David Aaker

Marketing Professor Emeritus David Aaker is widely considered the father of modern branding. His pioneering work focused on defining brand equity and detailed ways to build and manage brands and portfolios. He has published more than 100 articles and 18 books on the theory and practice of marketing—including eight on branding—that have sold more 1 million copies and were translated into 18 languages. Aaker’s first brand book, Managing Brand Equity (1991), gained attention because it defined brand equity at a time when there was no accepted definition. His second book, the bestselling Building Strong Brands (1995), developed his brand identity model, The Aaker Model, which is used by hundreds of firms to build and strategically manage brands. Other influential books followed on brand leadership, portfolio strategy, and relevance. His latest book, “Creating Signature Stories,” was published in 2017.

Aaker serves as Vice Chair at Prophet, a global marketing and branding consultancy. In 2015, he was inducted into the American Marketing Association Hall of Fame for his lifetime achievements in marketing.

Expertise and Research Interests

• Storytelling
• Branding
• Brand and Brand Building
• Brand Portfolio Strategy
• Global Brand Management

EDUCATION

• PhD, Business Administration, Stanford University
• MS, Statistics, Stanford University
• BS, Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Selected Honors and Awards

• Innovative Contributions to Marketing, Marketing Management Association
  2005

• American Marketing Association’s Marketing Hall of Fame Inductee for outstanding contributions to the field of marketing
  2015

• MIT Buck Weaver Award for contributions to the advancement of theory and practice in marketing science
  2004

• Vijay Mahajan Award for career contributions to marketing strategy
  2000

• Paul D. Converse Award for outstanding contributions to the development of the science of marketing
  1996

• Fellow, World Economic Forum at Davos
  1999-2000

• Pacific Telesis Award for best article in the California Management Review
  1995

• Award for best article contributed to the Journal of Marketing
  1985, 1987