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Award-winning blogger, brand marketer, public relations executive and social media innovator As featured on CNN, "60 Minutes" and "Good Morning America," and in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Telegraph (U.K.), The Times (London) and more

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Read Marian's award-winning four-part series from the Huffington Post about the brain (including creativity, collaboration, the information onslaught and the new definition of braininess) here.
August 31, 2011, 11:44 pm

Is Storytelling Old News?

by Marian in: Mass Media | Public Relations | Trends | advertising | brands | marketing

Originally posted on Fuel the Future.

As someone who has watched trends for many years and come up with a few buzzwords of my own, I’m amused and startled by this notion of “storytelling” as the newest bit of jargon working its way into our marketing/PR vernacular.

In the canon of marketing, it seems fair that telling … [continue reading... ]

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August 30, 2011, 1:48 am

Vacation Complications (Think Generations)

by Marian in: American Life | Social Media | The Economy | Trends | Youth

Originally posted on the Huffington Post.

Remember that stress-envy thing we were all feeling in the late ’90s? You know, talking about how much we were working, how tired we were and how there were simply not enough hours in the day? We wore our stress with a badge of honor. And there was a cloying … [continue reading... ]

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August 22, 2011, 11:07 pm

Is Beauty in the Eye of the Voter?

by Marian in: Politics | Public Relations | brands | marketing

Originally posted on the Holmes Report.

I’ve been talking a lot about our upcoming U.S. presidential election, I know, but this year there are so many interesting brand- and image-related themes. And by “interesting” I mean Michele Bachmann, the Minnesota congresswoman, aka 2012’s Sarah Palin (although Sarah Palin could also be 2012’s Sarah Palin; Karl Rove … [continue reading... ]

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August 16, 2011, 5:22 pm

Five Things I Learned from Madonna

by Marian in: American Life | Change | Public Relations | Social Media | Trends | brands | marketing

Originally posted on eurorscgpr.com.

Today, Madonna turned 53. If there’s one singer who grew up right along with me, it was Madonna. Her music was a soundtrack for my life for quite a while. And I learned a lot from her brilliant ability to home in on trends and street culture with stylish … [continue reading... ]

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August 3, 2011, 10:03 pm

Putting Your Money (What Money?) Where Your Tweets Are

by Marian in: Politics | Public Relations | Social Media | The Economy | brands | marketing

Originally posted on the Holmes Report.

If you watched the events of the weekend unfold in the U.S., you’ve no doubt found this whole debt ceiling debacle to be surreal (#runforcash). It’s almost unbelievable that the richest superpower in the world (at one time, anyway) might not be able to pay its bills (#joininggreeceonthefoodline). We … [continue reading... ]

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August 1, 2011, 9:40 pm

The (No) Limits of Taste

by Marian in: advertising | brands | marketing

Originally posted on Fuel the Future.

I’ve written before about how far advertising has come in terms of how women are portrayed. I’ve long been a fan of the Dove ads that show “real” women in “real” underwear, and sanitary pad brand Always has done a good job of portraying what having your cycle is … [continue reading... ]

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