Marketing Today: David Aaker Prophet

Podcast

David Aaker is widely recognized as the father of modern branding. He’s the vice chairman of Prophet, a global marketing and branding consultancy, and was inducted into the American Marketing Association’s Hall of Fame in 2015. He has written 16 books, and the most recent is “Creating Signature Stores: Strategic Messaging that Energizes, Persuades and Inspires.”

During this “Marketing Today” podcast, Aaker explained his belief in the power of stories as a tool of persuasion. “Stories are so much better at changing perceptions and at changing attitudes and even in gaining attention than are facts,” he said. “That’s how stories persuade. They inhibit counterarguing, they attract attention, and they allow people to deduce their own conclusions.”

The stories companies create and live into provide meaning for their employees, too, Aaker added. “Employees are looking for meaning in their work, and they’re looking to be associated with an organization they respect and admire,” he said. “So it’s really important for organizations to provide some kind of higher purpose. And to communicate that higher purpose, stories are a lot better than just assertions.”

Highlights from this week’s “Marketing Today” podcast include:

• Barclays as an example of why stories are so much better than facts. (5:01)
• “Signature stories” defined and how they are different from simple narratives and a brand’s purpose. (7:24)
• Three elements of a signature story. (11:43)
• Aaker shares a signature story of his own. (17:55)
• What Aaker means when he says, “We’re engaged in a fight for the soul of capitalism.” (20:37)

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