Co-Hosts Brad Forsythe & Ray Schelins interview Joe Philport, President & CEO of the Traffic Audit Bureau for Media Measurements, Inc. Joseph joined the TAB, as President and CEO in September 2002.The TAB has been the auditor of the Out-Of-Home advertising industry since 1933. He has been a driving force behind the industry’s transition to EYES ON audience measurement, making OOH the first medium to report seeing an advertising message.

 

He is a recipient of the Advertising Research Foundation’s 2009 Great Mind Award for innovation in research.

 

For entertaining advice join hosts Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe for a lively and informative discussion.  

 

Podcast available for download via iTunes

Co-Hosts Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe interview Robert Scalea, Chief Executive Officer of The Brand Union North America. The Brand Union is a part of WPP, where Rob spearheads innovative approaches to delivering effective brand management solutions for clients.

 

Rob was previously president and CEO of Brouillard, a boutique global agency specializing in healthcare, financial services and technology industries. Rob also worked a six-year tenure at fellow WPP agency JWT as Chief Strategy Officer where he developed a business and marketing strategy practice that helped clients grow their revenue and profit through increased understanding of their target audiences: new product development, distribution strategies, repositioning exercises, improved marketing ROI and strategic business planning.

 

Rob has been actively involved with clients in complex often volatile industries, such as health care, financial services and technology. His work ranges from major brands to more future-focused, entrepreneurial assignments.

 

Major assignments in health care include projects for Pfizer, Humana Health Care, Harvard Medical School, Fox Chase Cancer Institute, and the Whitehead Institute/ MIT. In the financial services area, he has worked on major initiatives for Morgan Stanley, HSBC, Merrill Lynch, Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price, John Hancock and ITT Hartford.

 

Prior to joining JWT, Rob worked in Boston as Executive Vice President of Hill Holliday, where he ran an in-house marketing consultancy for seven years, as well as managing the media, research and analytical resources of the agency.

 

Rob’s analytical background bolsters his advertising and consulting career. He graduated from MIT, where he studied molecular biology and electrical engineering. He was awarded a grant from the National Institution of Health, which he used to continue his studies at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, France. In addition, Rob served as a faculty member at Harvard University’s Radcliffe College for ten years, where he taught a course in marketing management.

 

He has spoken at conferences for the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) and the British American Business Institute; authored several articles in professional and scientific journals; and, serves on the boards of several companies in health related-industries.

 

 

 

Podcast available for download via iTunes

Co-Hosts Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe interview Thomas Cohn, attorney at Venable LLP. Thomas focuses his practice on advising clients on the legal and practical aspects of compliance with Federal Trade Commission regulations and industry self-regulation programs as well as representing clients during investigations and enforcement actions. His clients include a wide variety of online and offline advertisers and marketers, and his practice covers federal and state consumer protection and privacy laws and regulations, including newer ones such as the FTC's ID Theft Red Flags Rule. Mr. Cohn draws on experience gained during his 17-year tenure at the Federal Trade Commission, where he worked as Regional Director for the Northeast Region, as a litigator in the Division of Marketing Practices, and as legal advisor to the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection.

 

Prior to joining Venable, Mr. Cohn served as Director of the Federal Trade Commission's Northeast Region, supervising its professional and support staff and leading multi-agency law enforcement efforts against various anticompetitive, unfair and/or deceptive practices. He was also responsible for numerous local and regional outreach efforts to educate consumers, business groups, and law enforcement agencies about fraud identification and avoidance as well as how to comply with antitrust and consumer protection laws enforced by the FTC, such as the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the CAN SPAM Act. Some of the FTC antitrust cases Mr. Cohn supervised were Rite Aid/Brooks/Eckerd [drugstore merger] and Colegio de Optometras de Puerto Rico [price fixing]. He also oversaw numerous consumer protection enforcement actions, such as BlueHippo [computer financing] and Bookspan [Do Not Call].

 

In addition to serving as Director of the Northeast Region, Mr. Cohn spent five years in the FTC's Division of Marketing Practices, where he litigated fraud and rule violation cases and coordinated test shoppings of funeral homes for compliance with the Funeral Rule. He played a key role in the development and implementation of the Funeral Rule Offenders' Program, an innovative, self-regulatory alternative to traditional law enforcement. In another role, as Legal Advisor to the Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection for four years, he reviewed law enforcement recommendations, Congressional testimony, and other matters for the Director.

 

 

 

Podcast available for download via iTunes

 

During his more than 20 years in the marketing industry, Jim has served as director of strategic planning and research at Draft Chicago, director of planning and research at Frankel in Chicago, and director of analytics and modeling at Krumm & Associates LLC.His clients have included, among others, Burger King, Del Monte, Kellogg, Kmart, Kraft, Kroger, McDonald’s, Mervyns, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Quaker Oats, SC Johnson, Sears, Target, USPS, and Walgreens.

