by Adam Williams and Bruce Vlk
18 March 2014
Newswise — CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia — APCO Worldwide announced today the University of Virginia Darden School of Business as its academic partner for its industry-leading Champion Brand model. As APCO's academic partner, Darden will help deepen the knowledge and research behind Champion Brand, leading to new insights by examining the real-world implications to large corporations that use the Champion Brand model.
"I'm delighted to further APCO's industry-leading work on corporate branding with Darden's Institute for Business in Society (IBiS). Collaborating with IBiS as our academic partner on this effort will help APCO further enhance Champion Brand, ultimately helping corporations earn their roles as true leaders in society by building better corporate brands," said Margery Kraus, founder and CEO of APCO Worldwide.
Through this partnership, Darden and APCO will work in collaboration to analyze the information gathered in the annual Champion Brand study conducted by APCO. Darden will use the resulting rich data set and APCO's Champion Brand model to map out its real-world implications. Darden and APCO will then use the findings to assess potential impact to companies that use Champion Brand as a guiding corporate brand strategy.
"By creating an interchange between the thought leadership of scholars and the leading practices of companies and industries, APCO and Darden will be exploring the changing dynamic between business and society," said Darden Dean Bob Bruner. "The resulting work will help the current and next generation of business leaders, equipping them with best practices and tools to succeed in today's business environment."
Champion Brand is a comprehensive framework to evaluate and guide corporate brand strategy, helping companies build stronger corporate brands that empower them to become true leaders in their industries and in society — a Champion Brand. The model measures corporate brands along four dimensions known as the Four As — Alignment, Authenticity, Attachment and Advocacy. Champion Brand is built upon decades of leading brand research including a global opinion survey of more than 50,000 individuals — in 14 key markets around the world — on 500 companies' corporate brands. Using the study, each brand is scored along each of the Four As and receives a cumulative Champion Brand index score.
APCO and Darden will announce rankings of the top 100 corporate brands from the 2014 study later this year.
About the Darden School of BusinessThe University of Virginia Darden School of Business is one of the world's leading business schools, offering MBA, Ph.D. and Executive Education programs. The unique Darden experience combines the case study method, top-ranked faculty whose research advances global managerial practice and business education, and a tight-knit learning environment to develop responsible and complete leaders who are ready to make an impact.
About the Darden Institute for Business in SocietyThe Darden Institute for Business in Society (IBiS) aims to be a leading global catalyst and convener of thought, information and action at the interface of business and society, and to promote the development of leaders to positively impact society through their roles in business.
About APCO WorldwideFounded in 1984, APCO Worldwide is an independent global communication, stakeholder engagement and business strategy firm with offices in more than 30 major cities throughout the world. We challenge conventional thinking and inspire movements to help our clients succeed in an ever-changing world. Stakeholders are at the core of all we do. We turn the insights that come from our deep stakeholder relationships into forward-looking, creative solutions that always push the boundaries. APCO clients include large multinational companies, trade associations, governments, NGOs and educational institutions. The firm is a majority women-owned business.
For questions or information, contact Matt Charles or a member of the Communication team.
Sharing via social media? Please tag us: @DardenMBA on Twitter, UVA Darden School of Business on Facebook.
RSS