Dr. Marcus Collins on How to Define and Use Culture Effectively in Marketing and Why Brands Should Stop Putting People in Boxes

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Dr. Marcus Collins is an award-winning marketer and cultural translator with one foot in the world of practice—serving as the Chief Strategy Officer at Wieden+Kennedy New York—and one foot in the world of academia—as a marketing professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. His book For The Culture: The Power Behind What We Buy, What We Do, and Who We Want to Be examines the influence of culture on consumption and unpacks how everyone, from marketers to activists, can leverage culture to get people to take action.

Marcus's understanding of brand strategy and consumer behavior has helped him bridge the academic-practitioner gap for blue-chip brands and startups. He is a recipient of Advertising Age's 40 Under 40 award and Crain's Business' 40 Under 40 award and an inductee into the American Advertising Federation's Advertising Hall of Achievement. Most recently, he was recognized by Thinkers50 and Deloitte among their class of 2023 Radar List of 30 thinkers with the ideas most likely to shape the future.

Before joining Wieden+Kennedy, he served as the Chief Consumer Connections Officer at Doner Advertising and led Social Engagement at Steve Stoute's advertising agency, Translation. Before his advertising tenure, Marcus began his career in music and tech with a startup he co-founded before working on iTunes + Nike sport music initiatives at Apple and running digital strategy for Beyoncé.

In this episode, we dive deep into marketing and where brands go wrong. We discuss why balancing short-term activation with long-term brand growth is essential and the danger of doing things to be seen rather than heard. Marcus shares his expertise on culture, why we need a language to define it, and the importance of perspective in shaping your worldview.