David L Aaker

"This seems a logical step for the Pope because he can reach a lot of people, especially Millenials, this way," says San Francisco branding strategist David Aaker. Francis "needs to be relevant to the younger generation and using social-media tools like this is definitely one way to do that."

alph Lauren, Belk Belk, Delta, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Lexus Lexus, P&G, Kroger Kroger, Macys, Bloomingdales, the WWE, Go Daddy and yes, the NFL. Thousands of other companies, institutions and groups, large and small have galvanized around what my colleague, David Aaker, calls a Shared Interest.

According to David Aaker, a brand-strategy specialist and professor emeritus at UC Berkeleys Haas School of Business, the logo redesign accounts for only a small part of a brand. However, he believes the university should have put more effort in explaining the logo.

The outrage could damage the company's brand and business, said David Aaker, vice chairman of brand consulting firm Prophet. Word of mouth has always been important to companies' images, but social networks have amplified consumers' voices, he said. Netflix is particularly vulnerable because many of