Everything I do starts with Fieldwork
For more than 20 years, I’ve been writing, studying, and working across journalism, marketing, and behavioral science. That means I show up before I make a plan. I listen before I offer direction. I look for patterns before I build.
From there, the work can take many forms: social strategy, content, photography, writing, advisory work, and long-term direction. The output depends on the project. The method does not.
Braden Social is the primary arm focused on social marketing. Fieldwork & Advisory is the thinking that informs it.
Fieldwork isn’t part of the work.
Fieldwork is the work.
From Journalism to Advertising
I started as a journalist in 2006, writing for the Courier Express & Tri-County Sunday in DuBois, Pa., where I was beat writer for the Penn State DuBois basketball, traveling with the team on bus trips and hotel stays. That embedded mindset still shapes how I work.
I’ve also served as an adjunct instructor with Summer Study Programs in Melville, NY. My coursework on advertising and consumer behavior was introduced at Penn State University in 2014. I have taught this material in various guest lectures at Penn State University, South Hills School of Business and Technology, and Juniata College.
My research on consumer behavior shapes how I approach content and strategy.
Born curious
My journalism background made me curious.
I study how people make decisions — what builds trust, what draws attention, what nudges action.
Behavioral science shapes how I think about framing, context, and environment — the small factors that often influence behavior more than big creative swings.
“In the same way that you wouldn’t trust a doctor with no knowledge of physiology or an engineer ignorant of physics, my experience over the last dozen or so years suggests that it’s foolhardy to work with an advertiser who knows nothing of behavioral science.”
— Richard Shotton, author of The Choice Factory
I’m Certified by Cannes Lions in Storytelling and Behavioral Science for Brands, and by Ogilvy in Applied Behavioural Science and Behavioural Economics. Penn State, 2008. Dale Carnegie graduate.
Since 2014, I’ve partnered with brands across various industries.
Braden Social | Fieldwork & Advisory 