Our thinking is appearing in publications around the world

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.

In his article Tosson explains how to have a more easy-going approach to Social Media.

Increasingly, companies are putting a public face on their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity. The authors describe three different approaches for incorporating CSR activities with marketing activities.

From Prophet Vice Chairman David Aaker comes Three Threats to Brand Relevance. In it, Aaker reveals that the key to an organization’s sustained growth is to learn what it takes to bring “big” innovation to market and create barriers to competitors. Building on his full-length book Brand Relevance, Aaker offers a guide for confronting the three threats if they emerge and shows how to put in place the strategies that will keep the threats at bay.  

If it's so axiomatic that "your next best customer is the one you already have," why do marketers expend so much energy — and hard-fought resources — chasing after new ones?

Marketing is no longer about one-size-fits-all advertising and promotional efforts. Some of the biggest brands are shifting away from moving the masses. The new marketing model is less about messaging and more about understanding your profitable segments of customers in order to design the experiences that are right for them.

This article outlines how CMOs can make better marketing spend decisions and evaluate the success or failure of their decisions. They argue that marketing effectiveness can be improved by following six key levers. *Please note, this article is in German.

Jay Milliken and Chiaki Nishino expose the notion of marketing effectiveness in times of recession, placing particular emphasis on Test and Learn.

Toyota has long been an auto industry frontrunner, consistently outpacing its peers on any number of fronts. But today, its once stellar reputation is under attack, between production issues and unprecedented recalls after the company's failure to respond to and correct problems in a timely manner. History has shown that companies which have built up reputational goodwill and swiftly and authentically responded to issues have weathered storms better than others.

In this article Scott shows how important it is for marketers to step forward and demonstrably expand mindsets, skills, and capabilities instead of sliding back into comfort zones.

Good business ideas occasionally die an unnatural and premature death. While benchmarks, stage gates, and filters can help prevent bad -- and costly -- decisions, sometimes ideas are just ahead of their time. Revisited periodically, a company’s inventory of dead and discarded ideas may become the source of new opportunities.

In this article, Andrew argues that the question for most companies is not if they will take action to make their brands environmentally friendly, but when and the extent to which they will do so. He then discusses what it takes to successfully make green work as a business and brand builder.

A case study on the change in brand strategy and brand management apporach at UBS

Got engagement? You’d better hope so. Customer engagement is an important indicator of marketing and value proposition performance. Kevin and Brian outline a three-step process for ensuring success.

The ability to create and manage the customer experience is something more businesses would like to get right. It's an attainable goal. All it takes is the mindset combined with consistent and thoughtful deployment of tools that allow customer experiences to be monitored and optimized. 

A perspective on the importance of knowing what your brand means to target stakeholders, and which elements of it drive value so that brand building investments can be prioritized.

Insight into four degrees of global branding supported by examples of companies that follow each style of global brand management.

We hear it all the time among clients, within companies and at meetings. Everyone understands that if you stand still in today’s rapidly changing environment, then you’ll be choking on the other guy’s dust as you fade into irrelevance. The ability to get ahead, much less to transform, is today’s business imperative. But it takes change agents to lead the charge.

All too often, though, stuff gets in the way. The barriers of silos. Resistance to change. A shortage of the right skills for the challenges. The fact is that transforming a business is really hard work.

In this article, Scott Davis discusses the concept behind Shift 2 from his latest book.  He writes about managing the network opportunity for your business, and the challenges to understanding and embracing these dynamics.

We have to admit: as marketers we can be good at many things; but marketing ourselves is not one of them. Time and time again in the race to occupy the CEO seat, CFOs win. CFOs are increasingly becoming the CEO’s right hand, and we are watching the CMOs struggle to get a seat at the table.