Finding Wisdom in Brand Tragedies
Managing Threats to Brand Equity
Robert J. Thomas
More About the Book
Brands and branding have deep historical roots. Almost anything or anyone can be branded with a name or mark for commercial or other purposes. The act of branding initiates activities in a brand ecosystem among people and organizations who have a vested interest in the brand and who may receive value from it.
Occasionally a brand will experience a tragedy that can put its value and equity at risk. Pundits will often conclude there is a primary reason for a specific brand’s tragedy, and in some situations that is the case. However, studying the situation more deeply can reveal tragic flaws in the response to brand-challenging experiences.
The purpose of the book is to examine the backstories of a selection of relatively well-known brands that have experienced a tragedy. The objective is to inform how and why some brands survived and some did not. Doing so, may help leaders and managers of current brands avoid the miscues that lead to brand tragedies and possibly revive a brand when tragedy strikes.
About the Author
Bob Thomas is Emeritus Professor of Marketing at Georgetown University. At Georgetown he held numerous leadership positions, launched several new programs, and taught a diverse set of advanced courses in marketing. He received his doctorate in marketing from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM).
Bob has over 60 publications in the areas of new product development, market segmentation, organizational buying behavior, business-to-business marketing, and forecasting. His book, New Product Development: Managing and Forecasting for Strategic Success, was a featured selection of the Fortune Book Club. His book New Product Success Stories: Lessons From Leading Innovators has been published in several languages.
Bob has designed and taught executive education seminars in the U.S., Europe, and Asia and has consulted with over 60 organizations in a wide variety of industries and cultures, including both consumer and business-to-business products and services.
Bob is grateful to five Georgetown MBA research assistants who provided information on selected brand tragedies for the book. They include Chen Chen, Morgan Swedberg, Sara Reid, Daniella Arias, and Katherine Myamasu.