Cambridge Judge Business School Discussions on Marketing & Strategy

Dr Eden Yin and Dr Omar Merlo discuss the importance of marketing and brand building during a recession and warn that long term value creation must not be sacrificed to short term challenges. They explain how companies that survived previous recessions all continued to invest in their brands during these down turns, eventually emerging stronger. The answer: striking a delicate balance between maintaining a consistent brand image and flexible brand management. Drs Yin and Merlo explain how this can be achieved.

From National to Global: Maurice Levy Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe and Kevin Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi are definitely "opposites" who attract. Together they have built up a successful global brand which dominates the world of advertising. It was, says Maurice ,a "simple" vision to value our "people" and to trust in them. Now the Publicis Groupe is one of the world's top four leading advertising and communications organisations. Maurice Levy speaks about his agency, his views on building a brand and multinational company in the age of globalization and his opposite half and "twin mind" Kevin Roberts.

Complex organisations can share a common approach to crisis management, and communication is key. According to General Hayden, former head of the CIA, in order to be successful, leaders brought in to implement radical decisions need to listen and fully assess their organisation and accommodate where it is in its life cycle before instigating change.

Not everything you read in management thinking is true in fact guru advice needs an overhaul says Professor Alain Verbeke in his new book and Professor Peter Buckley agrees it's time to rethink.

If you set out to describe the myths of guru business thinking you need supporters. Here Professor Alan Rugman says why he thinks new thinking is needed.

Piecing together building blocks for business success is a better way of proceeding than following traditional guru thinking says Jack Keenan CEO of Grand Cru Consulting Ltd.

Moments in time that move the world's thinking on are rare but the CIBAM Distinguished Lecture 2009 brought together leading professors and practitioners who agreed business guru thinking is changing says Dr Christos Pitelis.

Jeremy Darroch, CEO of BSkyB, explains why renewal and change are the key to success at all levels of business: "If you stop changing, you stop improving and then someone else will step in and be successful where you once were". The need to orientate oneself around one's customers is vital and will provide a commercial advantage.

Dr George Olcott explains how he believes the company can weather this particular storm and get back on track.

Hotel Chocolat has bucked the recession and continued to expand; co-founder Peter Harris shares his recipe for success.

Dr Omar Merlo, a University Lecturer in Marketing and Strategy, says Facebook and other new media tools bring with them new risks for brand management. The challenge is identifying, and immediately responding via the right channels, if they threaten your reputation. YouTube and Facebook users, he says, have changed the face of marketing forever.