goals to create a focused plan for building a sales pipeline and predictable growth. No massive budget required—just strategic execution that delivers measurable results. Ready to turn missed opportunities into new wins? Click here and build a predictable pipeline for sustainable growth.

Are you seeing website traffic drops across your content? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney discusses the widespread website traffic declines affecting businesses across industries. She explains how Google algorithm updates and AI search integration have fundamentally changed how people consume content online, with AI-generated summaries now providing answers directly in search results, eliminating the need for clicks to source websites. She explains that businesses are experiencing traffic drops in two ways: many are seeing significant ranking declines for secondary keywords, while others maintain strong positions for primary terms but still lose 30-60% of their website traffic. McKinney breaks down how AI integration means people get information through bullet points, summaries, and step-by-step instructions right in search results. She acknowledges the challenge that AI faces in replicating unique, human-centered content, such as firsthand business experience, proprietary data, contrarian perspectives, and behind-the-scenes industry insights. "No amount of technical optimization beats genuine clarity and usefulness," McKinney explains. "If your content helps someone solve a real problem, understand a complex concept, or help them make a better decision in the moment, that value does not disappear because of algorithmic changes." McKinney offers practical strategies for working alongside AI changes, including tracking AI citations through tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush that show when Google's AI overviews reference your content as authoritative sources. She addresses the reality that AI has a hard time replicating unique, human-centered content like firsthand business experience, proprietary data, contrarian perspectives, and behind-the-scenes industry insights. She emphasizes creating content that provides value even when rankings decline or AI systems can summarize basic information, focusing on content marketing strategy that leverages what makes human expertise irreplaceable in an AI-dominated search landscape. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Ever feel like your company is sitting on a goldmine of opportunities, but they keep slipping away? Most companies already have their next big win hiding in their database. Little Bird Marketing's Revenue Sprint is a proven system that works backward from your revenue goals to create a focused plan for building a sales pipeline and predictable growth. No massive budget required—just strategic execution that delivers measurable results. Ready to turn missed opportunities into new wins? Click here and build a predictable pipeline for sustainable growth.

What happens when the biggest obstacles to innovation aren't technical, but human? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest, founder and president of Sylver Consulting, Brianna Sylver, about transforming turbulence into trust through emotional leadership. They explore how insights leaders can navigate the inevitable resistance, doubt, and complexity that emerge when driving meaningful change within organizations. Sylver is the author of "Leading Through Freefall: How Innovators Turn Turbulence into Trust," a practical guide for leaders navigating uncertainty, change, and team dynamics in high-stakes environments.  They discuss how people experiencing change go through a grief curve that starts with resistance and moves through anger, depression, and bargaining before reaching acceptance. The more complex the challenge and the greater the potential impact, the more intense these emotional peaks and valleys become. Sylver explains that successful leaders must learn to recognize these emotions as signals rather than obstacles, using them as opportunities to lean in with more profound empathy and constructive dialogue rather than turning away or assigning blame. "It's our job to lead the emotional energy of ourselves," Sylver explains. "Our teams and our stakeholders." The conversation also addresses the crucial transition from delivering great insights to becoming a steward of implementation, emphasizing that engagement along the journey doesn't equal commitment to outcomes. Leaders must help stakeholders understand how new insights fit into existing roadmaps, support the translation of insights into actionable steps through a comprehensive growth strategy framework, and sometimes accept that their role involves planting seeds that may germinate on different timelines than initially anticipated. You can read a chapter of her book for free by clicking here. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Ever feel like your marketing plan is just... meh? You've got the pieces, but are they really working together? We often find that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The results are, well, no results. Curious how you can effectively evaluate your marketing efforts? Want clarity on your next best strategic move? Take our Marketing Assessment Quiz and in just minutes, discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going. Click here and take the quiz today and don’t leave success to chance.

Is your social media marketing strategy failing because you're trying to control something that was never designed to be controlled? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney discusses why most B2B social media strategies fail and how to build one that actually works. She explains that the problem isn't posting at the wrong time or using the wrong hashtags—it's trying to control random elements while ignoring the strategic elements you can actually manage. McKinney compares social media marketing to Dungeons & Dragons for businesspeople, where you create your brand character, venture into different platforms, and deal with algorithm changes that feel like random dice rolls. She explains how companies waste time chasing algorithm hacks and viral content instead of focusing on evident expertise, understanding platform mechanics, and building genuine relationships. Her Rule of 15 provides a systematic approach: for every 15 posts, 10 should offer interesting industry insights, four should provide overtly helpful problem-solving content, and one can focus on a direct pitch. "The difference between reach and influence is everything," McKinney explains. "Reach is how many people see your content [at] once. Influence is being known and remembered for something useful by the right people." Getting this cadence right has a big effect on how people perceive your willingness to help them, which is a big part of building relationships that matter.  She also discusses how employee advocacy amplifies brand messaging by 561% when done authentically, why niche beats are often more effective, and how platforms like LinkedIn reward dwell time and meaningful conversations rather than traffic-driving links. McKinney emphasizes that success comes from building strategies so strong and clear that people seek you out regardless of platform changes, focusing on influence over reach and genuine expertise over viral moments. If you’re ready to quit chasing the algorithm and get social influence right, you’ll want to learn more about her Social Influence Course.  Sponsors: Tired of outdated survey methods while AI transforms the industry? The 2025 Sample Landscape Report from EMI Research reveals which synthetic respondents match real humans, the risks of high-frequency survey takers, and how AI is revolutionizing data collection. Industry leaders trust our insights year after year. This isn't just another report - it's your competitive advantage. Click here to download your free copy today. Your research success depends on it. Ever feel like your company is sitting on a goldmine of opportunities, but they keep slipping away? Most companies already have their next big win hiding in their database. Little Bird Marketing's Revenue Sprint is a proven system that works backward from your revenue goals to create a focused plan for building a sales pipeline and predictable growth. No massive budget required—just strategic execution that delivers measurable results. Ready to turn missed opportunities into new wins? Click here and build a predictable pipeline for sustainable growth.

