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Ponderings from the Perch

Ponderings from the Perch

By: Little Bird Marketing & C-Suite Radio
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 Conversations with Priscilla McKinney, founder and President of Little Bird Marketing, an award-winning agency specializing in content marketing, lead generation, branding and design. As a CEO and serial entrepreneur, Priscilla's topics range from marketing best practices, the "stunning discomfort" of entrepreneurship, market research, her love of the autoharp, and other marketing oddities.℗ & © 2018 Ponderings from the Perch Art Economics
Episodes
  • A Growth Strategy Framework for Effective Leadership

    A Growth Strategy Framework for Effective Leadership
    Aug 22 2025
    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.
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    30 mins
  • Decoding the Emotional DNA of Market Research Insights

    Decoding the Emotional DNA of Market Research Insights
    Aug 8 2025
    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.
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    22 mins
  • Quirks New York Conference Flyover Day 2

    Quirks New York Conference Flyover Day 2
    Aug 1 2025
    *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.
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    38 mins
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