Our thinking is appearing in publications around the world

Luxury brands face no small dilemma these days as they try to deliver growth without compromising cachet—all against the backdrop of a severe global recession that’s sure to challenge their fabled resistance to downturns.

Stories of marketing heroes who transform poorly performing brands never fail to enthrall us. But why do some brand leaders wait until their brands are at the breaking point, and at risk of joining such brands as Radio Shack, 7Up, or the GAP, for which renovation may be too late?

Brand extensions are often seen as a silver bullet to all that ails maturing brands and business categories. Succeed and you may be on the path to substantial organic growth. Fail, and you join the ranks of some 90% of all new market entrants that prove irrelevant to customers.

Kevin O’Donnell believes innovation’s role as a driver of organic growth and a differentiator that adds substantially to a brand’s value remains as critical as ever. In his inaugural column in the newly relaunched Marketing News, a publication of the American Marketing Association, O’Donnell spells out one solution: Creation of innovation “systems” that foster actionable creativity.

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.

Joseph Gelman analyzes how BBVA's offering of new products and services might affect the financial entity's brand. *Please note, this article is in Spanish.

In this article, Steve Chang discusses the potential impact on Vera Wang's brand by launching a new line of clothing for Kohl's.

The article addresses the importance of continuing to understand and manage your brand's sweet spot in order to increase likelihood of success of new products, exert more channel power and drive your companies growth.

Technology companies must consider their customers' needs in designing "solutions strategies." This article outlines four key questions that must be addressed to ensure that the brand meets customers' needs.

A four-step road map to ensure that future new products or services complement, and ideally enhance, the current equities of the brand.

A perspective on leveraging brand equities to execute successful brand extensions.

A point of view on some recent brand extensions.