What if the biggest factor driving your business decisions isn't logic, but emotions? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest and Psyclone CEO Ryan Baum about combining psychological science with data analytics to decode the emotional DNA of consumer and voter behavior. They explore how even seemingly rational B2B purchasing decisions are driven by deep emotional patterns, and why understanding the "big three" of thinking, feeling, and behaving is essential for effective marketing strategy. McKinney and Baum discuss how emotions often serve as early warning signals before traditional KPIs show changes, providing brands with crucial forecasting capabilities in volatile markets. He explains that neuroscientific research proves we cannot make decisions without emotion, even in complex B2B environments where logic seems to dominate. Unlike traditional market research insights that focus on surface-level responses, his approach recognizes that while rational thinking plays a role in decision-making, emotions ultimately drive behavior. "We are emotional creatures," Baum explains. "But we do think rationally as well." Baum also shares insights from Psyclone's 2024 Presidential post-election study that uncovered how identity alignment often trumps (no pun intended) issue-based considerations in political decisions. This same psychological pattern extends directly into consumer brand loyalty and purchasing patterns, helping explain why cross-channel attribution becomes challenging when emotions drive behavior across multiple touchpoints. This deeper understanding of consumer psychology reveals why traditional brand tracking often misses the full story by focusing on surface-level metrics rather than the underlying psychological drivers that predict future behavior. Sponsors: Is your company sitting on a goldmine of opportunities, but they keep slipping away? Most companies already have their next big win hiding in their database. Little Bird Marketing's Revenue Sprint is a proven system that works backward from your revenue goals to create a focused plan for building a sales pipeline and predictable growth. No massive budget required—just strategic execution that delivers measurable results. Ready to turn missed opportunities into new wins? Click here and build a predictable pipeline for sustainable growth. Ever feel like your marketing plan is just... meh? You've got the pieces, but are they really working together? We often find that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The results are, well, no results. Curious how you can effectively evaluate your marketing efforts? Want clarity on your next best strategic move? Take our Marketing Assessment Quiz and in just minutes, discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going. Click here and take the quiz today and don’t leave success to chance.

*This episode is brought to you by Dynata, the world's preeminent provider of market data services and first-party permission-based data.* On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney continues her Conference Flyover of Quirks New York 2025. She conducts interviews with 12 industry leaders, giving you their thoughts on everything from agentic AI workflow automation and post-launch product optimization to fragile consumer sentiment and the critical importance of authentic, inclusive advertising. These conversations reveal how the industry is navigating unprecedented consumer volatility while building more efficient research processes that maintain human empathy and cultural authenticity. Leaders from companies like Inca, Nailbiter, and Smith-Hanley Associates share how they're building solutions that automate tedious research tasks while preserving strategic thinking, using post-launch measurement to optimize products already on shelf, and helping brands navigate increasingly fragile consumer sentiment. (Wow, that presentation from Borderless Access was a good one!) AI-powered workflow tools are connecting disparate research platforms so professionals can focus on consultation rather than data management, while innovative measurement approaches are catching product failures before they become costly disasters. "When we think about how we're coming in, we're not trying to replace the workflow,” Raj Manocha from Gydence Group explains. “We're trying to make it more efficient or enhance it.” The conversations also reveal how brands must adapt to consumers who have become increasingly empowered to punish companies for perceived missteps. Research leaders emphasize the need for hyper-personalized understanding of individual consumers rather than broad demographic targeting, while maintaining authentic representation in advertising that builds trust rather than appearing performative. These insights reflect an industry evolution toward more sophisticated consumer profiling and real-time sentiment monitoring, helping brands weather the storms of rapidly shifting public opinion while building genuine connections with their audiences. If you want to connect with the professionals featured in this episode, their LinkedIn profiles are linked below. If you do decide to connect, let them know Little Bird Marketing sent you their way: Raj Manocha, Lindsey Bartlett, Kathy Cheng, David Dick, Kelsey Whitehead, Kira Greenberg, Mary Kelly, Nicole Mitchell, Maureen Evans, Nicole Ipsen, Jocelyn Simon, and Robert Pierson. Sponsor: Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started.

