About Mark Levy, Positioning and Branding Expert. Mark Levys Biography 1. Mark Levy is the founder of Levy Innovation LLC, a positioning and branding firm that helps consultants and other thought leaders increase their fees by up to 2,0. His clients include a former department head in the White Housea speaker to the United Nations. CEOs of major organizationsa former head of the Strategy Unit of the Harvard Business Schoolperformers on network TV and from the New York and Las Vegas stages. New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling authors. TED and TEDx speakers. Monster Energy is way more than an energy drink. Led by our athletes, musicians, employees, distributors and fans, Monster is a lifestyle in a can Music Video featuring Groovie Goolies to the song Monster Mash. Get the latest Rolling Stone new music news, song and album reviews, free music downloads, artist videos pictures, playlists and more. Before devoting his work fulltime to Levy Innovation, Mark served as Chief Marketing Officer at an Inc. Bank of America, Gap, Samsung, Time Warner, Tivo, and Harvard and Stanford Universities. Mark has written for the New York Times, and has written or co created five books. His last book, Accidental Genius Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight, and Content, has been published in ten languages. Mark has also taught research writing at Rutgers University. In addition to being a positioning consultant, Mark creates magic tricks and shows. His work has been performed in Carnegie Hall and Las Vegas, and on all the major TV networks. He also co created the off Broadway show, Chamber Magic, which has played for 1. New York City. Mark Levys Biography 2. Mark Levy was born in Flushing, Queens in 1. Shea Stadium. He was frightened of public school, loved playing baseball and football, ran home to watch ape films on the 4 3. Movie, listened to The Jam and The Buzzcocks, and read magic trick books. At 1. 8, he went to Queens College a school whose most notable scholar is Jerry Seinfeld. Mark enjoyed college, because he got to pick his own subjects. Instead of Math, he took a course in which he analyzed monster pictures. Not surprisingly, Mark received excellent grades, and graduated with a Magna Cum Laude writing degree in 1. Outside of college, no one cared that he could analyze monster pictures, so he became a bookstore clerk. That started his long affiliation with the book industry. He moved from retail to publishing, and from publishing to wholesaling. Along the way, he was steadily promoted, and became a sales manager, a director of special projects, and helped his companies sell over one billion dollars worth of books. He was nominated three times for The Publishers Weekly Rep of the Year Award. Why was Mark so successful at selling One of his colleagues said it best and she didnt mean it as a compliment When you think a particular book is important, youre messianic about it. You wont stop. In 1. Mark was having dinner with his friend David Pogue, author of Macs for Dummies, when David said it might be fun to work on a book together. Since Mark knew nothing about computers, they settled on writing a book about the only subject they had in common magic. Both Mark and David were amateur magicians. They created Magic for Dummies, and Mark got the bug for bookwriting. Marks next effort was solo Accidental Genius Revolutionize Your Thinking Through Private Writing. Lots of luminaries loved it Tom Peters, Ray Bradbury, Al Ries, Jay Conrad Levinson, and Ace Greenberg. Mark did a publicity stunt for the book freewriting for the public for four consecutive hours in the window of Americas largest bookstore, which did wonders for its sales. To date, its been translated into ten languages. By the way, did you know that certain American phrases dont translate well into other languagesIts true. None of the translators could make sense of the phrase Accidental Genius. The Spanish changed the books title to Writing and Creativity. Windows Media Center Edition 2005 Torrent. The Germans called it Genius Moments. But the Japanese version is Marks favorite Everything Will Go Well As You Write And Think. Mark started writing for magazines and newspapers including The New York Times. One such gig led to his next co authored book. He was interviewing NBC TV magician Mac King for an article about Las Vegas magic. During a break, Mac reached into his desk drawer, pulled out a dozen stapled sheets, and handed them to Mark. Those sheets were the beginnings of what would eventually become, Tricks With Your Head a book in which the human head is the central prop in each trick. Readers learn how to safely stab a fork in their eye, suck a French Fry up their nose, and read a persons mind with a drinking straw. About this time, Mark started pursuing other business interests, particularly on the magic front. A New York City magician, Steve Cohen, met Mark, appreciated his business savvy, and hired him to do positioning work. The upshot of their association, Steve became The Millionaires Magician, began starring in his own off Broadway show, Chamber Magic, and made Mark the shows co creator and creative director. Mark began to see life outside the book industry. In February of 2. Mark made the decision to leave books, and use his business, writing, and magic talents to make companies memorable. He started his positioning and branding firm, Levy Innovation. Even early on, Marks marketing solutions were unconventional. An example Says Mark A famous e book author phoned me and said, One of my old paperback books went out of print. I bought the final 2,0. How do I sell themI said, Selling them is a waste of time. Heres what you do. Take 1,8. 00 copies, shred them, put them in a bathtub, sit in the tub so that just your head sticks out, have a photo taken, and put it on a news release that says, Author Takes A Bath In His Own Books. Use the body of the release to talk about how you went from a near destitute paperback author, to a six figure a year e book author. That way, the white elephant of your paperbacks supports the profitable side of your business, e books. What do I do with the 2. I didnt shred he asked. They become valuable collectibles. Sell them at triple the cover price. Marks next book, How to Persuade People Who Dont Want To Be Persuaded, was published by Wiley in June of 2. He wrote it with legendary tradeshow pitchman, Joel Bauer. The book reached 6 on BN. Amazon. In 2. 01. Accidental Genius, which included 4. Using Writing to Generate Your Best Insights, Ideas, and Content. Audible published the audio version, which is read by Perfect Strangers TV show star, Bronson Pinchot. Mark has also contributed chapters to two other books The E Code 3. Internet Superstars Reveal 4. Ways to Make Money Online Almost Instantly Using Only E Mail by Joe Vitale and Jo Han Mok Wiley, 2. Positively M. A. D. Making a Difference in Your Organizations, Communities, the World. Stories and Ideas From 5. Todays Leading Experts, Edited by Bill Treasurer Berrett Koehler, 2. Recently, Mark returned to school this time, as an instructor. He taught the course Writing for Businesses and Professionals at Rutgers University. He also served as an organizing committee member and speaker coach for TEDx Phoenixville 2. He lives in Morristown, New Jersey with his lovely wife, Stella, their Shiba Inu, Ginger, and their cat, Mojo.