Articles by David Aaker:

Beyond Functional Benefits [PDF]
By David Aaker

David Aaker discusses how brand and marketing strategists can avoid the functional benefit trap. (Marketing News, September 2009)

Aggressive Recession Marketing: When Does It Make Sense? [PDF]
By David Aaker

In his inaugural column for Marketing News, David Aaker discusses when it pays to market aggressively during tough times. (Marketing News, August 30, 2009)

The Five Roles of the CMO
By David Aaker

According to David Aaker, today's CMO may wear up to five potential hats: facilitator, consultant, service provider, strategic partner, strategic captain.  In this excerpt from David's new book Spanning Silos, he discusses the five roles and what impact they potentially can make in an organization. (1to1Media.com, August 26, 2009)

Spanning Silos: Q&A with David Aaker [PDF]
By David Aaker

David Aaker sits down with Brillant Results to discuss concepts from his book, Spanning Silos: The New CMO Imperative.  (Brillant Results, August 2009)

Why Sony Missed the iPod - The Curse of Silos
By David Aaker

Sony's three silos thwarted their efforts to create a new category and preempt Apple's iPod. It is likely that a product that combined the energies, resources, and customer insights of the three silos and was improved over time would have been successful and that the iPod opening would not have materialized. (Marketing Daily, February 6, 2009)

Get Out of the Silo
By David Aaker

Prophet Vice Chairman David Aaker argues that to succeed in today’s global arena, marketers must learn to appeal to consumers whose interests transcend individual products and regions. (Strategy + Business, January 20, 2009)

An interview with David Aaker on "Spanning Silos"
By David Aaker

In this blog posting, personal branding expert Dan Schawbel speaks to David Aaker about his new book "Spanning Silos." (Marketingweb, December 2008)

Marketing in a Silo World: The Challenge for Chief Marketing Officers
By David Aaker

In this article, David Aaker examines how silo barriers within organizations can be reduced or eliminated, leading to stronger offerings and brands and effective synergistic marketing strategies and programs.  *Please note, there is a fee to obtain a copy of this article. (California Management Review, Fall 2008)

Exclusive Interview with Marketing Pioneer David Aaker
By David Aaker

This blog post, written by Dan Schawbel, features an interview with David Aaker discussing his new book, "Spanning Silos: The New CMO Imperative." (Personal Branding Blog, November 19, 2008)

A Plan for Spanning Silos
By David Aaker

David Aaker discusses concepts from his latest book, "Spanning Silos: The New CMO Imperative." He outlines a variety of ways to address silo-driven problems. *Please contact Prophet for a copy of this article.  (AdAge, November 10, 2008)

Powerbrands in Crisis [PDF]
By David Aaker

In this interview with David Aaker, he discusses the consequences of the financial crisis on brands in the financial services industry, the silo thinking of globally operating companies, and the short duration of CMO’s in their jobs. *Please note, this article is in German. (persönlich, October 2008)

Spanning Silos, A CMO’s Job Guide
By David Aaker

Michael Krauss, a writer for Marketing News, calls David Aaker's book a "must-read for every chief marketing officer and any marketer that aspires to that lofty C-level role."  *Please note, this article is not available online.  Please contact Prophet for a copy.  (Marketing News, October 15, 2008)

From Silos to Synergy [PDF]
By David Aaker

The existence of functional silos is a serious challenge for CMOs. This article, based on David Aaker's latest book, "Spanning Silos: The New CMO Imperative," discusses ways to combat silos to advance marketing and develop stronger offerings and brands. (The Advertiser, October 18. 2008)

Innovation: Brand It or Lose It
By David Aaker

In this article, David Aaker argues that brand strategy is crucially important to an innovation. Without it, the strength of an innovation will be short-lived. 
*Please note, there is a fee to obtain the full text of this article. (California Management Review, Fall 2007)

Think Big [PDF]
By David Aaker

In this article that appeared originally in the Wall Street Journal, Dave Aaker argues that to win market share, don’t try to influence what brand of product people buy. Change how they use the product in the first place. (MIT Sloan Management Review, September 14, 2007)

Peeling Back the Layers on Innovation [PDF]
By David Aaker

Innovation is now a priority in most firms around the world just as quality was two decades ago. The challenge then was how to transform a quality program and results into a quality image. Today the need is to gain image credit for developing an innovative organization and a flow of innovative products. (BrandWeek, May 1, 2006)

The View From the Top [PDF]
By Morag Cuddeford Jones

David Aaker and several other business gurus discuss key consumer trends and new strategic thinking for companies seeking world-beating brand behavior. (Brand Strategy, March 2006)

David Aaker's Perspective on the Future of Marketing [PDF]
By David Aaker

In a growing number of businesses, marketing will have more of a strategic role. (The Marketer, January 2005)

The Acquired Corporate Brand [PDF]
By David Aaker

With the resurgence of mergers in the pharmaceutical industry, companies need to consider the perceived value, role and importance of the acquired brands when determining whether and how to integrate the two organizations. (Pharma Times, December 2004)

Brand Master [PDF]
By David Aaker

An in-depth interview with David Aaker on issues in branding and how they are affecting financial services. (Argent, August 2004)

How To Remodel Your House of Brands [PDF]
By David Aaker

A discussion of ten questions to help determine what brand portfolio problems your company may be facing and potential next steps to solving them. (MWorld, August 2004)

David Aaker asks, "Are you Getting the Most From Your Brand Portfolio?" [PDF]
By David Aaker

There's more to brand strategy than creating and managing a strong brand, especially since virtually all businesses have multiple brands in their portfolios. Too many businesses, however, have neither the underlying strategy nor management processes in place to allow their brand portfolios to reach their full potential as an important driver of business performance. (MWorld, Summer 2004)

Lessons in Successfully Using a Master Brand [PDF]
By David Aaker

David Aaker highlights some thoughts from his new book, Brand Portfolio Strategy. (Marketing Week, May 2004)

Rise to the Brand Challenge [PDF]
By David Aaker

Insights into five brand hurdles and how marketers can deal with them. (Marketer, May 2004)

Why It Pays to Jump on the Brandwagon [PDF]
By David Aaker

David Aaker, in an interview about his new book, provides examples of brand portfolio issues that companies are facing. (Financial Times, April 2004)

Leveraging the Corporate Brand [PDF]
By David Aaker

A perspective on how a company can dial up the importance and role of the corporate (company) brand. (California Management Review, March 2004)

Even Brands Need Spring Cleaning [PDF]
By David Aaker

An overview of his latest book, Brand Portfolio Strategy. (Brandweek, March 2004)

The Power of Brand Differentiator (Abstract)
By David Aaker

An introduction to a new tool that can help companies maintain a competitive age. (MIT Sloan Management Review, September 2003)

The Brand Relationship Spectrum: The Key to the Brand Architecture Challenge
By David Aaker and Erich Joachimsthaler

This white paper introduces a powerful brand architecture tool, the "brand relationship spectrum" and addresses how companies can manage a portfolio of brand assets. (California Management Review, January 2000)