“It is a paradox because I think that, what we know of marketing theory is that you can't be everything to everyone, so by its very nature, there's a limiting factor at play here. And when we are leading with beliefs, then inherently some people are not going to believe, and therefore there is some exclusion that's going to happen. The challenge is that we don't identify as a collective humanity. Instead, we identify first by our tribes. And because of where we sit in our tribes, I feel like I'm diametrically opposed from you because of who I am, which means for marketers, our job is to rework the language such that they transcend the boundaries of our tribalism and they can see it through a frame that's more so about our humanity. And that's a challenge.”
Marketer extraordinaire, Marcus Collins is a clinical professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. A former advertising executive who worked on iTunes + Nike sport music initiatives at Apple, Marcus contends that what we wear, what we eat, where we work, who we date, and just about every facet of our social living is informed by our underlying culture. And the primary goal of all industries is to “get people to move”, whether it is to buy, to click, to watch, vote, or subscribe.
In this intriguing conversation with Steve Goldbach of Deloitte and Stuart Crainer of Thinkers50, Marcus discusses his latest book, For the Culture: The Power Behind What We Buy, What We Do, And Who We Want To Be, and explains that his work is really just about connections - “connecting things that are normally disparate, so they come together and create new and novel things.”
He also describes how he came to lead digital strategy for Beyoncé, the influence of Émile Durkheim on his ideas, and the power of collective effervescence.
Marcus is the recipient of the Thinkers50 2023 Radar Award and his book, For the Culture, features on Thinkers50 2023 Best New Management Booklist.
This episode will be available on 27 March 2024.
#TheProvocateurs
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