Microtransactions and Beyond
Why There’s Strength in Small Numbers The human psyche finds something supremely reassuring about numbers. Just ask my 9-year-old son. His favorite prime-time television series is CBS’s “Numb3rs,” spelled with a digit in place of the third-to-last letter. The show features an F.B.I. agent and his math-genius brother solving crimes […]
FT.com / Comment / Opinion – Societies under the magnifying glass Margaret Mead, the anthropologist, once said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” It is a truism of modern politics that one person who […]
Clinton Pollster Sees Future Filled With Snipers, Teen Knitters The woman reading over my shoulder on the subway was clearly drawn to a chapter about Cougars, or “women who date younger men.” “What’s the name of that book?” she suddenly demanded. So I showed her: “Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind […]
Small, offbeat trends can change the world While Malcolm Gladwell’s “Tipping Point” explores how a trend emerges from obscurity to the mainstream, a new book says even small trends can have big effects. College-educated nannies, home-schooled children, spouses who are together only at weekends and home-buyers with bad credit all […]
Meet Clinton’s ‘Number Junkie’: Despite Influential Role in Clinton Campaign, ‘Microtrends’ Author Says He’s No Karl Rove Mark Penn is a self-described numbers junkie who started out as a shy boy from the Bronx, N.Y. Penn’s shyness has actually become an asset — he wanted to discover what people were […]
Finding Big Meaning in Small Trends In 1996, pollster Mark Penn highlighted what he thought was an important Democratic constituency: soccer moms. Now, he’s got a new book out. He tells Kai Ryssdal of a new trend — young people minding their knitting.
Mark Penn’s interview with ABC News in September 2007. To view the video, please visit the ABCNews video archive.
Mark Penn discusses the big idea behind his book, Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow’s Big Changes
Microtrendies are taking over world ARE you a geek, obsessed with the latest gadgets, yet consider yourself cool and have hundreds of friends? An extreme commuter, whose long journey is turbocharging the caffeine industry? A single woman, who is surprised to be on the shelf but has lots of gay […]
Survey Says: Geeks Are Cool A forthcoming book by Mark J. Penn, the CEO of PR heavyweight Burson-Marsteller, proposes that – are you ready? – geeks are not antisocial losers. According to his polling about social trends, which he relates in Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow’s Big Changes, the […]
Mark Penn is the President and Managing Partner of The Stagwell Group, a private equity fund focused on the marketing services industry.