Marketing Guru David Aaker to Speak on Sharing Interests with Customers, Feb. 15

Haas Professor Emeritus David Aaker, an internationally recognized expert on marketing, innovation, and brand-positioning, will share his latest thinking on customers and brand building with the Haas community on Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 12:30 p.m. in the Wells Fargo Room.

The talk is the latest installment of the David Aaker Distinguished Lecture Series in Marketing, which Aaker created after retiring in 2000. This year’s talk is titled “Find the Shared Interest — A Big-Idea Brand Builder.”

Aaker will explain what it means and why it’s important to identify shared interests with customers. This approach encourages brands to gear their marketing toward deeper relationships with customers, rather than strictly toward the specific goods or services being offered.

Aaker serves as vice chairman of Prophet, a strategic brand and marketing consultancy led by alumnus Michael Dunn, MBA/MA 94 (Asian Studies). His 15th book, Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant, was named one of the three best marketing business books of 2011 by strategy+business magazine. Aaker also writes the Aaker on Brands blog and regularly blogs for the Harvard Business Review. He can be followed on Twitter at @DavidAaker.

Professor Aaker’s presentation is co-sponsored by the Dean’s Speaker Series, the MBA Marketing Club, and the Undergraduate Marketing Club. A light lunch will be served at his talk, and registration will be required at haas.berkeley.edu/haas/about/deansspeakers.html.