*This episode is brought to you by Multilingual Connections, providing unparalleled translation, transcription, transcreation, and localization services to organizations worldwide.* What happens when market researchers need insights yesterday but can't sacrifice quality or authenticity? They meet on the regular at events around the world to make meaningful industry connections and have real conversations!  On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney takes you on her Conference Flyover of Quirks New York 2025. She conducts interviews with 14 industry leaders, giving you their thoughts on everything from AI-powered translation and moderation to B2B expert panels and the persistent say-do gap in consumer behavior. These conversations reveal how the industry is adapting to demands for faster insights while maintaining focus on data quality, cultural authenticity, and human-centered research approaches. It’s just what happens when we get together and talk shop!  The discussions highlight a significant shift in how research professionals approach AI integration, with most emphasizing hybrid models that combine artificial intelligence with human expertise rather than full automation. Leaders from companies like Multilingual Connections, SightX, and Luth Research share how they're building solutions that speed up research processes while preserving the nuanced understanding that only human researchers can provide. Translation experts stress that AI can handle basic language conversion but cultural adaptation requires human oversight, while moderation platforms are using AI to manage scalable conversations so human moderators can focus on complex B2B and healthcare audiences. "They want, you know, on the go, quick, and we're really, our role is to be their partner rather than be a researcher within the company, right?" Ava Arora from DirecTV explains. If you attended Quirks NY, this will extend the value of your ticket. If you didn’t make it, this will give you a “bird’s eye view” of what happened, and help build your network without leaving your desk! The conversations also reveal creative approaches to the speed versus quality challenge that defines modern market research. Some companies have built platforms that deliver qualitative insights in under 24 hours without sacrificing depth, while others are bridging the persistent say-do gap by combining real-time digital behavior tracking with follow-up surveys to the same respondents. These innovations reflect a broader industry shift toward becoming strategic partners with stakeholders rather than just data providers, requiring researchers to deliver faster, more actionable insights while maintaining the rigor that makes research valuable. If you want to connect with the professionals featured in this episode, their LinkedIn profiles are linked below. If you do decide to connect, let them know Little Bird Marketing sent you their way: Xavier Vaissiere, Tim Lawton, Jill Kushner Bishop, PhD, Jeff Whiteside and Brandon Richard, Janeen Hazel, Drew Jones, Diana Lim, Danny Farkas, Daniel Khomenko, Cliff Kane, Carlos Hevia, Ava Arora, and Andrew Kawalek. Sponsor: Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

What happens when psychology meets the courtroom and artificial intelligence starts reshaping how we select juries? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney and CRO Stephanie Douglass give you their Conference Flyover from the American Society of Trial Consultants' 44th Annual Conference in New Orleans. They share insights gathered from interviews with trial consultants, psychology students, legal professionals, and industry veterans who are navigating the intersection of behavioral science and legal strategy. The conversations reveal how trial consulting has become essential for cases involving wrongful convictions, with some professionals advocating for jury consultants to be standard practice rather than a luxury. Conference attendees discuss the meticulous research that goes into understanding potential jurors, the growing importance of social media management during high-profile trials, and how artificial intelligence is beginning to transform jury selection processes. The field attracts professionals from diverse backgrounds, from forensic psychology graduates to seasoned attorneys, all working to bridge the gap between human behavior and legal outcomes. "I see AI as having significant implications in the future for our industry," Emerson manager Patty Kuehn explains. "I think being on the cutting edge of learning how to use it as a tool is critically important." The conference addresses pressing challenges facing the industry, including the need for more comprehensive jury selection processes, the role of technology in modern trials, and the importance of maintaining neutrality while applying psychological principles to legal proceedings. Attendees emphasize that trial consulting isn't about winning or losing, but about ensuring fair representation and understanding human decision-making in high-stakes situations. The field continues to evolve as professionals explore new methodologies for identifying bias, understanding jury dynamics, and applying cutting-edge research to real-world legal scenarios. If you want to connect with the professionals featured in this episode, included below are their LinkedIn profiles. If you do decide to connect, let them know Little Bird Marketing sent you their way: Samantha Weiner, Kyle Leffler, John Si, Patrick Ryan, Jacob Rolls, Patty Kuehn, Colin Piazza, Claudia Varner, Anthony Legion, Molly Outland, and Ally Robertson. Sponsors: Tired of outdated survey methods while AI transforms the industry? The 2025 Sample Landscape Report from EMI Research reveals which synthetic respondents match real humans, the risks of high-frequency survey takers, and how AI is revolutionizing data collection. Industry leaders trust our insights year after year. This isn't just another report - it's your competitive advantage. Click here to download your free copy today. Your research success depends on it. Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started.

Why do brilliant marketing strategies with massive budgets still fail spectacularly? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest and CEO Alexander Millet about the critical disconnect between what customers say they want and what they want. They explore how Brandtrust uses applied social and behavioral sciences to uncover the more profound human truths that drive real decision-making.  Traditional market research often captures what people say they want versus what they do. A perfect example of this comes from Netflix, which  promoted Schindler's List to customers as it was reported as people’s favorite. Basing this decision solely on self-reported information, they failed to see what the data was saying– that these customers actually more frequently watched Dude, Where's My Car. When asked, customers answered what they thought was the most respectable answer, and probably even believed they had watched Schindler’s List more often. But the truth was found not in the self-reported actions, but the actual data. Millet explains that this discrepancy reveals the more profound human truth about self-perception, self-reporting and non-conscious decision-making. With this example in mind, it follows that brands should be careful what data is used as a base for marketing decisions. Their conversation reveals how brands can achieve better marketing effectiveness measurement by understanding the emotional and non-conscious drivers behind customer choices rather than relying solely on self-reported preferences. "Business challenges are [the same as] human challenges," Millet explains. "What's not commodified is understanding and asking the better, more beautiful question." Millet emphasizes the importance of moving beyond surface-level market research insights to create strategies that deliver results, sharing how Brandtrust’s approach focuses on asking more beautiful questions that reveal authentic motivations, helping brands align their values with genuine human needs rather than assumed preferences. This methodology has helped clients pivot their strategies significantly, sometimes discovering that customers want consistency and reliability rather than endless variety and options. Sponsors: Looking for those hard-to-reach voices in healthcare research? When you need insights from patients with rare diseases or their caregivers, Rare Patient Voice delivers. Whether you're a healthcare system, policy maker, biotech company, or pharmaceutical firm seeking these critical perspectives, the team at Rare Patient Voice has you covered. They can source both specialized and general audiences for your market research needs. Click here to see how they can support your research, and when you connect with them, thank them for sponsoring this podcast. Ever feel like your marketing plan is just... meh? You've got all the pieces, but are they really working together?  We often find that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The result is, well, no results. Want to effectively evaluate your marketing efforts and gain clarity on your next strategic move?  Take our Marketing Assessment Quiz today and discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going – in just minutes.

