BOW Thought: Four Questions

Welcome back! Feels like I haven’t talked to you in ages.

Here’s a little beginning of the week wisdom from yours truly.

First things first. Dan DeMonte. Come on down (RIP Bob Barker).

You’ve won the price is right ($5.02 to be exact)!

Dan is a freaking rockstar. He’s a genuinely good guy, and is a great hang. He’s doing really cool stuff over at Front Office Sports. Adam, Dan and the team are dreamers and builders; they built a growing sports business empire out of scratch and have no intention of slowing down. If you’re trying to reach an upscale, qualified audience of decision makers, look no further than Dan and his team.

@danny-weisman. $5.02. You know where to find me.

Let us think.

BOW Thought

Today’s thought revolves around four questions.

No, I’m not getting Rosh Hashanah mixed up with Passover.

I mentioned this in my last newsletter, but I’m reading a fantastic book.

It’s called How To Be Perfect by Michael Schur.

Before you ask why I’m reading it, let me tell you about why its perfect.

For those of you unfamiliar with Schur, he created The Good Place, a brilliant comedy about life after death, morality, and how to approach life’s biggest questions.

The book is similar in its attempt to break down dense philosophical concepts into relatable (and funny!) language.

And its a great guide on how to approach life’s sticky and tricky situations, with concepts that can be applied universally to life, love, relationships and…

Marketing.

Well, although Schur doesn’t, I’m going to make the connection to marketing.

Schur argues in the early pages that the book’s purpose is to create a guidebook for someone to turn to when encountering ethical dilemmas.

He drills it down to answering four key questions.

They are:

• What are we doing?

• Why are we doing it?

• Is there something we could do that’s better?

• Why is it better?

The last few weeks, months, years have been a constant whirlpool of disgusting trends in advertising.

Just this year we’ve had:

• 2 separate YouTube scandals (in the last 30 days)

• Brand safety issues on X / Twitter

• Fraud running rampant in CTV

• Sites that are literally “made for advertising” stealing $ from real ones

• $20B in programmatic advertising waste

And I’m probably forgetting some.

And this doesn’t even account for the laziness and shortcuts in creative development, media planning, and marketing decision making.

The onslaught of people prioritizing short-term results and their jobs instead of the long-term health of their departments and companies.

And let’s not forget how impersonal and hollow work can at times feel in 2023.

We live in a work-from-home culture that prioritizes alone time over collaboration. Google Hangouts over real-life hangouts.

We’ve achieved flexibility, but at what cost?

So when you’re faced with a big marketing decision.

Or how to frame campaign results.

Or where to invest your next dollar.

Or if you should prioritize something impactful over something attributable.

Or if you should bond with a teammate instead of sitting on the sidelines.

Just use these four questions:

• What are we doing?

• Why are we doing it?

• Is there something we could do that’s better?

• Why is it better?

I can already hear Billy Madison ringing in my head.

And at the end of the day, if you’re not perfect, it’s OK.

I’m not and no one is.

But maybe if we all start using these four questions, our work will be a little closer to perfection.

Stay thinkin this week,

Danny