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 [...]
You Are the Company You Keep
[Originally posted on Forbes.com.] Personal branding is the name of the game these days, and in our age of radical transparency it is informed not just by how you present yourself but also by the people you associate with. Just as product- and service-based brands have to choose their celebrity ambassadors carefully, individuals looking to [...]
What’s Our “Golden Voice”?
The “homeless man, golden voice” phenomenon has not only had me on YouTube more than usual this week, but it’s also gotten me to really think about my career path and life in general. More specifically, I’ve been thinking, What am I waiting for? Sometimes all it takes is a true feel-good story to make [...]
What I’ve Learned from Wyclef Jean
Originally posted on the Huffington Post. When Wyclef Jean hired my agency about six months ago, I knew that our mission would be to help him pursue his mission: tirelessly working toward Haiti’s recovery. I and my team were to take care of the details so Wyclef could look to the bigger picture—that of making [...]
The Analogies of Elections
When I attended the Connecticut Democratic State Convention last week, two major things struck me. The first is the degree to which politicians and political organizers are using the same analogies as marketers—everyone is going grassroots. Just as those of us in the communications business are striving to create homegrown movements and viral videos, our [...]
Power from the People
Originally posted on the Huffington Post. Look at the American political landscape today and you might begin to get the sinking feeling that the red state/blue state dichotomy is, on the one hand, just a bit of political show and, on the other, a pitiable piece of naiveté. We have to admit that if we [...]
The Transformation of American Youth: From Teenager to Teenagent
Originally posted on the Huffington Post. Would it be an exaggeration to say teenagers are running popular culture? We don’t think so. And, if anything, we’re willing to up the bet. Take a look at teenagers today—their habits, their purchasing power, their mastery of media—and momentarily suspend your belief in the stereotypes or hollow assumptions [...]
Janene Ferrara: Euro PR’s New Health-Care SVP
For much of the past year, the issue of health care was the topic of the hour, commanding center stage in America’s political theater. But for Janene Ferrara, health care has been a daily passion for quite a while—and for Euro RSCG Worldwide PR’s new senior vice president, it’s one that won’t lose its luster [...]
Social Media in America
This is the fourth in a series of six. During the protracted health-care debate, it quickly became clear that the media put a premium on accessing information: Even C-SPAN, the cable industry’s nonstop outlet for televised government affairs, had to challenge the Obama administration to open the doors to the process. In the meantime, Americans [...]
Rethinking the Presidency
Originally posted on the Huffington Post. President Obama’s latest poll numbers may be decent—a New York Times/CBS News poll found that he has higher approval ratings than the GOP, and that more Americans blame Congress, George W. Bush and Wall Street for our problems than they do him—but we hoped for better than decent from [...]
What Happened to the Political Media Revolution?
creativecommons.org/by the breakthroughI blogged back in July about how one of the biggest winners at the 2009 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival was a brand the whole world has quickly grown to love: Barack Obama. Actually, it was his presidential campaign, headed by strategist David Plouffe, that won two major awards. He received the Cannes [...]