 

Lucas has served as an adjunct faculty member at the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management and University of Chicago.He received his PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago and his MA from Loyola University in Chicago.He is a frequent speaker at leading industry forums including the Cannes Int’l Advertising Festival, Cosmeceuticals Conferences, In-Store Marketing Institute and POPAI.

 

For entertaining advice join hosts, Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe, for a lively and informative discussion. 

 

 

Podcast available for download via iTunes

 

During his more than 20 years in the marketing industry, Jim has served as director of strategic planning and research at Draft Chicago, director of planning and research at Frankel in Chicago, and director of analytics and modeling at Krumm & Associates LLC.His clients have included, among others, Burger King, Del Monte, Kellogg, Kmart, Kraft, Kroger, McDonald’s, Mervyns, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Quaker Oats, SC Johnson, Sears, Target, USPS, and Walgreens.

 

Lucas has served as an adjunct faculty member at the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management and University of Chicago.He received his PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago and his MA from Loyola University in Chicago.He is a frequent speaker at leading industry forums including the Cannes Int’l Advertising Festival, Cosmeceuticals Conferences, In-Store Marketing Institute and POPAI.

 

For entertaining advice join hosts, Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe, for a lively and informative discussion. 

Co-Hosts Brad Forsythe and Ray Schilens interview Rafi Mohammed, author of The 1% Windfall: How Successful Companies Use Price to Profit and Grow. Rafi has been working on pricing issues for the last 20 years. He is the founder of Culture of Profit LLC, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company that consults with businesses to help develop and improve their pricing strategy. He also holds the title of Batten Fellow at the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business (in residence, Spring 2001). A frequent commentator on pricing issues to the print media, Rafi has also made prime time appearances on CNBC as an expert pricing commentator.

 

He is the author of The Art of Pricing (Crown Business, October 2005), which is the first managerially relevant book on pricing and has been translated into seven foreign languages. He is a co-author of Internet Marketing: Building Advantage in a Networked Economy (second edition - April 2003, McGraw-Hill/Irwin) which has been adopted by over 200 universities globally. Rafi's follow-up pricing book, The 1% Windfall, was published by HarperBusiness in March 2010.

 

Rafi's doctoral dissertation focused on bundling, one of the most popular yet least understood pricing tactics. He developed a new theoretical bundling model and presented the first empirical test on the profitability of bundling using data from the rock concert industry. This research was published in the Rand Journal of Economics, a leading academic economics journal. Rafi has previously worked on pricing issues at the FCC during the telecommunications deregulation and Monitor Group. He has testified as a pricing expert in six public policy commission hearings. Rafi was born in Milwaukee and raised in Cincinnati. He is an economics graduate of Boston University, the London School of Economics & Political Science, and Cornell University (Ph.D.).

 

For entertaining advice join hosts, Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe, for a lively and informative discussion. 

 

 

Podcast available for download via iTunes

Co-Hosts Brad Forsythe and Ray Schilens interview Rafi Mohammed, author of The 1% Windfall: How Successful Companies Use Price to Profit and Grow. Rafi has been working on pricing issues for the last 20 years. He is the founder of Culture of Profit LLC, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company that consults with businesses to help develop and improve their pricing strategy. He also holds the title of Batten Fellow at the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business (in residence, Spring 2001). A frequent commentator on pricing issues to the print media, Rafi has also made prime time appearances on CNBC as an expert pricing commentator.

 

He is the author of The Art of Pricing (Crown Business, October 2005), which is the first managerially relevant book on pricing and has been translated into seven foreign languages. He is a co-author of Internet Marketing: Building Advantage in a Networked Economy (second edition - April 2003, McGraw-Hill/Irwin) which has been adopted by over 200 universities globally. Rafi's follow-up pricing book, The 1% Windfall, was published by HarperBusiness in March 2010.

 

Rafi's doctoral dissertation focused on bundling, one of the most popular yet least understood pricing tactics. He developed a new theoretical bundling model and presented the first empirical test on the profitability of bundling using data from the rock concert industry. This research was published in the Rand Journal of Economics, a leading academic economics journal. Rafi has previously worked on pricing issues at the FCC during the telecommunications deregulation and Monitor Group. He has testified as a pricing expert in six public policy commission hearings. Rafi was born in Milwaukee and raised in Cincinnati. He is an economics graduate of Boston University, the London School of Economics & Political Science, and Cornell University (Ph.D.).

 

For entertaining advice join hosts, Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe, for a lively and informative discussion. 

Co-Hosts Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe interview Steve Beck, Senior Vice President of Strategy for Organic. Steve Beck leads strategy development and planning across all of Organic’s offices including its operations in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Detroit, London and Toronto. Under Beck’s leadership, Organic has expanded its strategy and planning service offering, which is critical as major brands ask for new ways to leverage digital marketing to drive growth and improve business efficiencies.

