On May 15, 2017, the Donner Canadian Foundation announced that Alex Marland is the recipient of the prestigious 2016/17 Donner Prize for his book Brand Command: Canadian Politics and Democracy in the Age of Message Control.

According to a statement by the Donner Jury, "Marland's authoritative, original and accessible treatise on the most significant development in modern democratic politics will captivate Canadians, especially those with an interest in policy and politics." 

Established in 1998, the Donner Prize is awarded annually to a book that demonstrates "excellence and innovation in Canadian public policy thinking, writing and research."

Alex Marland is a leading researcher of political communication and marketing in Canada and an associate professor of political science and an associate dean of arts at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He has worked in the communications division of a federal government department, held a public opinion analysis position with a major polling firm, and been employed as a research manager with public relations and advertising agencies. He later held director of communications positions with several departments in the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador public service. He is the co-editor of the UBC Press series Communication, Strategy, and Politics (with Thierry Giasson) and was the lead editor of Political Marketing in Canada (2012), Political Communication in Canada: Meet the Press and Tweet the Rest, and Permanent Campaigning in Canada (2017). He was also editor of the open access project Canadian Election Analysis 2015: Communication, Strategy, and Democracy (2015).

For more information and to read the full press release, please visit the Donner Prize website.

Update: Watch Alex Marland speak about Brand Command in the below video, released by the Donner Canadian Foundation on July 19.