You Sleep When You Die
you sleep when you die...and other unpopular thoughts from retail marketing leader, Jordan Zimmerman
Aaron Sorkin gave America a reality check last month with the release of the critically acclaimed HBO drama The Newsroom. A clip from the show, which Sorkin wrote and produced, got more than two million hits on YouTube in a little over three weeks… In it, a news anchor (played by the actor Jeff Daniels) is taking part in a panel discussion when he’s asked, “Can you say why America is the greatest country in the world?” His answer: “It’s not the greatest country in the world.”
For decades, Holocaust survivors have worked to keep this experience real for us. And now we see that, with the passing of time, their ranks are thinning. Someone must take up the duty of keeping their experience alive. In South Florida alone, there are over 12,000 survivors of the Holocaust, victims of unimaginable loss and tragedy. This weekend, I am dedicating our agency to the important duty of telling their story.
Winning the division, the first time in the 16-year history of the franchise, is a major turning point. Winning the division feels awesome. Winning the division is the attainment of a major goal. At Zimmerman, though, we never rest in the glory of attaining a goal. We set a bigger goal … and we start pushing for that. That’s how we play. Campbell and his teammates are those kinds of players, too … and the Panthers are that kind of team. Something tells me this is the start of something very special in South Florida.
I can’t tell you how massive an impact this book had on our company. After reading Gung Ho, I appointed a guy to walk through the agency and pass out candy. His job was to have real conversations with people to see how they were doing, and to look in their eyes to see whether the “sparkle” was there … or gone. If the sparkle wasn’t so bright, I wanted to know about it, so I could figure out where the problem was and try to fix it.
I have more patience for baseball during the playoffs, and on Opening Day, than I do during the rest of the season. During the playoffs, something actually IS happening. And on Opening Day, anything still COULD happen… Opening Day makes dreamers out of everyone. Opening Day is the time when you can laugh and remember how stupid the smart money can be. Opening day reminds you that this is still a country where big dreams, focus, and hard work can pay off.
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