 

Beck, an experienced brand strategist and classically-trained marketing consultant, most recently served as co-CEO and chief strategy officer of FutureBrand, an Interpublic Group agency. In this unique dual role, he managed FutureBrand’s North American and Middle Eastern businesses while leading the strategy teams across all offices. As the leader of FutureBrand’s Strategy Consulting operations across 21 global offices, Beck was responsible for the development of the firm’s core methodologies and led the firm’s major marketing and brand consulting assignments for leading Fortune 500 brands including Microsoft, MasterCard International, Intel, Verizon Wireless and H&R Block.

 

Before joining FutureBrand, Beck was a vice president and principal at Marketing Corporation of America, where he led the technology practice and spearheaded marketing consulting assignments for clients such as IBM, Phillips, Sprint, AT&T, CNBC and many others. Beck started his career as a consultant at Deloitte & Touche’s Management Consulting Group.

 

 

 

Podcast available for download via iTunes

Co-hosts Brad Forsythe and Ray Schilens interview Jim Joseph, author of The Experience Effect: Engage Your Customers with a Consistent and Memorable Brand Experience (AMACOM 2010). He is an award-winning consumer marketing professional. He has built blockbuster brands for an impressive roster of clients, including Kraft, Kellogg’s, Cadillac, Tylenol, Clean & Clear, Dentyne, Pepcid AC, Foxwoods Resort-Casino, and Wal-Mart. He is currently President and Partner of Lippe Taylor Brand Communications in New York City.

 

 

 

Podcast available for download via iTunes

Co-hosts Brad Forsythe and Ray Schilens interview Jim Joseph, author of The Experience Effect: Engage Your Customers with a Consistent and Memorable Brand Experience (AMACOM 2010). He is an award-winning consumer marketing professional. He has built blockbuster brands for an impressive roster of clients, including Kraft, Kellogg’s, Cadillac, Tylenol, Clean & Clear, Dentyne, Pepcid AC, Foxwoods Resort-Casino, and Wal-Mart. He is currently President and Partner of Lippe Taylor Brand Communications in New York City.

 

 

 

Podcast available for download via iTunes

Co-hosts Brad Forsythe and Ray Schilens interview Kevin Daum, author of ROAR! Get Heard in the Sales and Marketing Jungle. Kevin is the National Columnist for Smart business Magazine and founder of "The Awesome Experience (TAE) International (www.taeinternational.com), a marketing consultancy.He is an Inc. 500 entrepreneur, whose sales and marketing techniques resulted in more than $1 billion in sales with a 95% pull-through rate.

 

Kevin is a graduate of the MIT Entrepreneurial Executive Leadership program and former board member of the Entrepreneur's Organization (7200 CEOs). Kevin’s blog and video can be found at www.AwesomeRoar.com.

 

For Entertaining Advice join hosts, Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe, for a lively and informative discussion.  

 

 

 

Podcast available for download via iTunes

Co-hosts Brad Forsythe and Ray Schilens interview Kevin Daum, author of ROAR! Get Heard in the Sales and Marketing Jungle. Kevin is the National Columnist for Smart business Magazine and founder of "The Awesome Experience (TAE) International (www.taeinternational.com), a marketing consultancy.He is an Inc. 500 entrepreneur, whose sales and marketing techniques resulted in more than $1 billion in sales with a 95% pull-through rate.

 

Kevin is a graduate of the MIT Entrepreneurial Executive Leadership program and former board member of the Entrepreneur's Organization (7200 CEOs). Kevin’s blog and video can be found at www.AwesomeRoar.com.

 

For Entertaining Advice join hosts, Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe, for a lively and informative discussion.  

 

 

 

Podcast available for download via iTunes

Co-hosts Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe interview Amber MacArthur, author of "Power Friending: Social Media Strategies to Grow Your Business". She is a new media consultant, journalist, and speaker.

As a new media journalist, she currently hosts Webnation on CP24 and writes a regular column for The Globe & Mail, Yahoo!, and MSN. As co-founder of agency MGImedia.ca, her team has managed social media initiatives for Tony Robbins, Canada Goose, Rogers, the American Dental Association, among other organizations.

 

Amber has also worked for Razorfish-San Francisco, Microsoft Canada, and a number of other emerging technology companies. She is an exclusive speaker with The Lavin Agency where she keynotes on web strategy at dozens of conferences across North America every year.

 

For Entertaining Advice join hosts, Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe, for a lively and informative discussion.

Podcast available for download via iTunes

Co-hosts Brad Forsythe & Ray Schilens interview Alex Ben Block, award-winning entertainment industry journalist, author, commentator and talk show host. Alex Ben Block is Senior Editor of The Hollywood Reporter and lead editor on the book, “George Lucas’s Blockbusting,” published to great acclaim in January 2010. Block is also show business historian for Hollywood Today and a regular contributor to The Advertising Show, a nationally syndicated radio program.

