Digging Deeper
91 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 years ago -Creativity is a path to problem solving, a way to captivate, build meaningful connections and inspire action. In this weekly podcast from CORNETT, a creative agency in Lexington, Kentucky, host Jason Falls interviews creatives, executives and thought leaders to see how they harness the not-so-secret weapon of creativity to create business advantages.
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Episodes
The Easier Path to Audience & Influence Insights
May 10, 2022 15:13 - 28 minutesIf you want consumer insights for your brand, you have traditionally relied on focus groups, surveys and other research studies. Those are typically time-consuming, difficult to gather and analyze, and expensive. Rand Fishkin sat out to solve for that problem. Fishkin is known for founding MOZ. Now he's building an easier path to discovering insights about a given audience, including who influences them, without expensive research. He visited #DiggingDeeper this week to talk about SparkToro a...
The Sustainability Concerns with Blockchain, Bitcoin and NFTs
April 19, 2022 15:41 - 36 minutesWe’ve talked a lot about the blockchain, NFTs and Web 3.0 on Digging Deeper recently, but there’s a big concern out there over blockchain technology and its carbon footprint. It’s estimated that one Bitcoin transaction uses around 2,100 kilowatt hours. That’s the same energy the average U.S. household uses in 75 days. When the energy source powering the computers that churn out that transaction is non-renewable, more greenhouse gas emissions happen and the environment takes another hit. But B...
Improving the Sales Function by Getting Rid of Pitch Decks?!?
April 12, 2022 16:01 - 33 minutesJarron Vosburg from JumpCrew says we can do away with the pitch deck. He is disrupting B2B sales and will share his perspective on what we're all doing wrong but may not know it on this episode of #DiggingDeeper. Vosburg is the vice-president of Sales at JumpCrew. That is an acquisition marketing platform company out of Nashville. They’re all about helping you optimize sales. We talk about the pitch deck concept, but also more specifically about how sales and marketing work together, complime...
The Legalities of NFTs, Crypto, and the Metaverse
April 05, 2022 15:48 - 36 minutesWeb 3.0 is an exciting new territory to play. But with new territory comes new risk. On this episode of Digging Deeper, we dig deeper into the world of Web 3.0 and conduct our due diligence around the legalities of the Metaverse, NFTs, and Cryptocurrency. Enrico Schaefer from Traverse Legal bills himself as the NFT lawyer. He specializes in consulting and representing clients with a need in technology and intellectual property issues. He’s been doing it for 30 years, so through Web 1.0 and 2....
Smarter Marketing Through An Entrepreneurial Spirit
March 29, 2022 15:44 - 38 minutesThe entrepreneurial spirit can make you a better marketer. That’s the underlying gist of Tim Hines’s new book The Marketing Starter - How an Entrepreneurial Spirit Will Make You a More Savvy Marketer. Hines is a 17-year veteran of the startup marketing world. He's worked at agencies and brands, but always with a marketing-first mindset. He combined the two things he knows best – marketing and startups – into a refreshing and useful new book and outlook on what can make all marketers better. W...
Presenting Own It: Attacking the Gender Gap in Advertising Agency Ownership
March 28, 2022 11:00 - 14 minutesLess than one percent of all advertising agencies are owned by women. Read that again. It's kind of astonishing when you think about it. For Cornett owner Christy Hiler, that's a problem. Today, she launched an effort to do something to close the gender gap in ad agency ownership called Own it. The effort is being cataloged at UntilYouOwnIt.com where female and non-binary agency owners can join and participate in mentorship and other activities to help more women, Own It. Part of the effort...
Taking Charge of You with David Novak
March 22, 2022 15:32 - 23 minutesThe best coach one can buy is one's self. That is the premise of the new book from David Novak, the former chairman and CEO of Yum! Brands. Yes … that Yum! Brands. Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, Long John Silver’s, Pizza Hut. Novak lead the growth of some of the biggest brands in the world at the largest restaurant company in the world for many years. He's been called one of the most influential people in business by Forbes and others. Since his retirement from Yum! Brands , he has been w...
