World-class advisor & polling analyst
to major corporations and heads of state.


Highlights

Mark Penn has spent over thirty years as a polling analyst and advisor to major corporations and heads of state on what people really think and how they really feel.

He is the coauthor of the book Microtrends: The Small Forces Changing the World, and of a monthly column "Microtrends" in the Wall Street Journal.

The keys to understanding business, politics, and society today are not megatrends, but the smaller currents and discreet demographics that are creating social niches and driving social change in a wide variety of patterns.

In his work, Mark combines innovative microtargeting techniques to win major corporate, marketing and political battles.

Mark Penn is CEO of Burson-Marstellar, the world-class PR firm, and President of he polling firm Penn, Schoen and Berland, which he co-founded in 1975.

He serves as strategic consultant to Fortune 500 companies and CEOs on a wide range of image, branding and corporate reputation issues.

He won the Pollster of the Year award, the top honor of his profession given every four years, in both 1996 and 2000. He's been called The Master of the Message by Time magazine and The Guru of Small Things by The New York Times.

Mr. Penn has written for many premier publications in addition to the Wall Street Journal, including The New York Times and the Washington Post, and has appeared frequently on CNN, Fox News and other media networks.

Microtrends

Understand the invisible trends that are shaping the (potential) future of your organization.

Microtrends is about the niching of society. People are self-defining in smaller and smaller ways, and neither "gut sense" nor conventional wisdom will likely get you to the truth. Go straight to the numbers, and let’s do some microtrending.

Small groups that no one else has their eye on are making huge changes in our society. Mark Penn is known for his ability to detect these relatively small patterns of behavior that are wielding disproportionally large influence on business, politics, and our personal lives.

In his book Microtrends: The Small Forces Changing the World, in his Wall Street Journal column, and in his presentations, Mark Penn uncovers and analyzes trends that no one else sees. In this evidence-based, data-driven approach to understanding our future, Mr. Penn describes who makes up these micro-communities and explains why they matter and how you can reach them with your message.

Especially in hard times, no one can afford fat in their message—it must be all the more targeted. Thus, audiences consistently find this material, not just personally intriguing but also invaluable to their organization.

The book Microtrends was released in paperback in June 2009 with all-new updated chapters.


To learn more about Mark Penn, please visit MarkPenn.com

Credentials

• CEO, Burson-Marstellar
• President, Penn, Schoen and Berland
• Coauthor, Microtrends
• Coauthor, "Microtrends" column, Wall Street Journal
• Pollster of the Year, American Association of Political Consultants
• NPI Fellow, New Politics Institute
• Key advisor to President Bill Clinton and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair
• Key advisor to Bill Gates and Microsoft for the past six years
• Key advisor to Michael Bloomberg for his mayoral campaign in New York City

Quotes about Mark Penn

The most powerful man in Washington you’ve never heard of – The Washington Post

A unique vantage point: advisor to the preeminent innovator in the past decade in the realm of politics, Bill Clinton, and the preeminent innovator in the realm of business and technology, Bill Gates – The Washington Post

You were brilliant – Tony Blair

The Guru of Small Things – New York Times

Master of the Message – Time magazine

King of the polls – London Times

Incandescent intellect – New York Times

Major Clients

Corporate. Mark Penn’s client relationships include Ford Motor Company, Merck, Verizon, BP, McDonald's and Microsoft. He has been a key adviser to Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer since 1998, helping Microsoft affect a complete corporate turnaround from the anti-trust scandal to Most Trusted Company (Wall Street Journal). Other clients include AT&T, Coca-Cola, American Express, and Novartis.

Political. Mr. Penn has helped to elect over 25 leaders in the United States, Asia, Latin America and Europe. He served as advisor to Prime Minister Tony Blair, helping achieve an unprecedented third term win for the Labour party in the United Kingdom. He is also well known for serving as President Clinton's pollster and political adviser for the 1996 re-election campaign and throughout the second term of the administration.