 

Block is a popular public speaker, toastmaster, M.C. and moderator. His panels at the Paley Center for Media included one-on-one with Roseanne Barr, a look at Fox’s “Prison Break” and a dialogue about the image of Arabs on TV with producers of “24” and “Lost.”

 

As Director of Programming, Block produced panels and created the first 3-D Day for The American Pavilion during the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. He’s moderated and participated in panels at numerous events, including Digital Hollywood, NATPE, Showest and the Hong Kong International Film Market.

 

In an earlier tenure at the trade publication, Block was the Editor of The Hollywood Reporter for seven years. He launched the first weekly international edition, and the first online edition, while raising the standards of journalism. He was editor of the THR Cannes festival dailies in France six times.

 

He went on to be founding Editor of TelevisionWeek, which he re-launched in print, and then redesigned on the web. He moderated the SRO TV Week Power Breakfast series and wrote a popular column about hot topics in TV.

 

In addition, Block has been Associate Editor of Forbes Magazine, covering Hollywood, movie critic and entertainment editor in Miami, columnist and critic in Detroit as well as City Editor of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner.

 

Block was Executive Director of the Los Angeles Press Club and remains an honorary board member. He organized a HerEx reunion as well as numerous panels, including one with the Annenberg School at USC - "Who Can Be Trusted? – A Seminar On Sourcing," sponsored by the New York Times and Discovery Networks.

 

Block was Editor-in-Chief and VP of the internet company eStar.com. He wrote the books, “OUTFOXED: The Inside Story of America's Fourth Television Network," and the bestseller "The Legend of Bruce Lee." Block was a regular panelist for five years on KPCC-FM's "Call Sheet" and has been expert commentator on many news outlets including NPR's The Business, KPCC-FM's Air Talk, KNBC-TV, the Today Show, CNBC, CBS News, ABC News, NPR, NBC, O’Reilly on Fox, CNN and more.

 

Block’s honors include three LA Press Club Awards for journalistic excellence, Hearst Awards, Crain Awards, a Detroit Press Club Award, a Will Rogers Foundation Award, the (RIM) Angel Award and the Journalism Award from the Caucus For Television Producers, Directors and Writers presented by CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves.

 

For entertaining advice join hosts Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe for a lively and informative discussion.

 

Podcast available for download via iTunes

Co-hosts Brad Forsythe & Ray Schilens interview Alex Ben Block, award-winning entertainment industry journalist, author, commentator and talk show host. Alex Ben Block is Senior Editor of The Hollywood Reporter and lead editor on the book, “George Lucas’s Blockbusting,” published to great acclaim in January 2010. Block is also show business historian for Hollywood Today and a regular contributor to The Advertising Show, a nationally syndicated radio program.

 

Block is a popular public speaker, toastmaster, M.C. and moderator. His panels at the Paley Center for Media included one-on-one with Roseanne Barr, a look at Fox’s “Prison Break” and a dialogue about the image of Arabs on TV with producers of “24” and “Lost.”

 

As Director of Programming, Block produced panels and created the first 3-D Day for The American Pavilion during the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. He’s moderated and participated in panels at numerous events, including Digital Hollywood, NATPE, Showest and the Hong Kong International Film Market.

 

In an earlier tenure at the trade publication, Block was the Editor of The Hollywood Reporter for seven years. He launched the first weekly international edition, and the first online edition, while raising the standards of journalism. He was editor of the THR Cannes festival dailies in France six times.

 

He went on to be founding Editor of TelevisionWeek, which he re-launched in print, and then redesigned on the web. He moderated the SRO TV Week Power Breakfast series and wrote a popular column about hot topics in TV.

 

In addition, Block has been Associate Editor of Forbes Magazine, covering Hollywood, movie critic and entertainment editor in Miami, columnist and critic in Detroit as well as City Editor of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner.

 

Block was Executive Director of the Los Angeles Press Club and remains an honorary board member. He organized a HerEx reunion as well as numerous panels, including one with the Annenberg School at USC - "Who Can Be Trusted? – A Seminar On Sourcing," sponsored by the New York Times and Discovery Networks.

 

Block was Editor-in-Chief and VP of the internet company eStar.com. He wrote the books, “OUTFOXED: The Inside Story of America's Fourth Television Network," and the bestseller "The Legend of Bruce Lee." Block was a regular panelist for five years on KPCC-FM's "Call Sheet" and has been expert commentator on many news outlets including NPR's The Business, KPCC-FM's Air Talk, KNBC-TV, the Today Show, CNBC, CBS News, ABC News, NPR, NBC, O’Reilly on Fox, CNN and more.

 

Block’s honors include three LA Press Club Awards for journalistic excellence, Hearst Awards, Crain Awards, a Detroit Press Club Award, a Will Rogers Foundation Award, the (RIM) Angel Award and the Journalism Award from the Caucus For Television Producers, Directors and Writers presented by CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves.

 

For entertaining advice join hosts Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe for a lively and informative discussion.