Continuity in Brand Storytelling
March 15, 2022 15:34 - 1 hourCornett creative director Jason Majewski joins #DiggingDeeper to discuss a case study in brand storytelling with corporate filmmaker Gary Miller of Eye Level Films and film composer A.J. Hochhalter. The trio are part of the team behind several years worth of Cornett's video production work for UK HealthCare. Majewski led a discussion through the case study of the brand's primary commercial video work. That includes a consistency in storytelling, both visually and sonically, that continue to a...
The Present & Future of Public Relations
March 08, 2022 16:36 - 27 minutesPublic relations is perhaps one of the segments of the marketing world that has changed most in the last 20 years or so. That’s largely because the media landscape has changed and media relations is a big part of the PR world. When traditional journalists, editors and producers are no longer the gate keepers, but you’re still charged with earning coverage and attention for your company, you have to shift with the market. Robert Dilenschneider has weathered the storm and guided many a brand su...
The Creative Minds of The Grill Dads
March 01, 2022 16:54 - 37 minutesWhat happens when you put two advertising creatives behind a grill feeding their friends? Discovery by Guy Fieri and your own Food Network show apparently. Mark & Fey … or more formally Mark Anderson and Ryan Fey are The Food Network stars of The Grill Dads . That’s the sizzle. But the steak for Digging Deeper is they’re both experienced marketing and ad creatives. Mark & Fey joined host Jason Falls to talk about their backgrounds, the rise to success of the show and social influence, and th...
The Strategy of Digital Customer Care for an Audience of Billions
February 22, 2022 16:43 - 34 minutesThe concept of digital customer care is something most companies now understand and implement. But it has taken a while for the majority of companies to migrate from old call centers and email support responses to plugging in to customer concerns in real-time, via apps and on social media. But imagine having to handle digital customer care on a scale most businesses never see. Elly Moody is the Digital Customer Care Program Strategy Manager for McDonald’s … yes, that McDonald’s. She is guidin...
The Power of Women in Brand Leadership
February 15, 2022 16:51 - 35 minutesThe Gooder Podcast highlights the powerhouse women in the consumer product goods industry. It’s a great show to inspire everyone, but particularly women, to achieve success and build leadership in business. The show is hosted by Diana Fryc from Retail Voodoo who visited with Digging Deeper to talk about women in leadership, but also cause marketing, CPG and food and beverage marketing and beyond. Her firm is a branding agency that focuses on guiding mission-driven consumer brands to attract a...
Are Your Digital Assets Accessible? ADA Lawsuits Are On The Rise!
February 08, 2022 16:30 - 27 minutesThe American’s With Disabilities Act or ADA is no less meaningful and relevant that the Civil Rights Act to companies today. But businesses often fail to consider how people with vision, hearing or physical disabilities can or cannot consume their online content. When one fails to provide accessible user experiences, they subject themselves to legal action. Well, lawsuits holding brands more accountable for their digital accessibility efforts are on the rise. Jason Taylor joined Digging Deepe...
The Case for Your Brand and the Metaverse
February 01, 2022 17:01 - 44 minutesMitch Jackson thinks the Metaverse is the perfect opportunity for brands to standout and strengthen relationships with their consumers. His new book, The Metaverse Handbook - How to create, market and sell in a virtual word, is out this month. Jackson is all-in on showing people how to go virtual and find ways to connect with your audiences there. Jackson stopped by Digging Deeper to explain and try and talk host Jason Falls off his skeptical ledge about Web 3.0, brands in virtual worlds and ...
Attacking The Healthy Beverage Vertical with Hello Water
January 18, 2022 16:42 - 34 minutesThe healthy beverage aisle in your grocery or convenience store just keeps getting more and more crowded. The so-called Functional Beverage market is already a $50 billion industry. Amid fighting one another for dominance, brands in the category also have to battle the big-budget sugary drinks brands for consumer's attentions. Why on earth would someone enter that market with a startup brand, then? Rusty Jones, the co-founder and chief strategy officer at Hello Water knows. He and his partner...
The Man Behind Lexington's Psychedelic Experience
January 14, 2022 13:00 - 13 minutesWe’re walking the walk here on the show by digging deeper into conversations with the type of folks we often interview on the live stream version of the show each Tuesday morning. But not everyone we want to talk to there can make it to a regimented, scheduled show. And, we have some very interesting people within the walls at Cornett whose expertise comes to bear for our clients. We also do some pretty neat things as a group that are well worth sharing with you. Why not give you access to th...
