DAVID AAKER WINS THE MIT SLOAN BUCK WEAVER AWARD FOR MARKETING

David Aaker, Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business, will be named the second recipient of the MIT Sloan School of Management Buck Weaver Award for marketing on September 11, at a conference at MIT in his honor. This award was established last year at MIT Sloan and sponsored by General Motors Corp. to honor individuals who have made important contributions to the advancement of theory and practice in marketing science. The theory and practice focus follows in the MIT tradition of mens et manus, thinking and doing.

Aaker is the author of 12 books and 100 articles, focusing primarily on the field of branding. His books include the noted Managing Brand Equity which proposed a new and powerful paradigm for marketing thinking and application, and his most recent book, Brand Portfolio Strategy, The Free Press, 2004. Aaker is Vice Chairman of the consulting firm Prophet.

"David Aaker has been a pioneer in preaching the doctrine of brand equity. He has brought a rare blend of analytical thinking and practical insight and recommendations to the field of Marketing Strategy," said MIT Sloan Professor of Management Glen Urban. Members of the selection committee also noted his leadership in the marketing community, his role as an industry strategic thinker and his teaching and mentoring to students at the MBA, executive, and Ph.D. level.

The award is named after Henry Grady "Buck" Weaver, a pioneer in marketing research and market-based decision making in the 1930s. Working for General Motors, he was the first known director of marketing research. His contributions to the field were noted by Time Magazine in the 1930s and then were highlighted by GM's Vince Barabba (now retired) and Prof. Urban, who together developed the concept for the annual award.

The award will be presented to Prof. Aaker by Prof. Urban during the Buck Weaver symposium, a gathering of MIT Sloan Ph.D. students and alumni and noted marketing professors from top schools. Prof. Aaker will give a talk on brand relevance and the branded differentiator.

For fifty years the MIT Sloan School of Management, based in Cambridge, Mass., has been one of the world's leading academic sources of innovation in management. The School's mission is to develop principled, innovative leaders who improve the world and to generate ideas that advance management practice.

The MIT Sloan faculty's pioneering research in building and implementing marketing models and decision-support systems has enhanced new product development for decades. Other award-winning research projects focus on customer satisfaction and the psychological underpinnings of economic and consumer behavior.

9/10/04

Contacts:
MIT Sloan School of Management
Paul Denning, 617-253-0576
denning@mit.edu