Americus Reed, II is The Whitney M. Young Jr. Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and co-founder and partner of identity, loyalty and branding consultants, Persona Partners. Americus is the Marketing Department’s only “identity theorist,” focusing his research on the role consumers’ self concepts play in guiding buying decisions. He examines how social identity, social influence, values, attitudes and judgments interact in shaping purchase decisions and consumer behavior, but from a social psychology point of view. Americus is a newly minted director of the Enrollment Management Association, which means he’s taking an accelerated, deep dive into independent school marketing as we speak.

In this episode of the Sparkcast, I talk with Americus about identity loyalty theory, how it impacts private schools and how you can leverage it for meaningful , long-term connections to all of the school's constituents.