Preparing Brands for a Browser Cookie-less World
January 11, 2022 16:41 - 29 minutesGoogle announced last year that sometime in 2023 it will no longer support browser cookies that advertisers often use to both target and retarget online ads. Firefox and Safari were ahead of the Google curve on that, but it wasn’t a dire concern until Google’s Chrome browser fell into line. Now, you still have 2022 to make adjustments and figure this all out. We’re going to start talking about it today with Joe Singer of Merged Analytics. His firm is a website visitor intelligence company, bu...
What Brands Should Watch For in 2022 Trends
January 04, 2022 16:58 - 42 minutesHappy New Year everyone! On this first episode of Digging Deeper for 2022, we usher in the new year by talking about the hot topics and trends that seem to be on everyone’s mind. The Metaverse. NFTs. The Blockchain. Influencers and more. Host Jason Falls shares practical advice for brands on learning, experimenting and understanding without committing unnecessary resources out of the gate. Plus, we share a recent client video that gave everyone a bit of a laugh about NFTs before the holidays....
Finding Your Capital S Story
December 21, 2021 16:54 - 37 minutesAs we close out Digging Deeper for 2021, I thought it best to return to a core focus of all good marketing communications and that is storytelling. All the technical wizardry and business objectives and channel approaches do you no good unless you are able to leverage all of them to tell a strong story. Paul Furiga has written and edited 20,000 stories as a journalist, covering everything from murders to the White House. When he moved into the agency side of the marketing world, he spent a fe...
Meet Cornett's own TikTok Influencer – Senior Web Developer Matt Hudgins
December 17, 2021 13:30 - 19 minutesWe’re walking the walk here on the show by digging deeper into conversations with the type of folks we often interview on the live stream version of the show each Tuesday morning. But not everyone we want to talk to there can make it to a regimented, scheduled show. And, we have some very interesting people within the walls at Cornett whose expertise comes to bear for our clients. We also do some pretty neat things as a group that are well worth sharing with you. Why not give you access to th...
The Challenge of B2B and Tech Marketing
December 14, 2021 16:38 - 31 minutesBusiness-to-business marketing is different than the business-to-consumer approach. Add the complexities of technology to the product and it can get far more layered and confusing. Marcy Massura is not only very skilled at translating the complex to drive marketing success for B2B and tech companies, but she has a specific focus on aligning brand marketing strategies with business objectives. Massura is the chief marketing officer at Brightspot which is a technology company that provides cont...
Finding Consumer Insights Via Social Media
December 07, 2021 16:39 - 26 minutesWhen you think social listening, you probably, by default, think customer service and social consumer care. But did you know that advanced brands use social listening to gather consumer insights? You can mine social media conversations for the types of information you might expect from focus groups or research. On this episode of Digging Deeper, we pick the brain of Todd Grossman, the chief adoption officer for Talkwalker. That platform is one of the top social analytics and market insights p...
Advertising Trends Heading Into 2022 with AdWeek's David Griner
November 30, 2021 15:06 - 43 minutesAs we head into the last month of 2021, the inevitable barrage of 2022 planning blog posts and trend predictions will flood the social medias for those of us in the advertising and marketing business. We thought we'd get a more direct from the horses mouth jump on what's new and next in the industry by inviting one of those ad biz watchers to the show. David Griner is AdWeek's international editor and host of the publication's Yeah, That Might Be An Ad podcast. His role has evolved through co...
How Lagunitas is Disrupting the Beverage Industry
November 23, 2021 16:45 - 42 minutesWhen your brand is highly dependent on event marketing to grow and a pandemic hits, what do you do? Paige Guzman, the chief marketing officer at Lagunitas Brewing Company, knows the answer all too well. She had to pivot the brand in her new role and find different paths to consumers. The result is a disruptive approach to the beverage industry that has elevated Lagunitas from a regional craft brew to a global brand taking the concept of craft beverages to new heights. Guzman joined Digging De...