 

Podcast available for download via iTunes

Co-hosts Brad Forsythe & Ray Schilens interview Alex Ben Block, award-winning entertainment industry journalist, author, commentator and talk show host. Alex Ben Block is Senior Editor of The Hollywood Reporter and lead editor on the book, “George Lucas’s Blockbusting,” published to great acclaim in January 2010. Block is also show business historian for Hollywood Today and a regular contributor to The Advertising Show, a nationally syndicated radio program.

 

Block is a popular public speaker, toastmaster, M.C. and moderator. His panels at the Paley Center for Media included one-on-one with Roseanne Barr, a look at Fox’s “Prison Break” and a dialogue about the image of Arabs on TV with producers of “24” and “Lost.”

 

As Director of Programming, Block produced panels and created the first 3-D Day for The American Pavilion during the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. He’s moderated and participated in panels at numerous events, including Digital Hollywood, NATPE, Showest and the Hong Kong International Film Market.

 

In an earlier tenure at the trade publication, Block was the Editor of The Hollywood Reporter for seven years. He launched the first weekly international edition, and the first online edition, while raising the standards of journalism. He was editor of the THR Cannes festival dailies in France six times.

 

He went on to be founding Editor of TelevisionWeek, which he re-launched in print, and then redesigned on the web. He moderated the SRO TV Week Power Breakfast series and wrote a popular column about hot topics in TV.

 

In addition, Block has been Associate Editor of Forbes Magazine, covering Hollywood, movie critic and entertainment editor in Miami, columnist and critic in Detroit as well as City Editor of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner.

 

Block was Executive Director of the Los Angeles Press Club and remains an honorary board member. He organized a HerEx reunion as well as numerous panels, including one with the Annenberg School at USC - "Who Can Be Trusted? – A Seminar On Sourcing," sponsored by the New York Times and Discovery Networks.

 

Block was Editor-in-Chief and VP of the internet company eStar.com. He wrote the books, “OUTFOXED: The Inside Story of America's Fourth Television Network," and the bestseller "The Legend of Bruce Lee." Block was a regular panelist for five years on KPCC-FM's "Call Sheet" and has been expert commentator on many news outlets including NPR's The Business, KPCC-FM's Air Talk, KNBC-TV, the Today Show, CNBC, CBS News, ABC News, NPR, NBC, O’Reilly on Fox, CNN and more.

 

Block’s honors include three LA Press Club Awards for journalistic excellence, Hearst Awards, Crain Awards, a Detroit Press Club Award, a Will Rogers Foundation Award, the (RIM) Angel Award and the Journalism Award from the Caucus For Television Producers, Directors and Writers presented by CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves.

 

For entertaining advice join hosts Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe for a lively and informative discussion.

 

Podcast available for download via iTunes

Co-hosts Brad Forsythe & Ray Schilens interview SHARON DREW MORGEN, founder of Morgen Facilitations, Inc. She is the visionary behind Buying Facilitation®, the decision facilitation model that enables people to change with integrity. A pioneer who has spoken about, written about, and taught the skills to help buyers buy, she is the author of the acclaimed New York Times Business Bestseller Selling with Integrity. She lives in Austin, Texas. For more information on the book, visit http://dirtylittlesecretsbook.com/.

 

Podcast available for download via iTunes

Co-hosts Brad Forsythe & Ray Schilens interview SHARON DREW MORGEN, founder of Morgen Facilitations, Inc. She is the visionary behind Buying Facilitation®, the decision facilitation model that enables people to change with integrity. A pioneer who has spoken about, written about, and taught the skills to help buyers buy, she is the author of the acclaimed New York Times Business Bestseller Selling with Integrity. She lives in Austin, Texas. For more information on the book, visit http://dirtylittlesecretsbook.com/.

Co-hosts Brad Forsythe & Ray Schilens interview Michael Maslansky, CEO of Maslansky Luntz + Partners. As CEO, Michael advises Fortune 500 corporations, industry associations, major litigation practices and non-profit organizations on language strategy and messaging issues. Clients that have sought Michael’s counsel include FedEx, Morgan Stanley, Procter & Gamble, UBS and The Walt Disney Company. He has also worked with a wide range of industry associations including the Financial Services Roundtable, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturer’s Association, the Personal Care Products Council, the Direct Marketing Association, and the New Orleans tourism industry.

 

How CEOs, companies, and entire industries communicate – whether during crises, in advertising and public relations campaigns, or with investors, Congress or the American people – often means the difference between success and failure. Clients from PepsiCo to eBay to Microsoft to Starbucks turn to Michael to understand the public mood, challenge conventional wisdom and transform not just what they say to key audiences – but how they say it. Michael shares with clients his in-depth understanding of hot-button issues in banking and financial services, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, corporate social responsibility and non-profits, technology and consumer products, and litigation and politics. Over the years, he has helped Fortune 500 companies position and differentiate their brands and products during good times, and protect their reputations during crisis.

