Inaugural Lecture by Prof. Leslie de Chernatony - "Growing Brand Value"

USI continues its series of inaugural lectures, providing an opportunity for new professors to introduce themselves and share their field of expertise with the university community. "We look forward to inaugural lectures becoming a tradition at our institution," states Università della Svizzera italiana President, Piero Martinoli. USI's second inaugural lecture will be delivered on Thursday, December 9th, 2010, by Prof. Leslie de Chernatony. The event will be held at 5:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Lugano Campus.

At the lecture, entitled, "Growing Brand Value," Prof. de Chernatony will present evidence of the importance of brands and their financial value. "In an era of consumer empowerment, a lack of creativity and managerial stubbornness based on a command and control mentality are two major impediments to growing the value of brands," according to Prof. de Chernatony. Brands are valuable assets, yet in times of recession are erroneously subjected to cost cutting. To fully capitalise on the opportunities presented by these intangible assets, organisations need to appreciate the concept of value and identify strategies to enhance their brands' value.  A consideration of some of the ways of growing brand value will be presented.

Leslie de Chernatony is Full Professor of Brand Marketing at Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland, Honorary Professor at Aston Business School, Birmingham, UK and Managing Partner at Brands Box Marketing & Research Consultancy. Graduating with a first class honours degree in Physics, he worked in the Marketing Departments of several international corporations.  Intrigued by the challenges of brand building, he moved to the university sector.  de Chernatony's research is globally disseminated through his books, frequent international conference presentations and a significant stream of international journal articles, several of which have won best paper prizes.  He was elected a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a Fellow of the Market Research Society. Additionally, de Chernatony is a Freeman of the City of London and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Marketors. Winning several major research grants helped de Chernatony and his team investigate factors associated with brand success. He sits on the Editorial Boards of numerous journals.

de Chernatony has run many highly acclaimed management development workshops globally.  His advice has been sought by numerous organisations throughout the world on developing more effective brand strategies. On several occasions he has acted as an expert witness in court cases over branding issues. His research focuses on brand management.

 
A reception will follow the inaugural lecture.

Contacts

Università della Svizzera italiana
Ktimene Gembol and Giovanni Zavaritt
Tel +41 (0)58.666.47.92
E-Mail: [email protected]