Mechele Flaum has been interpreting trends, interviewing consumers, and consulting experts on the future of the consumer landscape for almost two decades. As former president of Faith Popcorn’s BrainReserve, she spent 13 years honing trend insights into product and marketplace strategies for companies such as American Home Products, Bell Atlantic, BMW, Chesebrough-Pond’s, ConAgra, DAP, Dow Brands, Heublein, Hoffmann La-Roche, IBM, Lederele (now Wyeth), MetLife, Met-Rx, Pepsi-Lipton, RJR Nabisco, Rubbermaid, Seagram, Silicon Graphics, and The Burton Group, Ltd.

Ms. Flaum formed Marketing Fire in 1999 with the mission to build brands within a rapidly changing environment by aligning them to fit with consumer trends. Marketing Fire keys in on what motivates consumers to consume, and the trends-at-play in those choices. From the synthesis of all these inputs, Marketing Fire's clients learn what benefits and new innovations they will need to incorporate into their domestic and global marketing strategy in order to keep their products and services consumer-focused.

Marketing Fire has created profit and share-winning strategies for packaged goods, business-to-business, and consumer service organizations. Companies such as Pfizer, Lindt, RA Becker-Euro RSCG and The Hall Group credit Marketing Fire with helping them to create big-idea branding strategy, on-trend brand messages, new markets for global products, and helping them to foster consumer loyalty.

Earlier in her career, Flaum was Brand Manager for Joseph E. Seagram & Sons in New York City where she was responsible for brands accounting for 30 percent of her division’s profits including Kessler and Tuaca. Following Seagram, she also worked as Brand Director for SB Thomas on Thomas’ Toast-r-Cakes and Sahara Pita Bread, and for Thompson Medical as Brand Director for Slim Fast, the diet beverage, at that time an $80 million business.

Represented by the Harry Walker Agency, Ms. Flaum speaks nationally and internationally on consumer trends. Recently she has spoken for Disney, Intel, Girl Scouts of America, Crain’s NY Business, Crystal Cruises, Shop.org and Visa, among others.

She holds a B.A. from American University, an M.A. in American Folklore from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.B.A. from Columbia University Graduate School of Business. She is also on the Editorial Board of Lifestyles magazine and serves on the Board of Brooklyn Friends School.