STRONGBRANDS    Professor Tim Calkins, Kellogg School of Management

The big news this month, of course, has been the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe vs. Wade. This is the first of two articles I’ll be writing about the ruling. This week’s theme: both supporters and opponents need words. We need to rebrand the abortion debate. Brand Choice vs. Brand Life It used to be […]

Today is Commencement Day at Kellogg! This is one of the best days of the year on campus. Graduates are taking pictures, visiting the Global Hub with family, and getting ready to walk across the stage. Marking these moments in life is important. This is a particularly happy milestone, full of hopes and anticipation. It […]

Things are not going well for Peloton, one of my 2022 Brands to Watch. The stock is trading at about $13 a share, a remarkable fall from its peak of over $160. The company lost a staggering $757 million in the latest quarter. Perhaps more concerning, the company has a vast amount of inventory and […]

The world is full of mediocre advertising. There are commercials that simply deliver a product message, and many of these are perfectly fine. There are spots that promise a happy family and life, and these can work ok. Most advertising just does what it is supposed to do: slightly increase purchase interest. On occasion, however, […]

Last week I moderated a panel discussion at Kellogg on personal finance with three successful Kellogg alumni. It was a great session; the panelists shared their learnings about saving, spending, working with a partner and making career shifts. For me, the most surprising part of the discussion was about student loans. All three panelists had […]

It is annual report season. If you own individual stocks, this is the time of year when annual reports and proxy statements arrive in your mailbox. I like to dabble in stocks and I’ve been reviewing this year’s mailings. It is amazing how some companies invest in their annual report and mail out a well considered update on […]

A disaster. That is perhaps the one word we can use to sum up the Academy Awards this year, an event most notable for Will Smith attacking Chris Rock. The Branding Impact The Oscars were a disaster for Will Smith. At his time of great success, the moment when he should be celebrating and enjoying congratulations, […]

Brands are the associations linked to a name or symbol, and these connections are usually created over time. At first the Nike swoosh was just a swoosh, but today it has enormous meaning. Once created, brands are difficult to change. Brand repositioning, shifting the meaning of a name, is one of the great marketing challenges. All […]

Welcome to 2022! Every year I highlight a few brands to watch, brands that are heading into a particularly interesting year. This year I have five selections. The Olympics Rarely has there been a more interesting time for the Olympics. The big question: can the Olympics separate the event from the host country? The Olympic […]

Each year I identify a set of brands to watch – brands facing interesting challenges and opportunities in the coming year. With just a few days left in the year, let’s look back at my 2021 selections and see what happened. COVID As I projected, one brand dominated all others in 2021: COVID. I feared […]

One of the best things about teaching at Kellogg is that I get to hear and learn from remarkable business leaders. This week I had a particularly interesting morning. I first heard from a noted and gifted economist, who was commenting on trends in the global economy. Then I heard from the CEO of a […]

The world of watches is a fascinating space for branding, and one of the most puzzling brands is the Grand Seiko. Watches and Branding When it comes to marketing something, there are two things to consider. First, there is the actual product or service. Second, there is the brand. When people see an offering, they […]