The Voice of Retail Meet Marcus Collins, author of For The Culture: The Power Behind What We Buy, What We Do and Who We Want To Be
Welcome to The Voice of Retail podcast. I'm producer & host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is produced in conjunction with the Retail Council of Canada.
Meet Marcus Collins, the architect of some of the most famous ad campaigns of the last decade, who argues that culture is the most powerful vehicle for influencing behaviour in his new book "For the Culture: The Power Behind What We Buy, What We Do, and Who We Want to Be"
About Marcus
I’m Marcus! I study cultural contagion and meaning-making to help bridge the academic-practitioner gap for companies (from “blue-chip” brands to non-profits) that aim to put ideas in the world that inspire people to take action. When I’m not putting ideas in the world as the Head of Strategy at Wieden+Kennedy New York, I put people in the world as a Clinical Marketing Professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. Throughout my career, I've had the great privilege of being acknowledged for my strategic and creative contributions (American Advertising Federation’s Advertising Hall of Achievement, Thinkers50 & Deloitt class of 2023 Radar List, and Ad Age's 40 Under 40 recipient, & Crain’s Business 40 Under 40 recipient) and launch successful campaigns like “Cliff Paul” for State Farm, the Made In America Music Festival, and Google’s “Real Tone” technology—among others.
Prior to my tenure in advertising, I worked in music and tech as a startup co-founder (Muse Recordings) and then led iTunes + Nike sport music initiatives at Apple (iTunes Partner Marketing) before running digital strategy for Beyoncé.
I am also the author of the best-selling book, For The Culture, which examines the influence of culture on human behavior and unpacks how everyone from marketers to activists can leverage culture to get people to take action. 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” so that readers will be empowered to successfully apply these learnings to their own pursuits.
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.
About Michael
Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc. and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada and the Bank of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Today's Shopping Choice and Pandora Jewellery.
Michael has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels. ReThink Retail has added Michael to their prestigious Top Global Retail Influencers list for 2023 for the third year in a row.
Michael is also the president of Maven Media, producing a network of leading trade podcasts, including Canada's top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail. He produces and co-hosts Remarkable Retail with best-selling author Steve Dennis, now ranked one of the top retail podcasts in the world.
Based in San Francisco, Global eCommerce Leaders podcast explores global cross-border issues and opportunities for eCommerce brands and retailers.
Last but not least, Michael is the producer and host of the "Last Request Barbeque" channel on YouTube, where he cooks meals to die for - and collaborates with top brands as a food and product influencer across North America.
Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.
Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.
Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.