Bob Garfield

Strategist

Bob Garfield has never worked in marketing a day in his life. He has no relevant education, experience or data. He owns exactly one dark suit.

He is also the most prominent commentator and analyst of advertising and marketing who has ever lived. For 25 years, his AdReview column in Advertising Age evaluated, vetted, parsed, deconstructed and offered uncanny prognostications for thousands of ads from hundreds of agencies worldwide. His reviews were based on such criteria as strategy, communication, taste, ethics, brand relevance, cultural relevance and craftsmanship.

As far back as 2004, Bob also famously foresaw the marketing revolution we are experiencing today, culminating in his landmark 2009 book, The Chaos Scenario. His new Ad Age column “Listenomics” explores the frontiers of 21st-century marketing and media.

In another life, Garfield is co-host of National Public Radio’s weekly Peabody Award-winning magazine program “On the Media.” He has been quoted by every major American newspaper, news magazine and broadcast news program and has labored for many of them, from ABC News to, ahem, Playboy. Bob also lectures across the planet on how businesses can and must, amid the rapid decline of broadcast advertising, take advantage of word of mouth marketing. That’s why he bought the suit.