Microtransactions and Beyond
By MARK PENN with E. KINNEY ZALESNE From The Wall Street Journal Microtrends Column Published December 24, 2008 Just as more people in China are working for firms that are privately owned, more workers in America are waking up to find themselves working for companies that are — at least […]
By MARK PENN with E. KINNEY ZALESNE From The Wall Street Journal Microtrends Column Published December 19, 2008 For most of this century, con men and hucksters preyed on the uneducated and the elderly who couldn’t read the fine print. Some still are. But now we learn that the real […]
By MARK PENN with E. KINNEY ZALESNE From The Wall Street Journal Microtrends Column Published December 10, 2008 As the financial crisis swept across the nation these past few months, one of the first microtrend groups to emerge is the New Mattress Stuffers — people who have lost their trust […]
By MARK PENN Published November 11, 2008 Barack Obama promised he would lower taxes for 95 percent of Americans and presumably raise them for the 5 percent who benefited most under President Bush’s tax policies. But, remarkably, the most affluent 5 percent supported Obama and that was perhaps the key […]
By MARK PENN Published November 4, 2008 The presidential campaign, in the end, had no October surprises beyond the worsening economic crisis. No game-changing ads. No candidate slip-ups of any magnitude. And so this election looks pretty straightforward — moderate voters have switched to the Democratic column, and change is […]
By MARK PENN Published October 28, 2008 This election promises to offer a fundamental realignment that could stand for decades to come as young moderate voters become the driving force for change in the presidential race. These more socially tolerant, opportunity-oriented voters are the ones likely to put Barack Obama […]
By MARK PENN Published October 14, 2008 As Monty Python used to say, “No one expects the Spanish Inquisition” — which is another way of saying that no one expects the unexpected. And recent unanticipated political and financial events are a good reminder that everything could change in one fell […]
Mark Penn participates in panel entitled “Media Power Vs. Political Power: The 2008 Election Re-defining the Relationship” alongside senior correspondents from the major news outlets, as part of Time Warner’s Politics 2008 Summit: The Media Conference for the Election of the President. To view the video, please visit the Digital […]
By MARK PENN Published October 7, 2008 My polling over the years has found that about two-thirds of Democrats define themselves as moderate, while two-thirds of Republicans see themselves as conservative. That polling trend was mirrored in the initial unsuccessful Sept. 29 House vote on the financial bailout proposal: Democrats […]
By MARK PENN Published September 29, 2008 The financial crisis has redefined the presidential race, bringing into stark relief the candidate who can deal with the complexities of the global markets and return the country to prosperity over the next four years. The race is no longer about change, experience, […]
Mark Penn is the President and Managing Partner of The Stagwell Group, a private equity fund focused on the marketing services industry.