Consumers, believing they have been empowered, are now harnessing social media to build up and tear down brands. But many companies are guilty of manipulating these consumer decisions. Martin Lindstrom reveals how this blurring of social bonds and marketing strategy is happening before our eyes in his new book 'Brandwashed'. Consumers, he says, need to wake up and become savvy to these influences and use social media more responsibly.

'Brandwashed'

Cutting-edge expert commentary, analysis and business insights on the marketing and strategic issues of the day from Cambridge Judge Business School's global faculty, associates and guest speakers.

Dr Eden Yin, University Senior Lecturer in Marketing at Cambridge Judge Business School, says a strong brand implies a quality product, and a high quality product at the outset is essential in building the brand.

His forthcoming two-day Executive Education programme on brand building deals with the strategies and processes involved. Aimed at brand managers who deal with brands on a daily basis, Dr Yin also expects interest from NGOs and not-for-profit organisations.

Brand building programme for Cambridge Judge Business School

Research by Dr Ben Barry, an Ogilvy Foundation scholar at Cambridge Judge Business School, into the way fashion brands use models reveals that women want those models, regardless of age or size, to inspire them with glamour, artistry and creativity, as opposed to stimulating just aspiration. His cross-cultural study of consumer response to size, age and race diversity in fashion advertising involving nearly three thousand women in North America, Canada and China also revealed strong cultural differences. In North America he found the practice of using only models who reflect the Western beauty ideal to be ineffective, whereas in China younger Chinese women actually increased purchase intention when they saw idealised Western models. Multi-regional approaches, explains Dr Barry, are therefore needed when developing successful advertising.

Does my bottom line look big in this?

Luck, he says, is all about working hard to create certain capabilities so that when the opportunities arise you are the best prepared to take advantage of the opportunity. That’s what people call luck. That is what luck is all about.

Luck favours the prepared mind

Five years ago Dr Kamal Munir, who has followed American company Kodak's fortunes for more than a decade, warned the company that unless it changed its strategy and embraced digital imaging and photography, its days were numbered. A few days ago Eastman Kodak filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States.

'Brandwashed'

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