What happens when market researchers from around the world gather in Amsterdam to discuss the future of insights? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney takes you on a conference flyover of Greenbook’s IIX EU Amsterdam conference floor. She conducts interviews with 20 industry leaders, giving you an earful of  their thoughts on everything from AI implementation and global data collection to keeping the human in the loop with AI tools and the changing landscape of market research technology. These conversations reveal how the industry is adapting to new challenges while maintaining focus on data quality and human-centered insights. The discussions highlight a significant shift in how research professionals approach AI integration, with most emphasizing hybrid models that combine artificial intelligence with human expertise rather than full automation. Leaders from companies like Quest Mindshare, Panolplai, and Rival Technologies share how they're building global communities, ensuring data quality across markets, and creating more engaging research experiences that combat survey fatigue while delivering actionable insights.Regarding the use of AI in your research process, Shafeeq Shajahan from Streetbees explains. "Trust your strategists because they will be the ones guard-railing the output."  The conversations also reveal how the industry is grappling with global expansion challenges, from navigating cultural sensitivities in different markets to managing customs regulations for product testing. Translation experts and data collection specialists emphasize that successful global research requires more than just linguistic translation—it demands cultural adaptation and understanding of local regulations and social norms. If you want to connect with the professionals featured in this episode, their LinkedIn profiles are linked below. If you do decide to connect, let them know Little Bird Marketing sent you their way: Steve Pendrell, Shafeeq Shajahan, Tasneem Dalal, Salma Nosseir, Riga Rezay-Strassburg, Nancy N. Hernon, Mike Ostrowski, Michael Steinberg, Kit Wiggin, Michael Vincent, Ed Staples, Dan Foreman, Joseph Wylie, David Bailey, Charlotte Kiddle, Brigette Small, Andrew Reid, Esther Marchetti, Martha Llobet and Julia Polakova. Sponsors:Ever feel like your marketing plan is just... meh? You've got the pieces, but are they really working together? We often find that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The results are, well, no results. Curious how you can effectively evaluate your marketing efforts? Want clarity on your next best strategic move? Take our Marketing Assessment Quiz and in just minutes, discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going. Click here and take the quiz today and don’t leave success to chance. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

Can you defend your research insights if stakeholders challenge them? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest, speaker and Full Circle Research Chief Product Officer Alexandrine de Montera about the critical shift in market research data quality standards. They explore how industry events have transformed client conversations from focusing on speed and cost to demanding defensible, transparent research practices that can withstand scrutiny, even from stakeholders. Montera shares how Full Circle Research has evolved from treating quality as a back-end function to making it a strategic differentiator. AI presents opportunities and threats in fraud detection, creating data that may look good, but is actually bad, requiring human validation and manual oversight to identify correctly. They explore the challenges of maintaining customer insights integrity while meeting demands for faster research panels and more sophisticated survey design. "Real transparency actually attracts better clients. It reduces friction in QA conversations. It lets you focus on the strategy instead of defending your methodology," Montera explains. "The question is not, should you be transparent, but how quickly can you get there?" The discussion covers the impact of the Department of Justice indictment on industry practices, the rising importance of ISO 20252 certification, and how major brands like Procter & Gamble are now mandating quality standards for their research suppliers. Montera addresses the balance between innovation and integrity, emphasizing that transparency builds long-term client relationships rather than compromising competitive advantage. The conversation underscores how reliable data quality enables better data-driven marketing decisions across global research initiatives. Sponsors: Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started. Ever feel like your marketing plan is just... meh? You've got all the pieces, but are they really working together?  We often find that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The result is, well, no results. Want to effectively evaluate your marketing efforts and gain clarity on your next strategic move?  Take our Marketing Assessment Quiz today and discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going – in just minutes.

