Bios

Mark Penn CEO Worldwide, Burson-Marsteller CEO, Penn Schoen Berland

Mark Penn is worldwide CEO of Burson-Marsteller and CEO of Penn Schoen Berland. As CEO of Burson-Marsteller, Mr. Penn oversees a global network of 130 offices and 2000 employees that brings world-class public relations to companies around the world. As CEO of PSB, a position he has held since 1975 when he was an undergraduate at Harvard, Mr. Penn focuses on providing research-based communications strategy to political figures, corporations and crisis situations. Mr. Penn is among the top 10 most influential figures in PR today in the PR Week 2007 and 2008 lists.

Mr. Penn has been called “Master of the Message” by Time Magazine; “The king of polls” by the London Times; an “incandescent intellect” by the New York Times; “the modernizer” by PR Week. On his wall are notes saying “you were brilliant” from Tony Blair after his historic third win and “thanks” from Bill Clinton after his impeachment acquittal along with photos of Penn working with CEOs including Bill Gates and Bill Ford, Jr. The Washington Post, in “Politics and Policy by the Numbers” summed up his influence in the White House and the corporate boardroom as a “unique vantage point: adviser to the preeminent innovator of the past decade in the realm of politics, Bill Clinton, and the preeminent innovator in the realm of business and technology, Bill Gates.” In 2008 he was chief strategist for Hillary Clinton.

The techniques applied to these political and corporate battles were honed from early major corporate experiences with AT&T, Texaco and others. In the “Guru of Small Things” the New York Times explains how he has combined innovative techniques of micro-targeting, issue-based messaging and visual message testing to win major corporate, marketing and political battles.

Today, Mr. Penn serves as strategic consultant to many Fortune 500 companies and CEOs on a wide range of image, branding and corporate reputation issues. His client relationships include Ford Motor Company, Merck, Verizon, BP, McDonald’s and Microsoft. He has been a key adviser to Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer since 1998, helping Microsoft affect a complete corporate turnaround from anti-trust scandal to Most Trusted Company (Wall Street Journal).

Mr. Penn has helped to elect over 25 leaders in the United States, Asia, Latin America and Europe, including serving as chief adviser to President Bill Clinton in the 1996 presidential election and to Hillary Rodham Clinton through her Senate and presidential races. About his work for her the Washington Post writes, “Penn also has everything that Clinton would want in a senior consultant: undisputed brilliance and experience.” Previously, he was advisor to Prime Minister Tony Blair, helping achieve an unprecedented third term win for Labour in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Penn won the Pollster of the Year awards, given every 4 years, in both 1996 and 2000, the top honor in his profession, from the American Association of Political Consultants. Mr. Penn has written for publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Financial Times, and has appeared frequently on networks including CNN and Fox News. He is a regular key-note speaker at conferences ranging from the Aspen Ideas Festival to “Leaders in London” and The Consumer Electronics Show. His best-selling book Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow’s Big Changes was released in 2007 and will be in paperback this year. He also writes a weekly “Microtrends” column for the Wall Street Journal.

For more information about Mark, please visit MarkPenn.com

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