 

Michael’s new book, The Language of Trust: Selling Ideas in a World of Skeptics was published on May 4, 2010. The book reviews the communication challenges that companies and industries face today and offers proven tools for building trust and credibility with consumers, regulators and the general public.

 

Michael’s strategic analysis builds on insights from his unique combination of expertise: battle-tested communications experience combined with a deep understanding of public opinion. He has conducted hundreds of research projects in over 20 countries using his firm’s trademarked polling and focus group methodology, lauded by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, “60 Minutes,” “Nightline” and PBS’s “Frontline,” among others. Michael is one of corporate America’s leading communications and research strategists.

 

Prior to coming to ml + p, Michael founded MarketResearch.com, a leading market intelligence company where he served as president and remains on the Board. Previously, he led a distinguished career as a corporate attorney with Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

 

Podcast available for download via iTunes

Co-hosts Brad Forsythe and Ray Schilens interview Jonathan Salem Baskin, North American Director of Futurelab. Jonathan has been called “a merry iconoclast,” “lucid and cutting,” “groundbreaking” and “the new bad boy of branding” because he looks beyond the gimmicks and hype to uncover what really works when communicating with the marketplace.

 

 

Jonathan wears multiple hats as a global brand strategist, leading a global network of partner companies in the Baskinbrand Alliance and manages North American business for the global marketing consultancy Futurelab. He’s also a writer, oft-quoted media expert and public speaker, having written the groundbreaking book “Branding Only Works on Cattle” in 2008 and then “Bright Lights & Dim Bulbs” in 2009. He writes the popular blog, Dim Bulb, co-hosts a regular podcast, Socializing Media, writes a regular column on marketing leadership for Advertising Age, and is a member of the board of advisors for Social Media Today.

 

Jonathan possesses 27 years of experience driving consumer purchases and building strong brands, having has led a number of marketing initiatives that crossed both digital and offline domains for such world-class brands as Apple, Blockbuster, ConAgra, and most other letters in the brand-name alphabet.

 

He began his career at Grey Advertising, where he worked on integrated marketing campaigns for such consumer products as Duncan Hines’ cookies and Joy Dishwashing Liquid. He also ran major public relations programs for Edelman Worldwide, both in New York and Los Angeles. He received a degree in English Literature from Colby College, Waterville, ME, in 1982.

 

For entertaining advice join hosts Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe for a lively and informative discussion. 

 

Podcast available for download via iTunes

Co-hosts Brad Forsythe and Ray Schilens interviews DJ Edgerton, CEO of Zemoga. Edgerton has worked in the traditional and digital agency space for over 20 years. During that time he has specialized in developing and leveraging technology to provide groundbreaking business solutions for Fortune 500 companies. His range of expertise includes development of large-scale enterprise-wide custom applications and digital campaigns that feature award-winning design, user experience, and information architecture. His combination of traditional and interactive design skills has led to the creation of award-winning projects across a wide variety of media. Edgerton's distinct multidisciplinary and multimedia skill set provides a unique resource that helps create innovative, engaging, and exciting projects for consumers and clients alike.

 

Before cofounding Zemoga in 2001, Edgerton held executive-level positions at Blast Radius and Context Integration. Prior to joining Context, Edgerton founded Underline, a creative and digital agency. At Underline, Edgerton worked on traditional campaigns and pioneering interactive work for numerous well-known companies, including Nickelodeon, Merck, Morgan Stanley, and the Walt Disney Company. Edgerton began his career at Saatchi and Saatchi where he worked on campaigns for some of the world’s leading brands, including P&G, AT&T, and Upjohn.

 

For entertaining advice join hosts Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe for a lively and informative discussion.  

 

  

 

Podcast available for download via iTunes

Co-hosts Brad Forsythe & Ray Schilens interviews DJ Edgerton, CEO of Zemoga. Edgerton has worked in the traditional and digital agency space for over 20 years. During that time he has specialized in developing and leveraging technology to provide groundbreaking business solutions for Fortune 500 companies. His range of expertise includes development of large-scale enterprise-wide custom applications and digital campaigns that feature award-winning design, user experience, and information architecture. His combination of traditional and interactive design skills has led to the creation of award-winning projects across a wide variety of media. Edgerton’s distinct multidisciplinary and multimedia skill set provides a unique resource that helps create innovative, engaging, and exciting projects for consumers and clients alike.

 

Before cofounding Zemoga in 2001, Edgerton held executive-level positions at Blast Radius and Context Integration. Prior to joining Context, Edgerton founded Underline, a creative and digital agency. At Underline, Edgerton worked on traditional campaigns and pioneering interactive work for numerous well-known companies, including Nickelodeon, Merck, Morgan Stanley, and the Walt Disney Company. Edgerton began his career at Saatchi & Saatchi where he worked on campaigns for some of the world’s leading brands, including P&G, AT&T, and Upjohn.

