The [Tuesday] Media Diet with Marcus Collins

On JCrew, Grant McCracken, and Detroit

Marcus Collins (MC) is a marketer and a professor. He recently wrote the book, For the Culture, which has gotten rave reviews within the WITI community. We’re happy to have him with us today. -Colin (CJN)

Tell us about yourself.

Hi there! My name is Marcus Collins. I believe there is no external force more influential to human behavior than culture—full stop. What we wear, what we eat, where we work, who we date, and just about every facet of social living is informed by our cultural subscriptions. Therefore, I study cultural contagion and how it manifests in our consumption proclivities, organizational dynamics, and society writ large. I leverage my scholarly work as a clinical professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and the many years I spent in marketing as an advertising executive—most recently as the head of strategy at Wieden+Kennedy, New York—to bridge the academic-practitioner gap and use this knowledge to help people get people to take action.

I am also the author of the best-selling book, For The Culture, which examines the relationship between culture and human behavior. Throughout the book, I rely on literature, case studies, learnings from both my practicing work, and data from my academic work to illustrate the “whys” and the “hows” of culture so that readers can successfully apply these learnings to their own pursuits. I have spent the last decade helping organizations—from Fortune 500 companies to startups and non-profits—use this knowledge to create culturally contagious ideas that get people to move. The book aims to do the same for readers.

I am a graduate of Temple University (DBA) and the University of Michigan (BSE in Materials Science Engineering and MBA with an emphasis in strategic brand marketing). But most importantly, I am Alex's husband and Georgia & Ivy's father.

Describe your media diet. 

My reading resides almost exclusively within the field of consumer culture theory (CCT)—my field of study. CCT explores consumption and marketplace dynamics through a social and cultural lens to better understand the underlying physics that make us who we are and explain why we do what we do. Since CCT is an interdisciplinary field, my reading pulls from sociology, anthropology, psychology, and marketing theory.

My podcast repertoire is far more heterogeneous. I listen to business pods (like Pivot and Morning Brew), current news (the New York Times Daily), current affairs from a cultural lens (Higher Learning and The Read), and music explorations (like Quest Love Supreme and R&B Money). Movie and TV are of an even greater variety. Somehow or another, I take in a lot of media which helps me make meaning of the world around me, and that of other people as well. These works are extremely influential to how we frame social life in our minds and how we navigate the way in which we engage in it.  

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What’s the last great book you read?

The Kingdom of Prep: The Inside Story of the Raise and (Near) Fall of J.Crew. It’s an examination of the origins of prep and how it became such an economic force. Fascinating stuff.

What are you reading now?

I’m re-reading the Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord. It’s almost prophetic considering how well he captures society’s proclivity to present its idealized-self through curatorial consumption and imagery, decades before the advent of social networking platforms like Facebook and Instagram. It evidences the role technology plays in our lives as an extension of human behavior. It’s a tough read but the provocations are profound.

What’s your reading strategy when you pick up a print copy of your favorite publication?

I don’t buy much print outside of books. If I do, it’s typically to preserve the artifact than it is for consumption.

Who should everyone be reading that they’re not?

Grant McCracken. He’s an anthropologist, and a giant in my field. His work is so important and so revealing of human behavior. You should get familiar. 

What is the best non-famous app you love on your phone? 

Spice. It’s my go-to video editing app for content creation.

Plane or train?

Plane, always the plane. I’m from Detroit so I didn’t grow up with a reliance on public transit. I later lived in NYC so I grew to develop a great appreciation for trains—primarily with regard to local travel. However, the way I travel these days, I’m on a plane practically as much as I’m in a car. So, it’s planes for me. 

What is one place everyone should visit? 

Detroit. 

Tell us the story of a rabbit hole you fell deep into.

World War II. I don’t know if it’s a reflection of my middle school education or what but I didn’t fully know the story behind WWII and its relationship to WWI—it’s practically the sequel of WWI, where all the lead characters come back. This was all news to me, until I unintentionally stumbled upon a WWII documentary. 20 minutes in and I was hooked. The documentary led to books. Books led to more documentaries, and before long, every conversation I found myself in over dinner somehow or another morphed into “did you _________ about WWII?” I later found that this is actually "a thing" once men reach a certain stage in life: you either get into grilling or you get into WWII. Clearly, I chose the latter. Ha!     

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Thanks for reading,

Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Marcus (MC)

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