Shows / Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories
Compelling tales from the world of public relations, marketing and branding, told by the well-meaning communications professionals who lived them. Lead Balloon is like Freakonomics for communicators and media consumers. It's a show where we tell stories from communications industry leaders, brands that everyone knows and loves (or hates), and spectacular PR disasters. With immersive storytelling and a wry sense of humor, host Dusty Weis (nominated for "Best Indie Podcast Host" at the 2026…
Episodes
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories19. Coca-Cola and the Masters Tournament, with retired Coke Comms VP Ben Deutsch and Dr. Martha Burk
Home to the Masters Tournament, the Augusta National Golf Club typically serves as a backdrop for sports drama. But in 2002, the club itself became the story…
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories18. Coca-Cola's Retired Comms VP Ben Deutsch on the 1998 World Cup, Coke's Belgium Health Scare and More
Before he went on to become Coca-Cola's global vice president of corporate communication, Ben Deutsch was plucked from his dream job in Coke's Sports PR…
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories17. The Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson: Insurrection, Business Comms & Politics
What constitutes "politics" in America has crept into new, ugly territory. And with the deadly Capitol insurrection on January 6, it finally became impossible…
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories16. Vaccine Messaging: How Comms Professionals Can Help Save the World from Covid
With Covid-19 vaccination efforts finally getting underway, communicating properly about this process is critical to saving lives and re-opening the economy…
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories15. Going Rogue, Battling Bears, Government Shutdowns and National Parks, with Julie Wright
In public relations, "going rogue" is a notion that sets teeth on edge for most PR practitioners. But sometimes, when the conventional approach fails, the only…
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications StoriesBONUS: Adweek's "Marketing Podcast of the Year" Is... Lead Balloon!
We've just received some incredible news here at Podcamp Media world headquarters in Milwaukee. Lead Balloon is Adweek's 2020 "Marketing Podcast of the Year,"…
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories13. The Squatty Potty Saga and the Science of Going Viral, with Harmon Brothers CEO Benton Crane
Right or wrong, there are some products that most PR and marketing professionals want nothing to do with. The Squatty Potty, a plastic platform that purports…
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories12. A Creative in the Corporate World, with David Allen Moss
Not everyone in marketing set out from Day One to become a marketer. And for outside creatives transitioning into the corporate world, there are tough lessons…
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories11. The Emotional Unsubscribe, and other Marketing Automation Pitfalls to Avoid, with Misty Dykema and Abby Bell from Simantel
With great marketing tools comes great responsibility--and marketing automation, email marketing and customer relationship management are no exception. Use…
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories10. Getting Uncomfortable About Race in America, with Randy Crump, Dr. Monique Liston and Kennita Hickman
In the corporate world, unspoken rules about what constitutes appropriate workplace conversation provide white employees with a safe, comfortable space free…
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories9. The Ritz-Carlton Hail Mary, with Trusted Media Brands CCO Beth Tomkiw
The Hail Mary: a last-chance, desperation plan with a high risk of failure, turned to as a last resort when all other options have failed. It's not just a…
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories8. The COVID Pivot? Content Marketing Institute Founder Joe Pulizzi on Promoting Your Brand During a Recession
There's no need to sugarcoat it: things looks grim. The COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic has exacted a brutal price in lives, public health and global economic…
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories7. COVID-19: Critiquing the Federal Response with former HHS Spokesman Bill Pierce, and Busting Coronavirus Myths with Epidemiologist Dr. Maria Sundaram
Communicating with the public during a crisis is as critical as it is difficult. And if it's seemed to you like President Donald Trump has been hitting many of…
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories6. HBO's McMillion$: The PR Crises Behind the Hit DocuSeries, with Directors James Lee Hernandez & Brian Lazarte
Everybody remembers the McDonald's Monopoly sweepstakes. But until HBO's McMillion$ came out, most folks didn't realize that the reason it suddenly vanished in…
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories5. The Seinfeld Press Conference, with Tim O'Brien
It might be tough to imagine these days, but public relations work still got done in the era before cell phones and broadband. Somehow. But like the show…
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories4. We Don't Do Ribbon Cuttings, with Patrick McSweeney, Katrine Strickland and Jason Maddux
Patrick McSweeney is a cliché warrior. If it's a hackneyed, over-worn marketing and PR trope, he’s gone to battle against it. But when you choose creativity…
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories3. Bud Light's Corn Syrup-Fueled Ad War, with Neil Caskey from the National Corn Growers Association, Paul Gatza from the Brewers Association, and Kyle Brown
During Super Bowl LIII in 2019, Bud Light launched a new advertising strategy that was... unconventional, even for them. HEADS UP: We remastered this episode…
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories2. City Hall Self Destruct, with Jim Bohl, Bill Arnold, Jim Owczarski and Ken Leiviska
At the end of his first week working in public relations, Dusty Weis did something so dumb, he could have been fired on the spot. During a meeting with one of…
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories1. Grumpy Cat's Grumpy Manager Vs. the Wax Museum, with Jesse Russell
It was supposed to be a historic day at Madame Tussauds wax museum in San Francisco. The storied attraction was launching, not only the first animatronic…