Hi, I’m Marcus! Thanks for stopping by.

I’ve carved out a little real estate here to give a peek into who I am and how I see the world, so here it goes:

I believe there is no external force more influential on human behavior than culture—full stop.

What we wear, what we eat, where we work, how we vote, and just about every facet of social living is informed by our cultural subscriptions. So, I study cultural contagion and how it manifests in our consumption proclivities, organizational dynamics, and society writ large.

I leverage my scholarly work as a clinical professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and the many years I spent in marketing as an advertising executive—most recently as the head of strategy at Wieden+Kennedy, New York —to bridge the academic-practitioner gap and use this knowledge to help people get people to take action.

I’ve launched successful campaigns like “Cliff Paul” for State Farm, the Made In America Music Festival, and Google’s “Real Tone” technology—among others. Before my tenure in advertising, I worked in music and tech as a startup co-founder. Then I led iTunes + Nike sports music initiatives at Apple before running digital strategy for Beyoncé.

I am also the author of the best-selling book, For The Culture, which examines the relationship between culture and human behavior. Throughout the book, I rely on literature, case studies, learnings from both my practicing work, and data from my academic work to illustrate the “whys” and the “hows” of culture so that readers can successfully apply these learnings to their own pursuits.

I did my doctoral studies at Temple University (DBA with a focus on meaning-making and social contagion), my graduate work at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan (MBA with an emphasis in strategic brand marketing), and undergraduate studies at the College of Engineering, University of Michigan (BSE in Materials Science Engineering).

I’ve been fortunate enough to be acknowledged for both practice and scholarly work as a Crain’s 40 Under 40 recipient, AdAge 40 Under 40 recipient, an inductee into the American Advertising Federation’s Advertising Hall of Achievement, and the recipient of the Thinkers50 Radar Award for the management idea most likely to shape the future. I write a column for Forbes’ CMO Network and work with organizations to apply my scholarship and practice as a professor-in-residence.