GBK Collective, a leading marketing strategy, consumer behavior and analytics consultancy, announced that Dr. Americus Reed II and Samuel Botts have joined the company. Dr. Reed is the Whitney M. Young Jr., Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where he has served on faculty since 2000. Botts is a senior consultant, bringing over two decades of experience in strategic management and marketing expertise.

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“At GBK, we pride ourselves on bringing the world’s leading academic experts, analytics talent and marketing leaders together to help brands solve business problems in high definition”

As the Wharton Marketing Department’s pre-eminent identity theorist, Dr’s Reed’s research and work as a consultant has been instrumental in helping many of the world’s most iconic brands such as Disney, Estee Lauder, Google and Microsoft to define a successful brand strategy. Through quantitative and strategic insights, Americus and Samuel are adept at helping companies to better understand the specific triggers, attitudes and values that lead customers to identify with a brand and products – providing new information for marketers about what drives loyalty.

“Americus is the foremost expert in the application of identity theory to marketing” said Jeremy Korst, President, GBK Collective. “His seminal work around identity loyalty not only transcends traditional marketing techniques, it applies quantitative data and unique insights to help companies better understand the psychology of consumers and foster a deeper connection with customers to increase brand equity and loyalty. Americus and Samuel are an amazing addition to our team at GBK, and we look forward to having them consult with client partners to build momentum in the market.”

“Branding is an important, ubiquitous and inescapable phenomena that when embraced and harnessed properly, can be a positive force to help people improve their lives,” said Dr. Reed. “But many companies fail to define or execute a brand strategy that creates identity loyalty. Ultimately successful branding is about creating an inextricable link between the brand and its customers – where people see the brand and its products as part of who they are. I am thrilled to join the GBK team and look forward to working with client partners on strategies to extend their identity loyalty and impact in the market.”

As the world’s leading expert on “Identity” and its interface between social science and business, Professor Reed’s research has been published in top-tier academic journals including The Journal of Consumer Research and The Journal of Marketing Research. He has authored more than 50 articles, book chapters and cases on the topic, as well as being featured on major media such as CNN, CNBC, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, among others. Reed hosts the podcast, Marketing Matters, which airs live on Wharton’s Sirius XM Channel 132 Business Radio. He received his PhD from the University of Florida, and his MS and BA degrees from Georgia State University.

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“At GBK, we pride ourselves on bringing the world’s leading academic experts, analytics talent and marketing leaders together to help brands solve business problems in high definition,” said GBK co-founder Eric Bradlow, who is also Vice Dean of Analytics and Chairperson of Wharton’s Marketing Department. “Americus’ thought leading research on identity loyalty has introduced invaluable insights for brands, and we’re honored to have Samuel and him join our team as we continue to stretch further with client partners to improve brand strategy and measurement.”

Samuel Botts also brings extensive experience to the GBK team with expertise interpreting customer data to better understand how customers’ identities are connected to the products and services they purchase. In partnership with Dr. Reed, Mr. Botts has assisted dozens of major brands in creating, stronger, “stickier” relationships, based on the brand concept of Identity Loyalty, with their customer base. He holds a Master’s degree in Engineering from the University of Michigan and received his MBA from the Wharton School of Business.