{"podcast":{"title":"Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories","slug":"lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456","podcast_index_feed_id":257456,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/leadballoon","website_url":"https://www.podcampmedia.com/leadballoon","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/f7f1c742-fa62-11e9-a703-bfe81ccf5509/image/9b1c2168a9233fc4f00a55bbf69dbcc9.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Podcamp Media","episode_count":75,"summary":"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 Podcast Academy awards) revisits epic PR disasters, intense communications scenarios, professional inflection points and notable campaigns we all remember, and usually finds a reason to chuckle. Because sometimes, there are important lessons to be learned from someone else's worst day. And sometimes, it's just more convenient than group therapy. Lead Balloon is an award-winning program, named by Adweek as \"Marketing Podcast of the Year,\" nominated for a Webby award and nominated twice for \"Best Business Podcast\" in the Podcast Academy awards. Tune in monthly for new episodes. Visit podcampmedia.com/leadballoon to learn more.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-30T22:19:04.768864+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456"},"episode":{"title":"58. The Mystery of the I-94 Sales & Marketing Tip of the Week Billboard, with Ken Hoffman & Kyle Brown","slug":"58-the-mystery-of-the-i-94-sales-marketing-tip-of-the-week-billboard-with-ken-hoffman-kyle-brown","published_at":"2025-04-29T10:07:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456/58-the-mystery-of-the-i-94-sales-marketing-tip-of-the-week-billboard-with-ken-hoffman-kyle-brown","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456","url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/PDM1594734719.mp3?updated=1746125711","audio_url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/PDM1594734719.mp3?updated=1746125711","summary":"There is a weird, enigmatic old billboard along the interstate in Wisconsin promoting a \"Sales & Marketing Tip of the Week.\" Without any branding or context, this weathered sign invites thousands of motorists daily to call a mysterious phone number. And that has been driving Dusty CRAZY because, frankly, nothing about this billboard makes any sense in 2025. So we're going to SOLVE A MARKETING MYSTERY, folks! Together with our old pal Kyle Brown, we're going to speculate about WHY this sign exists, how it got there, and what its purpose is. And THEN, we're actually going to track down the person responsible for the sign and learn the strange-but-true story of the \"Sales & Marketing Tip of the Week.\" Because it turns out this billboard is a portal back in time to a different era of direct response marketing. We discover that it was built decades ago by Ken Hoffman, a self-proclaimed \"ideas man\" who gives them away for free, but has trouble getting his own ideas off the ground. We learn how his career was influenced by the so-called \"marketing gurus\" of yesteryear, and find lots in common with this endlessly curious polymath. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"There is a weird, enigmatic old billboard along the interstate in Wisconsin promoting a \"Sales & Marketing Tip of the Week.\" Without any branding or conte…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2013,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456/episodes/58-the-mystery-of-the-i-94-sales-marketing-tip-of-the-week-billboard-with-ken-hoffman-kyle-brown/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456/58-the-mystery-of-the-i-94-sales-marketing-tip-of-the-week-billboard-with-ken-hoffman-kyle-brown.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}