Steve Bast

An accomplished research moderator and facilitator who has completed studies for brands in numerous B2C and B2B categories, Bast excels at leading companies to view consumer behavior with a careful lens - not as scores of data but as information that, when activated correctly, can help guide important strategic decisions. His clients have included Converse Shoes, Wells Fargo, Cold Stone Creamery, Shea Homes, The Dial Corporation, Big O Tires, The Little Gym and the Macerich Company. In addition to working directly with clients, Bast also partners with advertising agencies, design/web development firms and public relations operations.

Prior to starting the Lab, Bast was known as Professor Bast, having taught marketing communications strategy and media planning courses as a faculty member at Northern Arizona University, where he was named an "Educator of Influence" by students. Bast also headed the strategic planning division for the Phoenix office of the Cramer-Krasselt integrated marketing agency, where he contributed to brands such as PetSMART and University of Phoenix. He also experienced marketing from a corporate perspective as a marketing director at Cold Stone Creamery's corporate headquarters where he helped name and develop menu items.

Hailing from tiny Camp Verde, Ariz., Steve graduated from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University twice - first with a Bachelor of Science in marketing and later with his MBA. He has been named one of "40 Under 40" notable business professionals by the Phoenix Business Journal, is a past president of a Phoenix chapter of the American Advertising Federation and most recently received the 2007 Baxter Award from the Body Positive HIV/AIDs Research & Resource Center for his pro bono consulting work for that organization. He also sits on the advisory board for Catholic Charities in Phoenix.