Lead Balloon - Public Relations, Marketing 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.
On Lead Balloon, professional communicators share tales of the do-or-die situations that defined their creative careers—how they planned for the unexpected, how they navigated high-profile crises, and what they learned in the process.
With immersive storytelling and a wry sense of humor, host Dusty Weis 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 for strategic communicators and content creators, named by Adweek as "Marketing Podcast of the Year," nominated for a Webby award and nominated for "Best Business Podcast" in the Podcast Academy awards.
Tune in monthly for new episodes. Visit podcampmedia.com/leadballoon to learn more.
- Update frequency
- every 25 days
- Average duration
- 42 minutes
- Episodes
- 67
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
62. Modernizing the Way We Communicate About Road Closures (Especially During Emergencies), with Scott Oppman from ArcGIS
Most people get travel information about road closures from Google Maps, Apple Maps or a similar smartphone-based application.
But when a road is closed, most transportation agencies put out a press…
00:28:38 |
Wed 20 Aug 2025
61. Will Wikipedia survive Artificial Intelligence? (And Can A.I. Survive Without Wikipedia?)
Wikipedia readers consume nearly one billion articles per day from the online encyclopedia.
In its 25 years of operation, this compendium of human knowledge has become an integral tool for understa…
00:46:12 |
Wed 30 Jul 2025
60. Recession Lessons from Content Marketing Institute Founder Joe Pulizzi: Double Down, Dig In
In the world of business, yet again, things looks grim.
A brewing trade war, the uncharted fallout of artificial intelligence, and political upheaval around the world...
All these factors have cre…
00:35:03 |
Wed 25 Jun 2025
59. Bot Farms Have Made Social Media Engagement Metrics Meaningless, with Eric Schwartzman
What you see online is not real.
This has long been a reliable axiom for information consumption on the internet.
But social media and SEO marketers have long relied on their engagement metrics a…
00:33:14 |
Wed 28 May 2025
58. The Mystery of the I-94 Sales & Marketing Tip of the Week Billboard, with Ken Hoffman & Kyle Brown
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…
00:33:33 |
Tue 29 Apr 2025
57. Why Have Streaming Services Put So Many Ads In Our Shows? with Film Critic Matt Zoller Seitz
After more than a decade of living in an entertainment golden age...
Filled with more and better options, with less advertising, than ever before in human history...
Are the good times over?
Al…
00:34:34 |
Wed 26 Mar 2025
56. What Happens at American Airlines After a Plane Crash: Behind the Scenes with Former Spokeswoman Jennifer R. Hudson
Three weeks after accepting a new role as an American Airlines spokeswoman in 1995, Jennifer R. Hudson was paged out of bed in the middle of the night.
The worst had happened.
Flight 965 had disappea…
00:37:22 |
Wed 19 Feb 2025
55. Liquid Death Spoofs the Pepsi Harrier Jet Giveaway, with Andy Pearson & Jeff Beer
At the height of the Cola Wars in the mid-90's, Pepsi committed one of the most notorious PR and marketing fiascos of all-time.
An eye-catching spot promised brand fans that, if they saved up 7 milli…
00:40:00 |
Wed 22 Jan 2025
54. The Election of the Podcast? 2024 Presidential Campaign PR Focuses on Podcasts & Social Media
Earned media has long been the holy grail of public relations.
For decades, getting your client's message in the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal has been the gold standard by which PR agenc…
00:34:14 |
Wed 18 Dec 2024
53. Alex Jones’s Infowars Being Purchased by the Onion and Sandy Hook Families, with Onion CMO Leila Brillson
Alex Jones, founder of the extremist conspiracy-theory-peddling digital brand Infowars, has proved again and again that there is no lie he will not embrace and no moral line he will not cross.
For hi…
00:29:44 |
Tue 26 Nov 2024
52. FEMA Public Affairs Team Still Carries Scars from Hurricane Ike Assignment, with Molly McPherson & Mike Moore
The videos and stories we’ve seen and heard from Hurricanes Helene and Milton over the last month have been truly horrific.
They're an important reminder that the rescue and recovery crews who rush i…
00:44:19 |
Fri 01 Nov 2024
51. The Legend of Dukakis in a Tank: White House Comms Pros Talk Presidential Optics, with Josh King and Kevin Sullivan
The image of 1988 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis riding in a tank has become synonymous with abject public relations failure.
For marketers and PR practitioners, it serves as an en…
00:47:19 |
Wed 02 Oct 2024
BONUS: Literally, the Grammar-Nerdiest Conversation You'll Ever Hear, with Dr. Valerie Fridland
Sociolinguist Dr. Valerie Fridland says we need to relax about the changing nature of language.
In her book, "Like, Literally Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English," she notes that language has a…
00:15:18 |
Wed 17 Jan 2024
50. Grumpy Cat, the Sound of Freedom, Watergate and More: A Look Back and a Look at What's Next
When you're working with high-profile people in fields like PR, marketing and branding, things are always changing.
History gets uncovered. New information comes to light that changes everything. And…
00:51:06 |
Wed 27 Dec 2023
49. How I Almost Got Fired in My 1st Week in PR, and the Important Life Lessons I Learned
At the end of his first week working in public relations, Lead Balloon host Dusty Weis did something so dumb, he could have been fired on the spot.
During a meeting with one of his new bosses, promin…
00:46:54 |
Wed 29 Nov 2023
48. A UAP PR Campaign: Mainstreaming the Conversation About Unexplained Anomalous Phenomena, with Lt. Ryan Graves
UFOs have traditionally been more of a pop culture phenomenon than an actual science.
But with the recent declassification of Navy gun camera footage that shows unexplained craft seeming to defy the …
00:45:17 |
Wed 01 Nov 2023
47. Sliding into DMs on the Dating App Hinge, with NextGen America's Kristi Johnston
Let's be honest: political groups don't have a great success rate when it comes to their strategic communication tactics.
Every election cycle, American voters are bombarded with mailers, emails and …
00:30:35 |
Tue 03 Oct 2023
46. Why Are Wireless Emergency Alerts on Your Phone So Terrible? A Strategic Communication Conundrum
On January 18, 2018, the entire State of Hawaii received an ear piercing alert on their cell phones.
"BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL."
Those w…
00:41:27 |
Wed 06 Sep 2023
45. Replaced by Chat GPT: Are Creative and Copywriting Jobs Threatened by Artificial Intelligence?
The robot revolution has arrived.
And they're coming for your marketing or content creation job.
The advent of generative artificial intelligence chatbots—most notably tools like Chat GPT and Midjour…
00:35:44 |
Tue 01 Aug 2023
44. How a Real Life Ad Agency Inspired the Robin Williams CBS Sitcom, "The Crazy Ones"
Every professional communicator has had a day that seems like it came straight out of a TV sitcom.
For Rob Davis and John R. Montgomery, working at the Chicago ad firm Leo Burnett in the early 2000’s…
00:48:47 |
Wed 05 Jul 2023
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