Thanksgiving Thought: Respect

Hello old friends!

Happy Thanksgiving.

I haven’t spoken to you all in a few.

Getting used to this new life as a dad.

Not sure if I’m supposed to have a sponsor today.

If I was, I’m sorry. Just let me know.

If you want to sponsor, venmo me $5.34. @danny-weisman.

Onto to the thought.

Thanksgiving Thought

Today’s thought is not about how thankful you should be today.

Of course you should be.

But Thanksgiving is lowkey about respect.

If you’re going somewhere today, it’s likely with family.

Your parents. Your nosy aunts, uncles, grandparents, random family friends.

Or, you went home last night, and saw friends you hadn’t since high school.

And more than anything, at those Thanksgiving tables and hometown bars, you want a little respect.

Respect that you’ve made the right, or at least good, life choices.

Respect that your job is solid, and not something your grandma can’t understand.

Respect that you’re doing OK - better than OK, you’re doing great.

There is nothing that embodies this Thanksgiving hunt for respect more than the Detroit Lions.

The Detroit Lions have played on Thanksgiving every year since 1945.

In those 83 meetings, they have lost more than they’ve won - they’re 37-44-2.

Per the Detroit Free Press, they’ve been even worse recently.

They’re 6-17 in the last century on Thanksgiving, and they’ve lost 9 in a row from 2004-2012.

Recently, they haven’t won in 7 years.

Thanksgiving is arguably the biggest day for NFL football next to the Super Bowl.

And every year, the Detroit Lions are forced to the Thanksgiving table for all to see - for all to judge them if they’ve made the right choices, if they’re doing OK.

And most years, the table’s verdict is most assuredly, they suck.

But this year feels different. The Lions are 8-2. They are one of the best teams in the NFL. And they play the Packers, a team that has routinely dominated them over the last decade, but this year has fallen off their perch.

The Lions are showing up to this Thanksgiving, looking for some respect, and may finally get some.

Because they put in the work beforehand.

A great Wall Street Journal piece documents how they took a chance on a quarterback no one wanted, made some savvy moves, and bided their time to get to this moment: the day where they need to prove themselves to the rest of the NFL and the country.

Amazon is another company looking for some respect, at least when it comes to premium, live advertising.

Tomorrow will be the first ever NFL Black Friday game.

Amazon is pulling out all the stunts, including debuting ad innovations like targeting customers in a live sports broadcast using their rich shopping data.

These big tech companies are, right now, secondary to the big media companies when it comes to sports - Amazon has Thursday night sure, but nothing beats Sunday football on CBS, FOX, and NBC.

But Amazon, this Thanksgiving, is ready to get some respect.

Because they worked for the last year to get here - first getting the Thursday Night Football rights, investing in a killer production, working with the NFL to get a better slate of games, and then finally working with them to introduce the Black Friday game.

They’re showing up this year, and they mean business.

As you look ahead to 2024, think about the day where your brand, your company, your plans, and / or you need to get some respect.

Is it the first earnings report of the year? The second? The third?

Is it for a big board meeting your clients are having with the higher ups?

Is it the day a product innovation is being launched, and you need to have built up enough momentum before then for it to matter?

Is it when a big event is happening for the brand, so everyone feels good about how it goes?

Is it for a holiday, like July 4th or Christmas, where you need to have built up enough cache and credibility to drive a high volume of sales?

Or is it for Thanksgiving, where people will be around the table, talking about politics and Ozempic, and you want to be talked and respected among them?

Whatever that date is, write it down.

Circle it.

Give it to your team and your clients.

Tell them that is the date that matters most.

That’s what we’re all working for and towards.

Because thats the date our entire team, our brand, wants to get some respect.

Now, it will take a while to get there.

It won’t be built overnight, like the Lions or Amazon.

It will take months of work, both planning and in-market, to get there.

But if you have know the date that is most important, that’s half the battle.

You can work backwards from there.

And lay down the tracks and foundation to build to your most important moment of 2024.

So that’s it.

Identify the day you and your brand need to be respected the most, and do everything in your power to accomplish it by that day.

And then once you’re respected, then you can be thankful.

Stay thinkin,
Danny