Marc Babej

Current

Partner at Reason inc.
Marketing Columnist & CMO Section Contributor at Forbes.com

Past

SVP, Brand Strategy Director at D'Arcy
Senior Partner, Brand Strategy Director at JWT
Senior Brand Planner at Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners

2 more...

Education

Columbia University - Graduate School of Journalism
Brown University

Recommended

10 people have recommended Marc

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Marketing and Advertising

Websites

Marc Babej’s Summary

Marc E. Babej is the founding partner of Reason inc. and a leading authority on marketing strategy. He is Forbes.com's marketing columnist and a frequent commentator on private sector and political marketing, in media such as ABC News, CNBC, CNN, NBC Nightly News, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. He holds degrees from Brown University (A.B.) and Columbia University (M.S.).

Marc joined the editorial staff of Forbes Magazine straight out of graduate school, After three years of reporting on European business and the global economy, he stumbled upon marketing strategy and promptly changed careers. Starting out as an entry-level brand strategist at creative boutiques Deutsch and Kirshenbaum & Bond, he rose within four years to Senior Vice President at global agencies J. Walter Thompson and D'Arcy, leading strategy for clients such as Merrill Lynch, Ernst & Young, Pfizer and Sony.

In 2001, Marc left the agency business to launch a new kind of consultancy, based on an uncompromising commitment to integrity and a proprietary approach to strategy development and implementation. The reason-to-choose method dispenses with the conventions of branding and focuses single-mindedly on motivating behavior as the only path to monetizing marketing investments.

The company's client base includes Fortune 500 companies, larger private firms and successful startups; industries from health care, to services, to entertainment, to technology; U.S. and foreign governments. In keeping with Reason inc.’s code of ethics, client relationships are conducted with strict confidentiality and no-upsell policies.

In a September 2006 column in Forbes.com, Marc and his partner Tim were the first to urge marketers to prepare for an impending recession. Since then, Marc has written extensively about the impact of the economic cycle on marketing, and has been sought out by clients and media alike for expertise in this area.

Marc Babej’s Specialties:

Reason inc. consists of three practices:
Reason-Based Strategy: Strategy development
Motivation Engineering SM: Implementation and message creation
Marketing Contingencies: Crisis strategy and messaging

Marc Babej’s Experience

Partner

Reason inc.

(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Marketing and Advertising industry)

November 2001 — Present (7 years 9 months)

Reason inc. works with clients toward a singular goal: developing and implementing strategies that motivate behavior.
Marketing Columnist & CMO Section Contributor

Forbes.com

(Privately Held; Online Media industry)

April 2001 — Present (8 years 4 months)

Author of the "In the Bazaar" column on Forbes.com