Audio Exclusive: Cornett's Black History Trivia Night
November 19, 2021 12:00 - 18 minutesIn the first of new audio-only, exclusive episodes of Digging Deeper, host Jason Falls reports back on Cornett's recent Black History Trivia Night event. The entire agency got together at a local art gallery to have a bar trivia style learning experience around Black History. It’s part of an ongoing effort at Cornett for us all to recognize, learn and embrace a more diverse cultural, racial and social makeup, as an agency in service to our employees and clients, but also just as citizens of t...
How to Inspire Cult-Like Brand Followings
November 16, 2021 16:46 - 31 minutesEvery brand probably wants to have followers it describes as cult-like in their adoration and worship of the brand. But how do you foster the good from that description and avoid the bad? Chris Kneeland knows. He is the co-founder of Cult Collective, a firm based in Calgary, Alberta, focused on helping brands drive irrational customer loyalty. He’s also behind The Gathering, an annual event that brings folks together to talk about those brands. He also has a book called FIX: A New Presecripti...
Brand Hacks to Connect Consumers with Meaning
November 09, 2021 15:24 - 33 minutesThe new book from Dr. Emmanuel Probst is a thoughtful and interesting look at how brands can build their direction on helping customers fulfill various needs. Brand Hacks - How to Build Brands by Fulfilling The Consumer Quest for Meaning is on sale now online and in bookstores everywhere. From personal to social and emotional need seeking, the book details reasons, ideas and examples of brands hacking their way to long-term success. Dr. Probst is a long-time consumer researcher and is current...
Managing and Marketing Small and Medium Businesses
November 02, 2021 15:41 - 35 minutesManaging and marketing a small to medium business is a world of headache and heartache for many. But for some, it can be optimized and fine tuned to the skills and abilities of the business owner and their team. Sometimes, staffing or freelance help balance it out. Other times, software comes to bear on making the SMB run more smoothly. Gordon Henry is the chief strategy officer for Thryv, a management and marketing software solution catering to small and medium businesses. He joined Digging ...
Are you Winfluencing?
October 26, 2021 16:13 - 46 minutesOnce upon a time an influencer named Arii tried to turn her 2 million followers into a buying audience for a new product line. It failed. In Winfluence - Reframing Influencer Marketing to Ignite Your Brand, Cornett's own Jason Falls explained what Arii either did wrong, or more accurately didn't do, that could have spelled a very different outcome. Jason shares the story and Richard Cialdini's six principles of persuasion on this week's episode of Digging Deeper. He also takes you through the...
New Book Wraps Useful Advice Into the Marketing of Space
October 12, 2021 13:09 - 39 minutesSpace Marketing is the new book from communications veteran Izzy House. The work dives into the history of the marketing of the U.S. and other space programs to set the stage for our current era of the commercialization of space travel. But nestled in the folds of interesting stories and thoughts about everything from Sputnik to Space X is a book full of just good, old fashioned, smart marketing advice. In fact, people who don't have any interest in space can get a lot out of this book to mar...
The Path of Digital Transformation Tastes of Chicago
October 05, 2021 16:05 - 43 minutesFew companies have experienced digital transformation quite like Tastes of Chicago. The e-commerce brand within the Lou Malnati group of brands was almost an afterthought a few years ago. They sold Chicago-style pizza direct-to-consumer online. Then COVID hit and business exploded. Now, Tastes of Chicago was a big revenue driver for the corporation and engineering the shift fell on the shoulders of Ahin Thomas. He joined the company after years in the tech startup and investment space and was...
Tackling the Challenge of Earned Media Measurement
September 21, 2021 15:34 - 29 minutesDoes your brand have a grasp on measurement and analytics for earned media? Not many do. In fact, public relations and earned media have been some of the most difficult marketing outputs to quantify success with for decades. The digital nature of both today should make it easier to know what you get out of your public relations efforts. But the combination of indirect or soft business goals (awareness, impressions, public opinion) and PR professionals lacking the analytics experience to trans...
What Marketers Need to Know About Artificial Intelligence
September 14, 2021 15:36 - 27 minutesFew buzzwords have been as hot or used as "artificial intelligence" or "AI" and "machine learning" in the last few years. Marketers are pitched dozens of tools and approaches each month my martech companies promising this is how one or other other will revolutionize your business. But the reactions to using AI for marketing are mixed. Some joyously say "yes" and dive in hoping they figure it out. Others are scared that it requires massive investments in staff and technology just to have a mod...