Can you grow a market research company to £6 million in just two years? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest and Potentia Insight Managing Director Suzy Hassan about building a successful consultative data collection company from the ground up. They explore how Potentia Insight achieved remarkable growth by focusing on human relationships and niche market research solutions rather than relying solely on digital automation, which dominates the industry. They discuss how the key to rapid business growth lies in maintaining personal connections with clients, suppliers, and staff while leveraging senior-level expertise to deliver consultative services. Hassan explains that their approach centers on providing clients with a single point of contact who takes projects from start to finish, contrasting with larger organizations where clients work with multiple team members. The conversation reveals how focusing on hard-to-reach niche panels, such as UK farmers and tradespeople, allows smaller agencies to fill gaps that larger global panel companies often overlook. "We use technology as much as we can,” Hassan explains. “But it was more adding back that human element that sometimes is a little bit lost now in our day and age of technology." The discussion covers practical strategies for business partnership success, including the importance of implicit trust and complementary skill sets between co-founders. Hassan shares how personal outreach, LinkedIn engagement, and strategic event sponsorships have consistently filled their pipeline through effective lead generation strategies while deliberately avoiding blanket email marketing in favor of personalized communications. They also explore how supporting industry networks like Women in Research creates meaningful professional relationships that extend beyond traditional business development, ultimately providing deeper customer insights that drive business growth. Sponsors: Knowing your customer is essential for moving any company forward. Enter market research. But what if that customer is a patient with a rare disease? Enter Rare Patient Voice. They don't just find patients - they bring caregivers and health advocates to the table too. When market research firms, health systems, policy makers, biotech companies, and pharma need these important voices, trust the team at Rare Patient Voice. Click here to transform your patient insights today. Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started.

What's hiding in consumer blind spots that brands need to uncover? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest and President and Head of Client Consulting at Nailbiter, Gram Bowsher, about capturing authentic consumer behavior through their proprietary in-the-moment video methodology, videometrics. They dive into how Nailbiter's approach provides deeper customer insights than traditional survey methods while removing recall bias that often plagues market research. Shopping habits continue to change. Ever wonder how brands stay competitive despite these changes? They discuss how brands face challenges in understanding shopper behavior across multiple touchpoints—from pre-shop research to in-store decisions to online price comparisons. Nailbiter's methodology allows brands to quantify consumer behavior at scale through human coding of video data, offering both the statistical validity of large sample sizes and the rich context of seeing consumers make purchase decisions in real-time. This combination of quantitative data with qualitative depth helps brands address issues from new product launches to packaging problems to retail optimization. "Traditional survey methodologies put a lot of burden on the person answering the questions," Bowsher explains. "We [want] to find a better way to open up that black box that [exists] in the industry." McKinney and Bowsher also talk about the powerful insights revealed when brands see beyond demographics to understand the complexity of human shopping behavior. While age, gender, and income might influence purchase criteria, shopping behaviors and attention patterns are remarkably consistent across demographic groups. Nailbiter's market sizing capabilities help brands understand what's happening in the aisle and why certain products succeed while others struggle. It’s the difference that translates into a competitive advantage.  Sponsors: Knowing your customer is essential for moving any company forward. Enter market research. But what if that customer is a patient with a rare disease? Enter Rare Patient Voice. They don't just find patients - they bring caregivers and health advocates to the table too. When market research firms, health systems, policy makers, biotech companies, and pharma need these important voices, trust the team at Rare Patient Voice. Click here to transform your patient insights today. Ever feel like your company is sitting on a goldmine of opportunities, but they keep slipping away? Most companies already have their next big win hiding in their database. Little Bird Marketing's Revenue Sprint is a proven system that works backward from your revenue goals to create a focused plan for building a sales pipeline and predictable growth. No massive budget required—just strategic execution that delivers measurable results. Ready to turn missed opportunities into new wins? Click here and build a predictable pipeline for sustainable growth.

Are you exhausted from chasing algorithm "hacks" that stop working the moment you try them? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney discusses why obsessing over algorithms derails marketing strategies and how to build sustainable social influence instead. She explains that algorithms aren't the enemy or your friend—they're like the weather, shifting unpredictably and requiring businesses to focus on what they can actually control rather than trying to manipulate systems designed to keep users on platforms. McKinney explains that companies cycle through social media managers because they expect tactics that worked in one context to work indefinitely, when algorithms change constantly. She breaks down how each platform prioritizes different engagement signals—LinkedIn rewards dwell time and meaningful conversation, Instagram prioritizes saves and shares, while X favors replies and retweets. She introduces her rule of 15 for consistent posting and her ABH principle (Always Be Helping), emphasizing that genuine human interaction remains the strongest signal across every platform, and that employee advocacy increases brand messaging by 561% when implemented through authentic social selling and networking tools. "When you stop chasing algorithms and start serving people, something remarkable happens," McKinney explains. "The people you're meant to reach start finding you, not because you game the system, but because you became impossible to ignore." McKinney also explores the difference between reach and influence, noting that viral posts don't always convert to business outcomes, while consistent value builds lasting authority and personal brand visibility. She advocates for developing a thought leadership strategy that focuses on four controllable elements: clarity about your audience, consistency of presence through strategic content planning, genuine conversation and engagement, and varying content formats that match message to medium. Sponsor: Ever feel like your marketing plan is just... meh? You've got all the pieces, but are they really working together?  We often find that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The result is, well, no results. Want to effectively evaluate your marketing efforts and gain clarity on your next strategic move?  Take our Marketing Assessment Quiz today and discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going – in just minutes. Ever feel like your company is sitting on a goldmine of opportunities, but they keep slipping away? Most companies already have their next big win hiding in their database. Little Bird Marketing's Revenue Sprint is a proven system that works backward from your revenue goals to create a focused plan for building a sales pipeline and predictable growth. No massive budget required—just strategic execution that delivers measurable results. Ready to turn missed opportunities into new wins? Click here and build a predictable pipeline for sustainable growth.

