Americus Reed, II is the Whitney M. Young Jr., professor of marketing at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where he has served on the faculty since 2000. An avid fitness enthusiast, part time drummer, and tireless educator, Americus’ primary research and consulting areas are in brand equity and identity loyalty – the study of creating and fostering “brand communities” that transcend the utilitarian aspects of products to actualize iconic levels of symbolic identity and self-expression; connect to deep levels of emotional and social affiliation; and cultivate lifelong relationships with consumers.
In 2005, his academic work in this area received honorable mention for the prestigious Robert Ferber Award for academic impact in the Journal of Consumer Research (JCR) and in 2009 he received JCR’s Best Paper Award. Americus has authored more than 50 articles, book chapters, and cases on the topic. He teaches customer analysis, branding, and consumer psychology to undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and executive students.