 

For entertaining advice join hosts Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe for a lively and informative discussion.  

Co-hosts Brad Forsythe and Ray Schilens interview Tim Arnold, consultant and founder of Possible 20. Arnold’s 35 years in the advertising and communications business defies definition. An agency president and multi-national board member; a regularly published columnist; a global account leader; a musician who’s produced numerous commercial tracks as well as the first GoDaddy.com Super Bowl TV commercial; director of global business development for a 135-office multi-national agency. He founded Possible 20 some twenty-five years ago to accommodate his consultancy work for agencies, start up businesses, corporations and entertainment companies.

 

He likes to describe his day job, as he titled one of his most-responded to Adweek columns, “Making Stuff Happen.” Current media projects include: Producer, attached to “We Be Kings,” an independent feature-length film to be directed by Toby Hubner; promoting two syndicated television and web specials: BodyDoubles, a search for the world’s most stunning twins, and AIA’s Architect Challenge, a design competition among emerging professional architects (American Institute of Architecture).

 

As Director, Business Development for DMB&B, where he also sat on the board, he led the agency out of nowhere into one of Adweek’s Top 10 new business performers; as President, McCann Amsteryard, he led that agency to its most profitable year to date; at D’Arcy, St. Louis, he wrote the strategy for and launched “This Bud’s for You,” and led that brand to record growth for 10 years; at Scali, McCabe, Sloves he led the Hertz business (yeah, OJ) and launched their #One Club Gold; he ran the Burger King business for J. Walter Thompson and later took DMB&B’s BK business from 3 to 28 countries.

 

These many adventures provided Arnold with numerous experiences and stories, many of which he brought to his regular column for Adweek Magazine for three years; he continues to publish guest columns in both Adweek and Advertising Age, as well as on a political blog (www.fogcityjournal.com).He has a regular guest teaching assignment at the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has taught at the Miami Ad School and Columbia University.

 

These are the many vantage points he brought to his latest effort for AdAge:“Is Luxury Dead?Maybe Not,” based on a ground-breaking study from Dwell Strategy + Research, San Francisco.According to survey respondents, “luxury” brands are no longer important to these “New Affluents,” or even relevant.Neither is over all “social status,” they say.As Arnold dug deeper he discovered some fascinating implications from this study that extend way beyond what most of us typically view as so-called wealthy consumers.

 

For entertaining advice join hosts Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe for a lively and informative discussion. 

 

  

 

Podcast available for download via iTunes

Co-hosts Brad Forsythe and Ray Schilens interview Graceann Bennett, Director of Strategic Planning at Ogilvy and Mather. Graceann began her training in consumer behavior while growing up in the image-obsessed environment of Southern California, where every brand choice was made with the utmost care and consideration. She then went on to gain formal marketing credentials by obtaining a degree in Business Marketing at Brigham Young University. Upon graduation, she moved to New York City, via a stint in London, to put her credentials to work at Dunham & Marcus Consulting, advising companies like Pepsi-Cola, Stolichnaya, and Weight Watchers on global strategy and branding issues.

 

Following her indoctrination into the world of building brands, Graceann added other dimensions to her expertise by working at some of the country's top creative shops, including Weiss, Whitten, Stagliano; tbwa/chiat/day; and Mullen. She helped develop brand strategies and inspired creative for Coca-Cola, Four Seasons, Fortune, LendingTree.com, Guinness, and Wonderbra, among others.

 

In August of 2001, Graceann brought her passion for building brands through great creative to Arnold Worldwide, where she led the Brand Planning group, dedicating herself to fostering an environment where creatives, account management, and planning work together seamlessly. In 2004 she made the move to Chicago to become Leo Burnett's EVP, Director of Brand Planning. There she spent much of her time breaking down agency silos for better cross-fertilization of ideas, spearheading professional development of a department of 50 planners, and initiating groundbreaking thought leadership.

 

Graceann is now heading up the strategic planning department at Ogilvy Chicago, where she was brought in to build a fully integrated department to serve digital, activation, and brand planning needs. She also led efforts to further Dove’s campaign to broaden the definition of beauty while building its global business. She now oversees the global Kimberly-Clark business, Oscar Mayer, and important brand strategy projects.

 

 

  

 

Podcast available for download via iTunes

Co-hosts Brad Forsythe and Ray Schilens interview Bob Gilbreath, author of the new book The Next Evolution of Marketing: Connect with Your Customers by Marketing with Meaning, just published by McGraw-Hill. He is Chief Marketing Strategist at Bridge Worldwide, one of the nation’s largest digital advertising agencies and part of WPP. Bob leads the Strategic Planning team within the agency, advising clients such as Procter & Gamble, ConAgra Foods, Kroger, Luxottica, and Abbott Laboratories. His writing has been featured in Brandweek, Adweek and Advertising Age, he has spoken at ad:tech and Harvard Business School, and he has taught classes at NYU and Miami University (Ohio).