Amplifying patient voices transforms healthcare outcomes beyond what medical professionals alone can achieve. On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest and Senior Vice President at Rare Patient Voice, Pam Cusick, about the critical importance of including patient perspectives in healthcare research and product development. They discuss how patients with medical conditions are the true experts of their experiences, yet historically, they have been underrepresented in developing products and services meant to serve them. They explore the transformation happening in healthcare research methodology, where the focus shifts from what doctors think patients need to what patients experience. Cusick emphasizes how her company connects researchers with a community of 180,000 patients and caregivers across 1,500 conditions, creating opportunities for meaningful B2B content marketing that genuinely addresses user needs. This partnership approach helps research firms avoid expensive recruitment challenges while ensuring products meet patient needs. "Patients live with their conditions 24/7/365. They are the experts on their condition," Cusick explains. "When something is created with the patient as the end user, you need to find out what the patient needs or wants." The conversation highlights how patient input transforms everything from clinical trial design to product development as a part of niche B2B marketing consulting services. Cusick highlights the importance of inclusive research that considers accessibility needs and the often-overlooked caregiver perspective, which provides crucial insights that patients themselves might not recognize. Cusick shares how participating in research can be therapeutic for patients who rarely have opportunities to share their full experiences. All in all, this important work fits into a well-rounded plan for delivering high-quality insights for products and services that truly change lives.  Sponsors: Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started. Ever feel like your company is sitting on a goldmine of opportunities, but they keep slipping away? Most companies already have their next big win hiding in their database. Little Bird Marketing's Revenue Sprint is a proven system that works backward from your revenue goals to create a focused plan for building a sales pipeline and predictable growth. No massive budget required—just strategic execution that delivers measurable results. Ready to turn missed opportunities into new wins? Click here and build a predictable pipeline for sustainable growth.

Could understanding the non-conscious drivers of human behavior be the key to creating marketing that truly resonates? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest, author and Chief Creative Officer at HBT Marketing Nancy Harhut about behavioral marketing. Harhut explains how understanding hardwired human behaviors can help marketers craft more effective messages that drive customer action. They discuss how behavioral science identifies automatic, instinctive responses that influence purchasing decisions, many of which consumers aren't even consciously aware of. Nancy shares how marketers can leverage these insights through testing and experimentation, focusing on buyer psychology rather than simply promoting product features. By understanding what motivates customers on a deeper level, marketers can create personalized content that drives action and builds authentic marketing connections. "If we as marketers can become aware of these factors that influence people's decisions—that they're not even aware of—it can help us craft better marketing messages, more effective marketing messages for our clients," Harhut explains. "We have these hardwired behaviors, these hardwired human behaviors are automatic, instinctive, reflexive responses." Nancy shares a fascinating case study from AT&T that demonstrates the power of behavioral science principles in action. By leveraging autonomy bias—our deep-seated desire to control our own choices—AT&T significantly increased customer retention during a critical transition period. The campaign succeeded by speaking to business owners' fundamental need to make their own decisions rather than having choices made for them. Sponsors: Looking for those hard-to-reach voices in healthcare research? When you need insights from patients with rare diseases or their caregivers, Rare Patient Voice delivers. Whether you're a healthcare system, policy maker, biotech company, or pharmaceutical firm seeking these critical perspectives, the team at Rare Patient Voice has you covered. They can source both specialized and general audiences for your market research needs. Click here to see how they can support your research, and when you connect with them, thank them for sponsoring this podcast. Little Bird Marketing is proud to sponsor the Small Business Coalition Symposium in NYC on June 3rd! This one-day event brings together market research business owners under $10M to connect, collaborate on shared challenges, and develop crucial leadership skills through expert-led sessions. Ready to join fellow entrepreneurs and discover why collaboration is the new competition? Click here to register for this industry-changing opportunity.

This podcast mini-series is brought to you by Smith Hanley & Associates, connecting businesses worldwide through specialized recruitment solutions. What makes a market research company truly stand out in 2025? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney delivers Part 2 of our Quirks Chicago Conference Flyover as she catches up with industry leaders about the evolving landscape of market research. This collection of candid conversations captures the pulse of the industry through unfiltered discussions with executives who are navigating the balance between technology and human connection. They discuss how specialized recruitment panels are transforming agricultural and veterinary research, why community building is more effective than traditional panel development, and how behavioral data is becoming essential for accurate insights. From the merging of strategic partners and the development of AI-powered DIY tools to the critical importance of understanding emotions in brand perception, these leaders share practical approaches that deliver tangible results for their clients. "Trust is the biggest factor when it comes to farmers or most folks within the ag industry," Mike Mostransky explains. "We're regularly in touch with those participants within the ag space. If they hear it coming in from us, because we are selective as to who we work with, they trust us." This flyover features in-depth conversations with research professionals from diverse specialties, each offering unique perspectives on the intersection of technology, human expertise, and industry evolution. Despite technological advances and shifting business models, building genuine relationships with both research participants and clients remains the cornerstone of lasting success in market research. Want to connect with any of our guests? Featured below are all of their LinkedIn profiles, and if you decide to contact them, make sure to let them know that Little Bird Marketing sent you their way: Mike Mostransky, Insights Director at Qlarity; Pal Afzelius, CEO and Co-founder at Protobrand; Paul Gaudette, CEO and Co-founder at Dig Insights; Pierson Wofford, Executive Recruiter at Smith Hanley Associates; Ray Fischer, CEO of Aha! Insights Technology; Stewart Tippler, European Representative with Quirks Media; Nicole Potter, Field Manager at Insights in Marketing; Sean McKenna, SVP of Business Development at Luth Research.