Marketing Your Startup
August 17, 2021 15:33 - 29 minutesAndrew Lee Miller knows all about startups. He’s even known as a prolific bootstrapped startup marketing expert. In the past 15 years, he has driven three venture capital-backed startup exists and dozens of successfully funded companies. His new book The Startup Growth Guide is chock full of helpful advice for entrepreneurs to build their businesses without a marketing budget. He joined Digging Deeper to share those tips and tricks, help us know when to step up and create a marketing budget a...
Learning to Wholesale to Ignite Your Retail Business
August 03, 2021 15:38 - 34 minutesThere are three types of retailers: Those that sell their own products exclusively, those that sell other's products and those that do both. If you're one that sells your own products, Emily Grey has some advice for you. She not only owns her own clothing and gift store in Raleigh, North Carolina called The Flourish Market, which has a great story to tell, but she also moonlights helping makers and businesses get their products on the shelves at retailers by educating folks on approaches to w...
What You Need to Know About Customer Experience
July 20, 2021 14:35 - 29 minutesHow much time do you spend thinking about or working on your customer’s experience? The guest on this episode of Digging Deeper would probably argue that if you’re not spending a good portion of your time there, you need to. Brad Cleveland is an expert on customer experience and the founding partner and former CEO of the International Customer Management Institute. He’s the author of the new book Leading the Customer Experience: How to Chart a Course and Deliver Outstanding Results. He and ho...
Slacking Off: Tips on Working from Home with Mike Arnold
July 13, 2021 14:16 - 37 minutesMike Arnold has worked from home for 15 years. In fact, he calls himself a work-from-home entrepreneur. His careers has put him in consulting roles with some nice brands like Cox Automotive, Verizon Super Pages and several major finance companies. He’s boiled all that experience into a new book called Slacking Off: A Successful Way to Work From Home. As we settle into new work environs, he has some tips and ideas for the new post-COVID workforce. Also on this episode, Jason reveals his top fi...
Is Your Business Ready for the Digital Pivot?
June 29, 2021 14:42 - 54 minutesShockingly, a good portion of both marketers and businesses are not hip to the digital world. These laggards are in danger of falling behind, then falling off the ability to succeed in today's marketplace. Eric Schwartzman wants to put an end to that and help those not yet in transition, or those who are finding the transition difficult. His new book The Digital Pivot is a blueprint for any business, owner, marketer or entrepreneur to not just understand all the facets of digital marketing, b...
Find Your Red Thread
June 22, 2021 13:49 - 37 minutesThere's a huge difference in a brand strategy and a content strategy. There's also a huge difference in brand messaging and the everyday, tactical social content that delivers it. But in order to be ultimately successful with all of the above, brands need to weave them all together into a cohesive execution. And most brands don't. Tamsen Webster has studied this problem and has a solution in her new book Find Your Red Thread. She joined Jason Falls on Digging Deeper this week to explore how t...
How Can Your Brand Bridge The Trust Gap?
June 15, 2021 15:44 - 34 minutesThere's a trust gap between consumers and brands that has been growing for decades. For some, social media has helped close the gap, but only for those who truly understand the dynamics of social media. For others, the spray-and-pray, blast messages just push consumers farther away. Margot Bloomstein is a well-known content marketing strategist who has written a new book about closing that gap. It's called Trustworthy. She joined us on Digging Deeper to help brands understand the gap, how to ...
What happens when a Creative Director leads with social and digital?
June 08, 2021 15:50 - 36 minutesThe typical advertising agency creative director is someone steeped in television, print, radio, outdoor and the like. They probably went to art school and have spent time building creative strategies. But the world of digital and social media has changed the requisite background for what we call creative directors today. Bridget Jewell is one of the fabulous creative directors at Periscope, an agency with offices around the world, but based in Minneapolis. She has developed award-winning soc...
Digging Deeper on Influence and Persuasion
June 01, 2021 15:55 - 40 minutesBrian Ahearn knows a thing or two about persuasion. After a two-decade plus career in sales he started teaching people his techniques. Fast-forward another decade or so and he's a certified Cialdini instructor and author of two books. His first book, Influence People, was declared one of the top 100 all-time books on influence by BookAuthority. His latest book, Persuasive Selling, is focused on insurance agents, but has cross-vertical approaches to help everyone. More than anything, technique...
