John Quelch

“Every time there is a recession, consumers will typically be more cautious, more conservative, take more time, and make more serious price-performance trade-offs.”

“It's pretty challenging in a small country to develop a business school with a world-class reputation because of the problem of attracting a critical mass of top-class researchers.”

“You have to be willing to totally immerse yourself in China in order to have in-depth exposure to China.”

“To be a dean, you have to be a salesman as well as a scholar.”

“Changing our consumer behaviour is similar to quitting smoking. Unless people are shocked into doing it, either by social disapproval or family disapproval or fear of the medical consequences, they'll just keep on smoking.”

“The skills associated with knowledge creation are totally different from the skills associated with production.”

“The closer a brand can cozy up to a consumer with a message along the lines of, 'We're all in this together,' the better off a brand will be.”

“If you have market power like Nike, you can set terms that are much tougher because athletes value the endorsement of Nike - it means as much to them as it does to the company.”

“Every company, large and small, has an impact on health.”

“There are a lot of thought leaders who don't want to see their students. We don't want to hire them. If students are allured to come to the school because of famous faculties, and if they never see them, that leaves very bad taste.”

“Coca-Cola is an American icon.”

“View health as an investment, not an expense.”

“When you have a CEO who is an ex-CMO, that is going to put the marketing tool kit front and center.”

“Instead of being focused on teaching what we already know, we now have to be focused on creating new knowledge that is China-based, because it's absolutely clear that China is going to shift from a production economy to a knowledge economy.”

“There are distinct categories of consumers, each of which needs to be addressed in a different way.”

“When times are good, there is budget available for increased research on secondary products or customers.”

“The Starbucks brand has shifted over time from being a specialty brand to being more of a mass brand. There is a gap at the top of the market.”

“Pepsi and Coke have to co-exist on the shelf for the long term because if they pull each other down, no one's going to drink carbonated soft drinks anymore.”

“Understanding place is critical to achieving corporate growth.”

“Brand preferences and consumption levels in emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil tend to be more fluid. Consumer research is therefore critical to aid marketers trying to cement brand preferences early on as these economies develop.”