About The Internationalist

The Internationalist is a global marketing platform built on a simple but increasingly rare belief:
marketers don’t just need more content — they need better interpretation.

Founded by Deborah Malone, The Internationalist exists to help senior marketers, agencies, and partners make sense of an increasingly complex landscape shaped by AI, shifting demographics, economic uncertainty, and rising expectations for brand responsibility.

Unlike traditional marketing media, The Internationalist does not chase clicks, trends, or daily news cycles. Instead, it combines original research, editorial judgment, and real-world examples to help marketers understand what matters now — and what will endure.

Our Model

Much of The Internationalist’s editorial content — including Signals, Trendsetters, and The EDIT — is freely available. We believe open access is essential to credibility, reach, and informed dialogue across the marketing community.

Our work is supported through select, optional participation in areas where marketers seek deeper engagement or evaluation, including:

Case-study-driven awards programs
Proprietary research, indices, and evaluators (such as MMWD and GenMore+)
Intelligence Briefs and custom research
Book publishing through Internationalist Press
Invitation-only events and leadership sessions

This model allows us to remain independent, evidence-driven, and focused on interpretation, while offering marketers meaningful ways to engage more deeply when it adds value.

What We Do

At the core of The Internationalist is an interpretive intelligence platform, expressed through four interconnected pillars:

INSIGHTS
Proprietary research, surveys, indices, and evaluators that provide evidence of what is changing across marketing, media, technology, and culture.

SIGNALS
Directional, editorial interpretation that extracts meaning from data, behavior, and cultural shifts — surfacing what marketers should pay attention to before it becomes obvious.

PEOPLE & PRACTICE
Through Trendsetters interviews, Internationalists of the Year, and awards programs, we highlight the leaders, work, and decisions shaping modern marketing in practice.

CONNECTION & CONVENING
Select events and leadership gatherings — including initiatives like the Innovators Summit in partnership with AdForum — designed to foster informed, peer-level dialogue among senior marketers and agency leaders.

Together, these elements create a platform that doesn’t just report on marketing — it helps leaders interpret it, evaluate it, and act on it.

Why We’re Different

We start with interpretation, not information.
In a world of endless marketing content, The Internationalist focuses on meaning — connecting dots others leave scattered.

We combine evidence with judgment.
Our INSIGHTS ground our perspective in research, while our editorial voice applies experience, context, and discernment. One without the other isn’t enough.

We value signals over noise.
We don’t publish everything. We publish what matters — and explain why.

We learn from real work, not rhetoric.
Through awards, case studies, and evaluations, we study what brands actually do — not just what they say.

We respect marketers’ time and intelligence.
No hype. No trends for trend’s sake. Just thoughtful guidance for leaders navigating change.

We Separate Insight from Incentive

The Internationalist does not rely on advertising, paywalls, or sponsored content to fund its editorial work.

By keeping our core content open, we ensure that interpretation is driven by judgment and evidence — not clicks, clients, or quotas.

For marketers who want deeper involvement, evaluation, or collaboration, we offer optional programs — from awards and research participation to books and leadership initiatives — always clearly distinguished from editorial coverage.

That separation is intentional. And it’s why our insights are trusted.