Kern lecture series welcomes branding expert

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Jonathan Bean, assistant professor of Markets, Innovation and Design at Bucknell University, will speak at RIT as part of the Kern lecture series on Feb. 20.

According to experts, brands that succeed in culture often have resonant, well-told stories. Using real-life fairytales as part of the brand narrative is a unique way to engage consumers by allowing them to revive child-like imagination.

Jonathan Bean, assistant professor of Markets, Innovation and Design at Bucknell University, is the featured speaker for the next installment of the 2013-2014 William A. Kern Lecture Series at Rochester Institute of Technology. Bean will speak at 3:45 p.m. Feb. 20 in Stan McKenzie Commons, room 1251 of Liberal Arts Hall. During his talk, Bean will discuss how fairytale branding has become one way to boost brand awareness and maintain success. He’ll also share the story of celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson and how he created a stable brand using the fairytale.

Bean—an expert in “taste regimes,” or how taste is marketing and consumed within social media—has been published in the Journal of Consumer Research and has completed graduate work in architecture, business and information studies. He has also taught courses on blogging and social networking.

The Kern lecture series, sponsored by an endowment from RIT’s William A. Kern Professorship in Communications in the College of Liberal Arts, provides an opportunity for scholarly discussion surrounding contemporary communication issues.

For more information about the free presentation, contact Jonathan Schroeder, the William A. Kern Professor in Communications, at 585-475-2703 or jesgla@rit.edu. Interpreters will be provided upon request.