Épisodes

  • What an Expert Recruiter Knows about Filling Top CPG Brand Manager and Marketing Director Roles

    What an Expert Recruiter Knows about Filling Top CPG Brand Manager and Marketing Director Roles
    Jan 23 2026
    *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!
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    30 min
  • AI's Role in Content Marketing Strategy

    AI's Role in Content Marketing Strategy
    Jan 16 2026
    *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!
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    22 min
  • Using Customer Insights for Better Customer Experience

    Using Customer Insights for Better Customer Experience
    Jan 9 2026
    *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!
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    24 min
  • The Interview Glow-Up: A Winning Content Marketing Strategy

    The Interview Glow-Up: A Winning Content Marketing Strategy
    Jan 2 2026
    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!
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    27 min
  • Swag that Slaps: The ROI of Good Promotional Giveaways

    Swag that Slaps: The ROI of Good Promotional Giveaways
    Dec 19 2025
    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.
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    26 min
  • When Market Research Drives Thought Leadership and PR

    When Market Research Drives Thought Leadership and PR
    Dec 12 2025
    *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.
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    27 min
  • Workflow Automation to Create High-Quality LinkedIn Posts

    Workflow Automation to Create High-Quality LinkedIn Posts
    Dec 5 2025
    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.
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    24 min
  • Why You Need a Tone-of-Voice Bible For Your Content Marketing Strategy

    Why You Need a Tone-of-Voice Bible For Your Content Marketing Strategy
    Nov 28 2025
    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.
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    28 min