Microtransactions and Beyond
By MARK PENN with E. KINNEY ZALESNE From The Wall Street Journal Microtrends Column Published March 2, 2009 With all the concern about America’s manufacturing sector losing jobs, it is easy to miss that the newest phenomenon is the wholesale loss of professional jobs, the very jobs that fueled America’s […]
By MARK PENN with E. KINNEY ZALESNE From The Wall Street Journal Microtrends Column Published February 3, 2009 With all the stimulus ready to go into more broadband, bigger tax cuts and infrastructure, some of America’s most expensive societal investments are also on the decline and in need of a […]
The Firm Voice: Post-Inaugural PR: What to Expect in Politics and the PR Agency Business in 2009 Many assumed a “wait and see” stance these past few weeks as uncertainty continued to drive the markets and outlook for the PR firm business and beyond. Yet that holding pattern may shake […]
By MARK PENN with E. KINNEY ZALESNE From The Wall Street Journal Microtrends Column Published January 8, 2009 With so much attention on psychological marketing these days — finding new ways to tap into people’s heads — perhaps the single most neglected trend out there is the move towards more […]
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 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 September 17, 2008 The outcome of the 2008 election will, like the last two presidential campaigns, come down to a small number of voters in a few places. Yet those votes will be affected by big, overarching events such as the emergence of Republican vice presidential […]
Mark Penn is the President and Managing Partner of The Stagwell Group, a private equity fund focused on the marketing services industry.