Gregory Carpenter

James Farley/Booz Allen Hamilton Professor of Marketing Strategy, Director of the Center for Market Leadership, Faculty Director, Kellogg Markets and Customers Initiative (KMCI) at Kellogg School of Management

Biography

Kellogg School of Management

Gregory Carpenter focuses on understanding how firms thrive by succeeding with consumers. Based on award-winning research, his recent book, Resurgence: The Four Stages of Market-Focused Reinvention (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), examines how firms that face serious challenges create a more customer-focused culture and renewed success. He is currently exploring how luxury firms succeed by influencing consumer tasets through brands and how health-care systems embrace shift from a physician-centric approach to a consumer-centric perspective. He previously co-edited the Handbook of Marketing Strategy (Edward Elgar, 2012), and Readings on Market-Driving Strategies: Toward a New Concept of Competitive Advantage (Addison Wesley, 1997).

Appearing in leading academic journals, such as Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Management Science, Marketing Science, and Psychometrika, his research has been recognized by the The American Marketing Association with the William F. O'Dell Award, the Paul E. Green Award, the Donald R. Lehmann Award, and the Sheth Foundation/Journal of Marketing Award.

Harvard Business Review, Financial Times, Forbes, BusinessWeek, and National Public Radio have featured his research, and it has been cited in arguments before the United States Supreme Court. Recognized by BusinessWeek as one of a small group of outstanding faculty in its Guide to the Best Business School, he was voted Outstanding Professor of the Year Award by the Kellogg Managers' Program, and he received the Sidney J. Levy Teaching Award.

He teaches an elective in the MBA program, Marketing Luxury, and he is the academic director of two Kellogg executive program: Kellogg's Chief Marketing Officer Program, which helps prepare executives for the challenging role of CMO, and The Customer-Focused Organization. He co-chairs the Marketing Leadership Summit, bringing thought leaders together each fall to explore the future of marketing.

He often speaks and advises firms. Past and current clients include Bacardi, Carnival Corporation, Coca-Cola, Cunard Lines, Diageo, Dow Chemical, Federal Reserve Bank, Government of Mexico, General Electric, Harley-Davidson, Health Management Academy, Novartis, PepsiCo, Pfizer, SC Johnson, Target, Unilever, and Visa.

A former Academic Trustee of the Marketing Science Institute, he served as a member of the board of advisors of Hamilton Consultants, and a member of the advisory board of Terlato Wine Group. He was named a Chevalier in the Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne for his contribution to champagne.

Previously on the faculty of the UCLA, Columbia University, and the Yale School of Management, he received his B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University, and M.B.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University.

Research Interests

Marketing strategy, competitive advantage, brand management, luxury brands, strategies for market entry, corporate culture

Education

  • PhD, 1983, Business, Columbia University
  • MPhil, 1983, Business, Columbia University
  • MBA, 1980, Business, Columbia University
  • BA, 1978, Economics, Mathematics, Ohio Wesleyan University

Academic Positions

  • James Farley / Booz Allen Hamilton Professor of Marketing Strategy, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 1999-present
  • Associate Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 1990-1999
  • Visiting Associate Professor of Marketing, School of Management, Yale University, 1990-1990
  • Associate Professor of Business, Columbia Business School, Columbia Univeristy, 1987-1990
  • Assistant Professor of Business, Columbia Business School, Columbia University, 1985-1987
  • Assistant Professor of Management, Graduate School of Management, University of California Los Angeles, 1983-1986
  • Acting Assistant Professor of Management, Graduate School of Management, University of California Los Angeles, 1982-1983

Awards

  • Marketing Strategy Doctoral Consortium Faculty Fellow, 2020
  • Member, Irwin Educator of the Year Selection Committee, American Marketing Association
  • American Marketing Association Doctoral Consortium Faculty, American Marketing Association
  • Sheth Foundation/Journal of Marketing Award, American Marketing Association, 2004 to 2008
  • Robert C Buzzell Award, Marketing Science Institute Award
  • H. Paul Root Award, Marketing Science Institute, 2006
  • Chevalier in the Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne
  • Donald R. Lehmann Award, American Marketing Association, 2000
  • William F. O'Dell Award, American Marketing Association, 1999
  • Paul E. Green Award, American Marketing Association, 1999
  • Doctoral Consortium Faculty, American Marketing Association, 1996
  • Sidney J. Levy Teaching Award, Kellogg School of Management, 1995-1996
  • William F. O'Dell Award, American Marketing Association, 1994
  • Part-Time MBA Program Professor of the Year Award, Kellogg School of Management, 1992
  • Doctoral Consortium Faculty, American Marketing Association, 1989
  • Doctoral Consortium Faculty, American Marketing Association, 1985

Editorial Positions

  • Editorial Board, Journal of Marketing, 2018-2021
  • Gues Editor, International Journal of Research in Marketing, 2014-
  • Guest Editor, Management Science, 2010
  • Panel, (Editor Selection Committee) Journal of Marketing, 2004
  • Editorial Board, Journal of Marketing, 2002-2005
  • Associate Editor, Location Science, 1995-2000
  • Editorial Board, Journal of Marketing Research, 1991-2003
  • Editorial Board, Marketing Science, 1990-1997
  • Editorial Board, Marketing Letters, 1989-2001

Teaching Interests

Marketing strategy, luxury brands, marketing management, culture change

Videos

Courses Taught

Read about executive education

Cases

Carpenter, Gregory and Kent Nakamoto. 1989. Consumer Preference Formation and Pioneering Advantage. Journal of Marketing Research. 26(3): 285-298.

Market pioneers outsell later entrants in both consumer and industrial markets. Entry barriers arising from preemptive positioning and switching costs have been advanced to explain this market share difference, termed "pioneering advantage." However, empirical studies show that pioneering advantages are present even in mature markets in which brands reposition and switching costs are minimal. In these cases, the authors argue that pioneering advantage can arise from the process by which consumers learn about brands and form their preferences. This process can produce a preference structure that favors the pioneer, making it difficult for later entrants to "compete away" the pioneer's large market share, even if brands can reposition and switching costs are minimal.

Carpenter, Gregory. "When Betting on a Struggling Company is a Great Career Move." BloombergBusinessweek.

Executives often join organizations on the rise. But eventually all organizations struggle. Some that struggle do thrive again, suggesting that in some cases joining a turn around can be a great career move. In this article, we explore what to look for in joining a turn around and what to avoid.

Carpenter, Gregory and Kent Nakamoto. 1989. Consumer Preference Formation and Pioneering Advantage. Journal of Marketing Research. 26(3): 285-298.

Market pioneers outsell later entrants in both consumer and industrial markets. Entry barriers arising from preemptive positioning and switching costs have been advanced to explain this market share difference, termed "pioneering advantage." However, empirical studies show that pioneering advantages are present even in mature markets in which brands reposition and switching costs are minimal. In these cases, the authors argue that pioneering advantage can arise from the process by which consumers learn about brands and form their preferences. This process can produce a preference structure that favors the pioneer, making it difficult for later entrants to "compete away" the pioneer's large market share, even if brands can reposition and switching costs are minimal.

Carpenter, Gregory. "When Betting on a Struggling Company is a Great Career Move." BloombergBusinessweek.

Executives often join organizations on the rise. But eventually all organizations struggle. Some that struggle do thrive again, suggesting that in some cases joining a turn around can be a great career move. In this article, we explore what to look for in joining a turn around and what to avoid.

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