Our Latest Holmes Report and SABRE Honors
The Holmes Report has awarded Havas PR North America honorable mention for Midsize Agency of the Year, based on our annual Agency Report Card. This week, we await word about other Holmes honors for our finalists in its annual Gold SABRE awards program, which recognizes superior achievement in branding and reputation in North America: our [...]
Why the Brands of Some of Today’s Weather and Traffic Personalities Are No Accident
[Originally posted on Forbes.com.] It used to be that the people who presented weather and traffic segments on the news were as dry as the topics they covered. They didn’t have the fatherly gravitas of the anchorman, the dashing charisma of the foreign correspondents, or the warmth and relatability of the lifestyle reporters. They just [...]
Would Mindy McCready Have Agreed with Her Final Branding Statements?
[Originally posted on Forbes.com.] A colleague of mine recalls a time when a new boss had taken over her department and everyone was anxious. One of his first acts: handing out New York Times obituaries of distinguished people. “Read these,” he said, “and think about what your obituaries would say.” His gambit worked. The ice [...]
Livestrong Tattoos, Kardashian Fashion, Brangelina Wine: Using a Celebrity Brand to Define Your Own
[Originally posted on Forbes.com.] Last weekend, I came across an interesting article in The New York Times about people who had Livestrong tattoos and how they felt about them now. The upshot is that most of them—at least most of the people quoted in the article—don’t have a great deal of regret. They got the [...]
More Than Words
[Originally published on Stamford magazine's website.] As a trendspotter, my eyes tend to be forever focused on the future, but one of my favorite ways to look back is through various linguists’ and lexicographers’ annual words of the year lists. For 2012, the rearview mirrors at the major dictionaries focused on big cultural trends and [...]
Luxury Is Going to the Dogs
With the rise of DogTV and gourmet pet chow, it was just a matter of time before we extended canine luxury to living quarters. High-end doggie daycare has been around for a while, but only recently have the offerings become so numerous. In Manhattan, there’s the Ruff Club, which prides itself on being both exclusive [...]
Predictions for Thriving in the Near Future
[Originally posted on the Huffington Post.] This is the final post in a series of 14 expanding on Salzman’s forecasts for 2013 in her annual trends report, a program of global communications group Havas Worldwide. This year’s book, What’s Next? What to Expect in 2013, was published on 12/12/12 and is available at 120MBooks.com. Salzman [...]
Top Buying Power of the Middle Class
Of all the countries on A.T. Kearney’s Global Retail Development Index, Brazil might be the biggest success story—and not just because it has claimed the top spot. Unlike many of the other countries on the list, Brazil’s surge in retail has come primarily from its recent middle-class boom, growing from 2001, when 38 percent of [...]
2013: The Year Fatigue Set In
[Originally posted on the Huffington Post.] This is the 13th in a series of 14 posts expanding on Salzman’s forecasts for 2013 in her annual trends report, a program of global communications group Havas Worldwide. This year’s book, What’s Next? What to Expect in 2013, was published on 12/12/12 and is available at 120MBooks.com. Salzman [...]
From Bradley to Lena: Personal Branding on the Red Carpet
[Originally posted on Forbes.com.] Pleasure and entertainment are probably the main reasons people tuned in to the Golden Globes and its red carpet pre-show on Sunday. It’s safely sanctioned, free fun to see the fashion and hairstyles and the reactions to them. But these events are also fascinating as trend barometers, pointing out what’s new [...]
Trendspotting: From Genghis Khan to Louis Vuitton
When you think of Mongolia, you probably don’t think of luxury retail, but thanks to an extremely lucrative and quickly expanding mining industry, perhaps you should. The sudden increase in wealth in the historically nomadic country has brought the likes of Burberry and Hugo Boss to the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator, and the local [...]
Reconnecting to Reality with Native Cultures
[Originally posted on the Huffington Post.] This is the 12th in a series of 14 posts expanding on Salzman’s forecasts for 2013 in her annual trends report, a program of global communications group Havas Worldwide. This year’s book, What’s Next? What to Expect in 2013, was published on 12/12/12 and is available at 120MBooks.com. Salzman [...]
