About Martin Lindstrom

MARTIN LINDSTROM is a 2009 recipient of TIME Magazine’s “World's 100 Most Influential People” and author of Buyology - Truth and Lies About Why We Buy (Doubleday, New York), a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller. Lindstrom is the CEO and Chairman of LINDSTROM Company and Chairman of BUYOLOGY INC. (New York and Tokyo) as well as BRAND sense Agency (London).

Lindstrom is a trusted advisor for top executives in numerous Fortune 100 companies including McDonald’s Corporation, Nestlé, PepsiCo, American Express, Yellow Pages, Procter & Gamble, Microsoft Corporation, The Walt Disney Company, Unilever, Nokia and GlaxoSmithKline, amongst others.

Lindstrom has been featured and continues to feature in the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, TIME magazine, The Economist, New York Times, BusinessWeek, The Washington Post, USAToday, Fast Company, Forbes, The Economist, Harvard Business Review, Chicago Tribune, The Independent, The London Times, The Guardian, New York Post, Vogue, People Magazine and has also frequently appears on NBC's TODAY show, ABC News, CNN Money, CBS, Bloomberg, FOX & Friends, Discovery Channel and BBC1 and BBC2. 

His latest book, Buyology (Paperback released February 2010 on Doubleday, New York), was voted "pick of the year" by USAToday, and, between 2008 and 2009, reached ten of the top 10 bestseller lists in the U.S. and worldwide. Lindstrom's 2005 book; Brand Sense, (Paperback released February 2010 on Simon & Schuster, New York) was acclaimed by the Wall Street Journal as “one of the five best marketing books ever published.”

His 5 books on branding have been translated into more than 40 languages and published in more than 60 countries worldwide. In addition, the BRAND sense Symposium and Buyology Symposium is now running in more than 60 countries worldwide. His personal global audience is estimated to rate over one million people.

Lindstrom frequently contributes to the New York Times and PARADE - U.S. highest circulating publication with more than 70 million weekly readers. Lindstrom also publishes a weekly video blog on: Advertising Age (AdAge.com) - the #1 industry magazine in the U.S. and appears bi-monthly on America’s #1 ranking morning TV show; The TODAY Show at NBC with his TV series: "Marketing Mind Games".

From building bricks to brand builder

It all began one bright and optimistic summer's day in 1982 when ambitious 11–year–old Martin Lindstrom opened the doors to his very own LEGOLAND. The miniature village had been meticulously prepared, complete with bonsai trees, scooped out inch wide canals and featured numerous houses and ships constructed entirely out of LEGO.

Young Martin's mini LEGOLAND was the centerpiece of his parents’ backyard, and its creator anticipated a multitude of fascinated visitors. Not a single guest showed up.

Aware that something more than mere brilliant design was needed to attract visitors, Martin had a brainwave: advertise! He promptly persuaded the local newspaper to run an ad — a simple act that was powerful enough to reveal the power of marketing. Sure enough, the following week 131 people streamed through the garden gate. Including two lawyers from LEGO, who very politely informed Martin that if he persisted in using the name 'LEGOLAND' he would be guilty of trademark infringement. Intrigued by the idea that someone else and not he had ownership and total control of his favorite toy’s name, and seduced by the manifest power of advertising, Martin decided to open his own advertising agency, which he succeeded in doing a couple of months later, at the age of 12.

After selling his agency in 1988, Lindstrom attended the Academy of Advertising before joining international giant, BBDO. In 1994 he went on to form the groups first interactive agency; BBDO Interactive. Three years later he founded BBDO Interactive Asia Pacific, both agencies growing to become the largest Internet solution companies in their respective regions. By the age of 30, Lindstrom had been appointed global COO of British Telecom/Looksmart. Working out of London and Sydney, his primary role was to establish a global operation with offices across 18 countries.

According to the Chartered Institute of Marketing, the unusually rapid ascent of Lindstrom's career is responsible for the guru status he has today as one of today's most respected branding minds in the world.

Lindstrom is on the road 300 days annually sharing his brand of wisdom and pioneering methodologies through close to one hundred speaking engagements and high-profile advisory assigments to high profile brands, countries, celebrities and royal families.

Martin Lindstrom is the author of 5 books, including collaborative works with industry icons such as Dr. Philip Koter Kotler on Marketing), Paco Underhill Why We Buy), Dr. Don Peppers, Martha Rogers 1to1 Marketing) and Patricia Seybold (Customer.com). Buyology - Truth and Lies About Why We Buy (Doubleday, New York), has been translated into over 40 languages.

TIME’s 100 Most Influential People: Lindstrom makes the 2009 list

In 2009, TIME Magazine, arguably one of the world's most respected publications, published its annual World’s 100 Most Influential People, recognizing Lindstrom for his groundbreaking work on neuroscience and branding.

This prestigious event has included luminaries such as U.S. President Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, the Dalai Lama, Pope Benedict XVI, Steve Jobs, Hillary Clinton, Rupert Murdoch and Nelson Mandela. The honor is awarded to individuals recognized for their work as influencers of positive changes in the world; recipients are awarded in 5 categories: Leaders & Revolutionaries; Builders & Titans; Artists & Entertainers; Scientists & Thinkers; and Heroes & Icons. Twenty ‘Influencers’ are selected within each category (sometimes pairs or small groups), for a grand total of 100 each year. Lindstrom was awarded within the category of: "Scientists & Thinkers".

According to Managing editor of TIME Magazine; Richard Strengelis, "Influence is hard to measure, and what we look for is people whose ideas, whose example, whose talent, whose discoveries transform the world we live in. Influence is less about the hard power of force than the soft power of ideas and example."