Jonathan Salem Baskin Biography

Jonathan Salem Baskin started in the marketing business in high school, working at ad and PR agencies while his friends bagged groceries and delivered pizzas. In college, while he pursued his degree in English literature, led the student judiciary and played in a punk rock band, he started a company to help local businesses create ad campaigns.

After graduation, he gravitated to New York working first at Edelman Worldwide and then at Grey Advertising where he won the PRSA's highest honor, the Silver Anvil. At 26, he was named the youngest EVP in Grey's history. Relocating to the West Coast in 1989, Baskin was promoted to chief operating officer of Grey's Los Angeles office, where he led the communications strategy for the launch of Nissan's Infiniti car division.

Baskin shortly thereafter moved "in-house," joining Nissan to establish its first public affairs operation for North America. He lead the company's first integrated marketing campaign for the Nissan Altima, spearheaded its foray into alternative fuels racing by solar vehicles in partnership with M.I.T. and he created Nissan's corporate ad campaign "Built for the Human Race." Baskin spoke often on emergent brand marketing issues, such as "e-Marketing," to audiences at the Conference Board and Association of National Advertisers. He was not yet 30.

Baskin then moved to Columbus, Ohio, to serve as director of communications for Limited, Inc. (which owned such well-known brands as Victoria's Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch and Bath & Body Works). He invented the company's first television network for communicating with its 100,000+ employees ("LTV"), pioneered brand-relevant actions on product sourcing (sustainable supply chain) and testing and participated in the development of the company's first online fashion webcasts. Recruited away to lead Blockbuster's worldwide marketing communications efforts, he spearheaded the company's repositioning as a retailer of diversified entertainment content, adapting everything, from its awards program (The Blockbuster Awards) to store signage in support this new brand strategy.

Returning to Chicago in 2000, Baskin led creative development for a technology marketing firm and then the visual design department for a systems integrator called Inforte. In 2003, he established Baskin Associates, Inc. and forged a network of 12 consultants across four continents to help clients translate their business strategies into brand plans that involved more than words and images. While the client list remains confidential, Baskin has partnered with many of the world's leading brand names.

Baskin speaks around the world to groups of corporate leaders, marketers and all-company audiences. His first book, "Branding Only Works on Cattle" (2008) is both a synthesis of his thinking and an entertaining, hands-on guide to creating and delivering a radically new model of brand. His second book, "Bright Lights & Dim Bulbs: The Year in Marketing Buzz, Brilliance & Buffoonery" (2010 Edition), collected many of the decade's best (and worst) marketing ideas. He has also released "The Histories of Social Media," "Tell The Truth: Honesty Is Your Most Powerful Marketing Tool," and his latest, "A Thousand Words: Why We Must Fight the Tyranny of Brief, Vague & Incomplete."

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