The Big Burg Theory
[Originally posted on the Huffington Post.] This is the 11th in a series of 14 posts expanding on Salzman’s forecasts for 2013 in her annual trends report, a program of global communications group Havas Worldwide. This year’s book, What’s Next? What to Expect in 2013, was published on 12/12/12 and is available at 120MBooks.com. Salzman [...]
Should Branding Begin at Birth?
[Originally posted on Forbes.com.] I’ve written extensively about brands—personal brands, community brands, conference brands and so on. But I’m certainly not alone. This era is widely regarded as the age of the brand. But most of the personal branding conversation doesn’t focus on the age at which we begin branding; it focuses more on adults [...]
Trendspotting: Not Just for Oil Anymore
Despite the roiling climate of an Arab Spring, two Middle Eastern countries still managed to make A.T. Kearney’s annual Global Retail Development Index. Boasting some remarkable retail and tourist attractions, such as the 1,200-store Dubai Mall that includes Michael Kors and Tom Ford, the United Arab Emirates’ seventh place on the index might not be [...]
The Rise of Africa
[Originally posted on the Huffington Post.] This is the 10th in a series of 14 posts expanding on Salzman’s forecasts for 2013 in her annual trends report, a program of global communications group Havas Worldwide. This year’s book, What’s Next? What to Expect in 2013, was published on 12/12/12 and is available at 120MBooks.com. Salzman [...]
What’s Next for Places?
[Originally posted on the Huffington Post.] This is the ninth in a series of 14 posts expanding on Salzman’s forecasts for 2013 in her annual trends report, a program of global communications group Havas Worldwide. This year’s book, What’s Next? What to Expect in 2013, was published on 12/12/12 and is available at 120MBooks.com. Salzman [...]
Football: Not So Super
[Originally published on Stamford magazine's website.] Last year, I took the risk of being blackballed by a nation of rabid fans of the pigskin (and more than a few friends of my own) to ask the question: What is the future of football? In light of all the life-threatening injuries and dangerously destructive playing across [...]
A Year of Renewal
Happy New Year from the agency that predicts that Duchess Kate will launch “royal renewals,” making hand-me-downs as warm as homemade. “How are they going to dress your new prince or princess?” Havas PR CEO Marian Salzman asked readers of The Times of London a few days ago. “My guess is that baby isn’t going [...]
Trendspotting: LGB TV
With a recent study showing more gay characters on TV than ever before, it has become clear that America and Hollywood have begun to embrace a new kind of family, one that embraces the LGBT community. Programs like “Modern Family” and “The New Normal” have led the charge, depicting gay couples, as both their names [...]
Reinvention: The American Way
[Originally posted on Forbes.com.] Reboots are the new New Year’s resolutions. And without question, the second decade of the 21st century will be the era of the reboot. The years from 2000 to 2010 saw cataclysmic shifts in everything from digital communication to the state of the economy to beliefs in American invulnerability. As we [...]
Rethinking Quality of Life
[Originally posted on the Huffington Post.] This is the eighth in a series of 14 posts expanding on Salzman’s forecasts for 2013 in her annual trends report, a program of global communications group Havas Worldwide. This year’s book, What’s Next? What to Expect in 2013, was published on 12/12/12 and is available at 120MBooks.com. Salzman [...]
Trendspotting: Not the Retiring Kind
For many middle-income Americans, the golden years will be less about sitting by the pool in Boca Raton and more about getting progress reports in on time. With upwards of half of Americans saying that they don’t know if they will have enough savings to retire, it’s no surprise that 30 percent of middle-class Americans [...]
The Future of Education: Constant Schooling
[Originally posted on the Huffington Post.] This is the seventh in a series of 14 posts expanding on Salzman’s forecasts for 2013 in her annual trends report, a program of global communications group Havas Worldwide. This year’s book, What’s Next? What to Expect in 2013, was published on 12/12/12 and is available at 120MBooks.com. Salzman [...]