*This podcast mini-series is brought to you by Gazelle Global, connecting businesses worldwide through expert research services and specialized recruitment solutions.* How do research pros tackle today's most pressing challenges while preparing for tomorrow's opportunities? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney gives you Part 1 of our 2-part Quirks Chicago Conference Flyover as she talks with market research professionals about current trends, challenges, and innovations in the industry. This conference flyover captures candid conversations with leaders from multiple companies, offering an unfiltered look at what's happening in market research right now. They discuss how companies use AI to speed up processes while maintaining accuracy, why face-to-face research is experiencing a resurgence, and the critical role of connecting insights directly to revenue growth. From strategic pricing decisions and sports fan experience analysis to multilingual research and real-time mobile feedback, these experts share specific practices that create measurable value for their organizations and clients. "Being in the industry as long as we have, we've seen a lot of change over the years, over the decades. The companies that have been stable in their leadership, stable with their teams, tend to be the companies that are going to be sticky," J.R. Venza explains. "They're the companies that are going to be here at this conference or other conferences in 2025, 2026, 2030 and so on." This conference flyover features rapid-fire interviews with ten different professionals, each contributing their distinct perspective on how technology and human expertise work together to drive business growth. Despite advances in technology, the human element remains irreplaceable in transforming data into decisions that deliver real-world results. Want to connect with any of our guests? Featured below are all of their LinkedIn profiles, and if you decide to contact them, make sure to let them know that Little Bird Marketing sent you their way: Adam Dietrich, Managing Director at Unlock Surveys, A Stagwell Company Emily Krol, Senior Manager Traveler Research at Expedia Group Jason Deutch, Strategic Account Director at SampleGurus Jonathan Dore, Executive Vice President at Reach3 Insights Jill Kushner Bishop, PhD, CEO at Multilingual Connections J.R. Venza, SVP North America at Torfac Liv Metcalf, Senior Account Director at Relative Insight Matt Worden, AVP Sales & Marketing at Finch BrandsTim Hoskins, President at Quester Tim Lawton, Co-CEO and Co-Founder at SightX Sponsors: Little Bird Marketing proudly supports the Marketing Research Education Foundation's 2025 Race Around the World for Education. This virtual event in May 2025 promotes STEAM education in underserved communities. Participants log miles to circle the globe three times and aim to raise $90,000. Form a company team to compete with other market research firms! Become a sponsor to help provide quality STEAM education to children who need access. For registration and more information, visit: https://www.mrgivesback.org/

Could your team's hidden challenges be preventing business growth? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest and Team Leadership Coach Meghan Opitz about unlocking collective brilliance in organizations. They explore how trust-based team coaching can transform company culture and drive b2b content marketing success. As an American expat in Berlin with extensive market research experience, Opitz brings a unique perspective on building high-performing teams across US and European markets. As a leadership and team coach and the Senior Vice President of Business Development at Republikka, she works daily with teams laser-focused on revenue generation. Meeting and exceeding goals is her specialty. Having scaled Cint's respondent base from 10 million to 100 million, she provides valuable insights on revenue generation challenges and how understanding your buyer persona can lead to better team alignment. "When you talk about leadership coaching, you get to have a series of conversations with one person. With team coaching, it's several people," Opitz explains. "It's more than the individual topics of each person in that room. It's all of the dynamics at play that create that collective performance." McKinney and Opitz discuss how empathy emerged as the key benefit in one team coaching experience, enabling members to see each other as humans working toward the same goals. The conversation touches on how building trust within teams enhances social influence and creates lasting business impact. This human-centered approach is especially critical today, as Opitz's recent survey revealed 54% of professionals struggle with balancing workload and burnout. By implementing an effective growth marketing strategy that values both business objectives and team wellbeing, organizations can achieve sustainable growth while supporting personal wellbeing. Sponsors: Little Bird Marketing proudly supports the Marketing Research Education Foundation's 2025 Race Around the World for Education. This virtual event in May 2025 promotes STEAM education in underserved communities. Participants log miles to circle the globe three times and aim to raise $90,000. Form a company team to compete with other market research firms! Become a sponsor to help provide quality STEAM education to children who need access. For registration and more information, visit: https://www.mrgivesback.org/ Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. “The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went,” she explains. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks—it teaches you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

Are you stuck in a content marketing rut, doing the same thing over and over again? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney discusses thinking outside the blog for content creation. She explores how a robust content marketing strategy extends beyond blog posts to include various formats that can help brands stand out in an attention economy. She outlines six creative frameworks that marketers can apply to freshen up their content: the Haiku framework for distilling complex ideas, the Socratic dialogue framework that mirrors natural thought processes, the Recipe framework for making business processes digestible, the Weather Report framework for creating complete situational pictures, the Crime Mystery framework for building engagement through suspense, and the Botanical Growth framework for understanding natural progression. "It's easy to fall into that formulaic routine for the sake of efficiency, but don't do that," McKinney explains. "In an attention economy, that is not great for content marketing." The goal isn't to force your content into any specific content strategy template but to use them as inspiration to think differently about presentation. These frameworks serve as tools to help your audience connect with your brand in meaningful ways. Priscilla, a respected content marketing consultant, emphasizes that b2b content marketing should drive revenue results while providing value to your audience. By applying these creative approaches, brands can transform their content strategy and stand out from competitors who rely on predictable formats. Sponsors: Little Bird Marketing proudly supports the Marketing Research Education Foundation's 2025 Race Around the World for Education. This virtual event in May 2025 promotes STEAM education in underserved communities. Participants log miles to circle the globe three times and aim to raise $90,000. Form a company team to compete with other market research firms! Become a sponsor to help provide quality STEAM education to children who need access. For registration and more information, visit: https://www.mrgivesback.org/ Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. “The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went,” she explains. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks—it teaches you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

