Important Things To Know:

Prior to founding Buzzmarketing, Hughes was Vice President of Marketing and PR for eBay’s Half.com (the #1 Internet retailer of used books, music, and movies). Hughes grew eBay’s Half.com from zero to 8 million customers in less than three years.

Hughes literally put Half.com on the map by convincing Halfway, Oregon to rename itself to Half.com, Oregon…creating the first dot-com city in America. The buzz generating event was dubbed by Time magazine as “one of the greatest publicity coups” in history.

19 days after his Half.com Oregon event, eBay contacted Half.com and acquired the company six months later for $300 million.

Now, eBay’s Half.com ranks as one of the ten most visited shopping sites on the Internet, regularly receiving more traffic and transactions than established brands like Barnes & Noble.com for a fraction of the media budget.

Hughes brings a wealth of creative and quantitative experience in consumer marketing from PepsiCo’s Pizza Hut Division (NYSE: YUM), Pep Boys (NYSE: PBY), and American Mobile Satellite. Hughes spent five years at PepsiCo’s Pizza Hut division, working on new concept development and analyzing new store penetration. Hughes was a member of the team developing and launching Lunch Buffet for Pizza Hut.

Hughes was the youngest person to become a company officer with Pep Boys, a big-box retailer of automotive aftermarket parts, accessories, tires and service. He served as Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Advertising, managing a $42 Million marketing budget focused on TV, Radio, and direct mail. While running its advertising, Pep Boys received Media Week’s Media Plan of The Year, for Best Use of Radio.

Hughes has also spent time in the Telecommunications industry, as Product Manager for American Mobile Satellite which later spawned XM Satellite Radio. In satellite telephony, he developed international pricing strategies, and managed both maritime and mobile briefcase telephony products.

Mr. Hughes holds his MBA from Columbia Business School in Marketing & International Business. His Buzzmarketing has won three Icon Awards in radio as well as alternative media.

Hughes is the son of Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, John Hughes and is a contributing columnist for the magazine of international advertising knowledge, Admap. Hughes is also the son of ten-time biographer, Libby Hughes.

Hughes’ book, Buzzmarketing is in its fifth printing, and in its first year of release was heralded by Fast Company as one of “The Ten Best Business Reads of the Year.” The Financial Times of London proclaimed his book as one of the “Best Business Books of the Year” along with Freakonomics.

Hughes’ book, “Buzzmarketing” from Penguin/Portfolio is published in 11 languages.