 

Bob joined Bridge Worldwide after leading a dramatic turnaround of the Mr. Clean brand at Procter & Gamble. He was recognized by Advertising Age as one of the Top 50 Marketers of 2004. He received his M.B.A. in marketing from New York University’s Stern School of Business and his undergraduate degree in economics from Duke University.

 

For entertaining advice join hosts Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe for a lively and informative discussion.  

Co-hosts Brad Forsythe and Ray Schilens interivew Randall Stross, author of Planet Google. Randall also writes the New York Times column, “Digital Domain,” and is a professor of business at San Jose State University. 

He is the author of several books, including The Microsoft Way and eBoys. He lives in Burlingame, California.

For entertaining advice join hosts Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe for a lively and informative discussion.  

Co-hosts Brad Forsythe and Ray Schilens interview Thomas Harpointner, founder and Chief Executive Officer of AIS Media. Thomas is involved with key customers, partners, and community activities. Mr. Harpointner is responsible for the vision and direction of AIS Media. Mr. Harpointner assists with corporate strategy, marketing, product development and business development. 

Prior to founding AIS Media, Mr. Harpointner served as a consultant for Fortune 500 companies where he developed the awareness of a market need for quality services that would allow such companies to access new technology and ways of selling in the 21st century. Clients include: Royal Insurance, Nextel, Cigna Financial, and many more. Mr. Harpointners’ desire to help small and mid-sized businesses led to the launch of AIS Media in 1997.

For entertaining advice join hosts Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe for a lively and informative discussion. 

Co-hosts Brad Forsythe and Ray Schilens interview Award-winning entertainment industry journalist, author, broadcaster and show business historian Alex Ben Block is Contributing Editor at The Hollywood Reporter.

 

He is also Co-Editor of “Blockbusting: The Business of Filmmaking: A Decade-by-Decade Survey,” showcasing 300 blockbuster movies being published by Harper Books and George Lucas Books (tentatively set early 2010). Block returned to The Hollywood Reporter in 2009, where he had been Editor for seven years in the 90s, where he launched the first weekly international edition, and the first online edition, while raising the standards of journalism. He was editor of the THR Cannes festival dailies in France six times, produced the Key Art Awards and numerous seminars, panels and events.

 

He went on to be founding Editor of TelevisionWeek, which he re-launched in print, and then oversaw redesign of the web site. He moderated the TV Week Power Breakfast series, as well as panels in New York and elsewhere on TV, advertising and the media. Block is also currently a widely quoted Show Business Historian for Hollywood Today.net, and a regular contributor to The Advertising Show, and frequently does commentary on KNBC-TV and NBC Digital 4 serving Southern California. Block is a popular public speaker, toastmaster, M.C. and moderator. His panels at the Paley Center for Media included one-on-one with Roseanne Barr, a look at Fox’s “Prison Break” and a dialogue about the image of Arabs on TV with producers of “24” and “Lost.” As Director of Programming, Block produced panels and created the first 3-D Day for The American Pavilion during the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, featuring James Cameron. He’s moderated at Digital Hollywood, NATPE, Showest, Hong Kong Market and more.

 

He has been Associate Editor of Forbes Magazine, covering Hollywood; movie critic and entertainment editor in Miami, columnist and critic in Detroit as well as Assistant City Editor of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, overseeing news coverage of all of Southern California.

 

For the LA Press Club, Block served as Executive Director for three years, helping reorganize the club, re-inventing the awards program and making it a non-profit again. As an honorary board member since, his contributions have included organizing a LA Herald Examiner reunion, numerous panels and with the Annenberg School at USC - "Who Can Be Trusted? – A Seminar On Sourcing," sponsored by the New York Times and Discovery Networks.

 

Block was Editor-in-Chief and VP of eStar.com, a pioneering show business web site where he organized the editorial team and built a celebrity database.

 

He is author of the critically acclaimed books "OUTFOXED: The Inside Story of America's Fourth Television Network," and the international bestseller "The Legend of Bruce Lee." Block was on KPCC-FM's "Call Sheet" for five years and remains a frequent contributor to John Rabe’s “Off Ramp” and Patt Morrison’s talk show. He has been an expert commentator heard on KNBC-TV, the Today Show, CNBC, NPR, NBC, O’Reilly on Fox, CNN and more.

 

Block’s honors include three LA Press Club Awards for journalistic excellence, Hearst Awards, Crain Awards, a Detroit Press Club Award, a Will Rogers Foundation Award, the (RIM) Angel Award and the Journalism Award from the Caucus For Television Producers, Directors and Writers presented by CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves.

 

A native of Syracuse, New York and graduate of Ithaca College, Block is married to actress Jodi Taylor and is the father of singer-songwriter Hayley Taylor.

 

For entertaining advice join hosts Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe for a lively and informative discussion.