Could the market research industry be entering its golden age? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest, CEO and Founder of OpinionRoute, Terence McCarron, about modernizing consumer insights and delivering meaningful competitive insights. They explore the intersection of technology and human expertise in market research, focusing on helping small to mid-sized firms overcome challenges with feasibility, data quality, and disjointed processes. McCarron shares insights on AI's role in consumer insights, noting it's not about replacing human-derived samples but creating a synthesis. He emphasizes the importance of focusing on the needs of research clients rather than complicating their world with industry jargon. "I think we're about to enter what's going to become 20 years of [the industry's] golden age, but I am absolutely bullish about the small to mid-size agency," McCarron explains. "AI is going to be this massive tool that's going to unlock the creativity [necessary], even on the quant side." The conversation also explores how modernizing a research firm isn't just about implementing new technology – it requires establishing strong process excellence and guiding principles first. McCarron explains that the goal is to move companies from "ad hoc to organized," creating systems that enable researchers to provide better competitive insights and client consultation. They address the future of the market research industry and how, despite current concerns about data quality, companies are better positioned to address these challenges with the right approach. Sponsors: Little Bird Marketing proudly supports the Marketing Research Education Foundation's 2025 Race Around the World for Education. This virtual event in May 2025 promotes STEAM education in underserved communities. Participants log miles to circle the globe three times and aim to raise $90,000. Form a company team to compete with other market research firms! Become a sponsor to help provide quality STEAM education to children who need access. For registration and more information, visit: https://www.mrgivesback.org/ Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. “The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went,” she explains. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks—it teaches you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

Is your LinkedIn profile just a digital resume or a powerful business development tool? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest, keynote speaker, and Account Director at Savanta, Jake Pryszlak, about mastering social selling and building influence on LinkedIn. They discuss Jake's journey as "The Research Geek" and how his thought leadership evolved from differentiating himself during a job search to opening doors for new business opportunities. They tackle the challenges of standing out in the market research industry, where companies offer similar services with nearly identical messaging. Jake shares his unique approach to content creation, which solves real industry problems rather than just sharing news. "I never really found a newsletter that was talking about [how] they've got this problem," Jake explains. "That's why I created the newsletter to talk about problems I've had in the past in the industry and how I've tried to overcome them." The discussion includes actionable LinkedIn tips, with Pryszlak emphasizing the importance of mobile optimization for posts and Priscilla sharing her alphabet tagging technique. Both agree that investing in personal branding—whether through financial resources or time—delivers measurable ROI for both individuals and their employers. Pryszlak reveals how his personal branding journey faced resistance, sharing a story about being questioned by a former employer about his LinkedIn activity.  Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to announce the release of my much-anticipated book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

Is your company missing out on the power of bespoke events for business growth? On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest Tara Mackay, Head of Global Events at The Research Club and Founder and CEO of Eventality, about the transformative power of corporate events as essential tools for networking. Mackay shares her expertise in creating meaningful experiences that foster connections and drive business results. They discuss how face-to-face events have seen increasing demand post-COVID, with more organizations hosting their own gatherings to build relationships and accelerate sales pipelines. Mackay offers valuable networking tips, explaining that successful events begin with understanding a client's core objectives—whether sustainability, brand recognition, or specific business goals—before selecting venues and planning details that align with those priorities. "Face-to-face events are proven great opportunities to speed up your sales pipeline," Mackay explains. "People work with people they like, and it's been proven successful year after year." Mackay's approach focuses on freeing clients from logistical concerns so they can concentrate entirely on addressing networking questions and building relationships during events. From finding the perfect rooftop terrace to creating "blank canvas" venues where branding can take center stage, she emphasizes how attention to detail and elements of surprise create memorable experiences that deliver a return on investment. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to announce the release of my much-anticipated book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

*This podcast mini-series is brought to you by Multilingual Connections, enabling you to connect with your audience in their language. And if you haven’t already, check out Part One and Part Two of the QRCA series!* On this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing podcast, host and CEO Priscilla McKinney presents the final part of a three-part Conference Flyover from QRCA in Philadelphia. Joined by Multilingual Connections’ founder and CEO Jill Kushner Bishop, PhD, and Business Development Director Carlos Hevia, they discuss the power of conducting research in participants' native languages and how this unlocks storytelling that might otherwise remain hidden.  From coordinating projects across 75+ languages to managing the complexities of cultural context, these conversations show why authentic communication matters in research. "Language doesn't just describe some preexisting reality out there in the world," Bishop explains. "We create that reality through language and we activate different areas of our identity through language. I loved in particular when we talked about being bicultural as a superpower [at the conference]." Their discussions highlight how qualitative researchers intuitively grasp language's role in revealing cultural truths. Carlos Hevia shares perspectives on what qualities seek when working internationally, while Jill Bishop details how Multilingual Connections has expanded from translation to bilingual moderation services, supporting researchers as they work in an increasingly diverse range of countries and markets.