Is Short-termism Undermining Your Brand Equity?
Short-termism in marketing has resurfaced, fueled by big data, analytics, digital, AI, and labels such as demand marketing. Looking back at the 1980s, a short-termism decade, that era provided permission for “sales now” programs that failed to deliver growth. That approach contributed to profit erosion, turned customers’ priority to prices, encouraged ill-advised extensions, damaged brands and profits, and led to the emergence of brand equity. To avoid a repeat, CMOs need to convince others that brand equity is critical to the business strategy. To succeed, demand and brand marketing need to be partners, creating and exploiting their synergies.
Authors
- David Aaker
Institutions
- Berkeley College (US)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- California Management Review
- Published
- 2026-04-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1177/00081256261434968
- Primary Topic
- Consumer Market Behavior and Pricing
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00