You Know W/hat I Mean: A cultural look at consumer meaning-making and brand consecration
We live in a culturally constructed world where the branded products we consume and display are used to signal our constructed identity based upon the meaning we infuse in them. Understanding this meaning requires radical empathy and the ability to decipher the hidden cultural codes. This session will provide a perspective on how to navigate the cultural world and leverage the data that is made available through today's evolving media landscape to encode and decode meaning through marketing.
Registration to follow.
Marcus Collins is an award-winning marketer and cultural translator. His deep understanding of digital transformation and the cognitive drivers that impact consumer behavior has helped him bridge the academic-practitioner gap for blue-chip brands and startups alike. Marcus serves as the Chief Consumer Connections Officer at Doner Advertising, a full-serve advertising agency, and he is a recipient of both Advertising Age's 40 Under 40 and Crain's Business' 40 Under 40. Previously, he led Social Engagement at Steve Stoute’s New York advertising agency, Translation. There, Marcus developed a practice to create contagious marketing programs that extend across both the online and offline worlds of “social." His strategies and creative contributions have led to the success of Budweiser’s “Made In America” music festival, the launch of Bud Light Platinum, the launch of the Brooklyn Nets (Hello Brooklyn!), the FarmlandxSupreme Lookbook, the Eggo + Netflix’s Stranger Things conquest, and State Farm’s “Cliff Paul” campaign – among others.
Prior to his advertising tenure, Marcus worked in music and tech, leading iTunes + Nike sport music initiatives at Apple (iTunes Partner Marketing) and running digital strategy for Beyoncé.
Beyond his practice, Marcus is also an extremely passionate academic. He is a professor of marketing at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, where has won the Teaching Excellence Award for executive education and been nominated for the prestigious Golden Apple Award. He delivers keynote talks across the globe, from Cannes Lions International Festival for Creativity to C2 Montreal, SXSW, Social Media Week, Adcolor, Hyper Island, TEDx, and Talks at Google.
Marcus is a doctoral candidate at Temple University, studying social contagion within the hip hop culture of consumption. He also holds an MBA with an emphasis on strategic brand marketing from the University of Michigan, where he also earned his undergraduate degree in Material Science Engineering. He is a proud Detroit native, a devoted husband, and loving father to Georgia and Ivy.