The CEO's Perspective on Marketing
May 18, 2021 15:50 - 39 minutesMarketers often exist in their own bubble. A select few get some face time outside of that bubble with the CEO of the company they work with or of the brands they work for. We wanted to change that on Digging Deeper, so we invited a CEO in to give us that executive position on marketing, sales, social media and more. Ken Romanzi is the former CEO of B&G Foods who now serves as an advisor and principal at The New England Consulting Group. That company produces some of the most well-known consu...
Defining Your Brand
May 11, 2021 15:45 - 36 minutesLots of agencies, consultants and experts throw around the word "brand" but don't ever seem to really grasp what it is and explain it in a way you can understand it. Nick Westergaard has spent a career trying to fix that. His Brand Driven Digital agency has done so for many businesses over the years. He's turned that expertise into two books: Brand Now - How to Stand Out in a Crowded, Distracted World, and Get Scrappy - Smarter Digital Marketing for Businesses Big and Small. Nick joined us on...
Hacking Growth Hacking
May 04, 2021 15:55 - 51 minutesGrowth hacking strikes some people as something that computer software companies do. But Shopify's Morgan Brown, co-author of the book Hacking Growth, knows that it's a process any business can leverage to leverage data and efficient budgets of time and resources to grow more effectively, and in some cases, to be more successful than originally planned. Brown is a former product director at Facebook and current vice-president for growth at Shopify. He joined Digging Deeper to demystify growth...
How to Find and Use Your Cumulative Advantage
April 27, 2021 15:52 - 45 minutesBest-selling author Mark Schaefer's new book is called Cumulative Advantage. It is a fantastic investigation of the secret sauce that seems to make some people successful and others perhaps not so. He explains the concept of Cumulative Advantage and how you can set yourself up to be successful with it rather than sitting by and watching other people do it while you do not. Schaefer is a multiple-times best-selling author, the man behind the popular marketing blog Businesses Grow and a highly ...
Reclaiming and Growing a Family Brand
April 20, 2021 13:40 - 38 minutesStephanie Stuckey wasn't satisfied with her family's brand being controlled by someone else. So, decades after her grandfather sold the roadside oasis brand popular among travelers and for its famous pecan rolls, she bought it back. Stuckey is now revitalizing a brand that is dependent on highway travel and family road trips. But that looks very different in 2021 than it would have 20 years ago. Heck, it even looks different than it would have two years ago. She joined Christy Hiler and Jason...
Why Your Copywriting Sucks ... And What To Do About It
April 13, 2021 14:28 - 32 minutesCopywriter Jerry McTigue says we should stop using words that sound good but say nothing. His new book Business Blather is a short primer on why your copywriting sucks ... or perhaps other people's copywriting sucks. He is on a mission to help eliminate corporate speak and jargon soup from everything from Ads to LinkedIn profiles. Jerry joined Digging Deeper to chat with Jason Falls about the confluence of sedentary thinking and synergistic extrapolation that is riddling the infrastructure of...
What Brands Can Learn from Content Marketing in College Athletics
April 06, 2021 14:40 - 45 minutesContent marketing is a very unique animal in the world of sports. But it's a unique animal brands can learn from. Charles Bloom spent over 17 years as the Associate Commissioner at the Southeastern Conference and helped forge that league's moves into first the digital space, then the branded content world with the launch of its own television network. He returned to campus a few years ago and is now the Executive Associate Athletics Director, Chief of Staff and Chief Communications Officer at...
Getting the 2021 Download on Consumer Behavior and Social Media
March 30, 2021 15:50 - 43 minutesThe 2021 edition of The Infinite Dial is out. The annual research report from Edison Research and Triton Digital has become the gold standard survey of U.S. consumer behavior and the use of both technology in the form of smart phones, tablets and connected devices; and social media, including streaming audio and podcasting. Tom Webster is Edison's senior vice-president for strategy and marketing and one of the authors of the research. He joined Jason Falls on Digging Deeper to discuss the fin...