JEFF D. DAVIS portrait
  • Lassonde MBC Teaching Fellow, Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy
  • Assistant Professor (Lecturer), Marketing Department

Research Summary

PUBLICATION: Unpacking the dynamics in acquisition of capabilities: the role of identities during postmerger integration - Journal of Organizational Change Management (April 2022) https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JOCM-02-2021-0053/full/html

Education

  • Bachelor of Science, Marketing, University of Utah
  • Bachelor of Arts, German, University of Utah

Biography

Jeff is an international executive with global “Big Company” and entrepreneurial “Start Up” experience. Jeff is currently an Assistant Professor of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the University of Utah business school and a Lassonde Teaching Fellow. He is a founding faculty member of the Master of Business Creation (MBC), an accelerator nested within the University to help founders build and launch their companies. Jeff is also the Founder and Chairman of Molio Inc., an independent, full-service creative and media analytics digital agency, with online video at the core with capabilities to also originate, co-create and validate new brands with its Innovation and Validation Model.

For 23 years, Jeff built brands at Procter & Gamble, in numerous product sectors (consumer-packaged goods, pharmaceuticals and beauty) and in several countries (USA, Canada, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia). For 11 years at P&G, Jeff led the pharmaceutical division in Germany and Canada and later was the Director of Global Business Development in Cincinnati responsible for partnering, licensing or acquiring new drug candidates from a network of Pharma, Biotech and Venture Capital communities. Almost half of Jeff’s career has been outside the U.S.

After retiring from P&G in 2009, Jeff was the angel investor, board member and eventual CEO of Orabrush Inc., which pioneered Molio’s model and successfully built the Orabrush tongue cleaner brand. According to Google, Orabrush was one of the first companies to build and commercialize a product on a global level leveraging only YouTube advertising and recognized Orabrush as one of the 10 most iconic ad moments on YouTube alongside billion-dollar brands. Orabrush became the #1 tongue cleaner in the world. DenTek Oral Care acquired the Orabrush brand in 2014. The “Molio Method” has been touted as a disruptive approach for building brands and has been recognized by AdAge, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, TechCrunch, and ABC’s Nightline.

Jeff is a rare executive that has run global billion-dollar businesses and has also launched startups with a successful exit. Jeff also serves as a board member/advisor to several startups and was a board member of a private company that went public. In addition to speaking German fluently, Jeff is an avid skier and an advanced open water scuba diver and a less advanced golfer.

Jeff earned a B.S. in Marketing and a B.A. in German from the University of Utah, is married and has 4 children (and one important grandson and granddaughter!) and resides in Salt Lake City, Utah.