Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow’s Big Changes

October 10, 2007
Mark J. Penn | Worldwide CEO, Burson-Marsteller

Increasingly, our culture is being created and defined by relatively small, intensely motivated personal interest groups. Traditional means of uniting (by geography or race, for example) are giving way to smaller groups as people use the internet to share, express and convey their individual passions. One percent of the American public-or three million people-can start a social or political movement or create a business sensation, and change the way we buy, live and vote. It is these groups that can tip an election, make or break a business or trigger a social movement, and Mark J. Penn has been studying these movements for over 30 years. Penn has been called “the master of the message” by Time Magazine, the “king of polls” by the London Times and Bill Gates writes: “Penn has a keen mind, and a fascinating sense of what makes America and the world tick.”

This talk is being presented jointly by the MSPAC and Microsoft Research; seating is on a first come, first serve basis. More information on the MSPAC can be found here: http://mspac

The fall lineup of speakers in the MSR Visiting Speaker can be found here: http://sharepoint/sites/visitingspeaker/default.aspx.

Speaker Details

Mark J. Penn is the worldwide CEO of Burson-Marsteller and is also the president of the polling firm Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates, which he co-founded in 1975. Penn is also U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton’s top presidential campaign strategist and has worked to elect over 25 leaders in the US, Asia, Latin America and Europe, most recently serving as advisor to Prime Minister Tony Blair. Penn is also a strategic consultant to several Fortune 500 companies and has been a key advisor to Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer since 1998.