Faculty
Nicolas Nemery

Course Coordinator
Richard Jones

Strategic Brand Management is the foundation of the Marketing Communication Management concentration, since brand building and management of brand portfolios form the basis for marketing communication decisions. All other courses build on Strategic Brand Management

The most valuable assets that a company has are the brands that companies have invested in and developed over time. This is true for large conglomerates as well as for small start-up companies. Often a company itself is considered a brand. Brand Management is the concept of organising marketing activities around the introduction, promotion and optimisation of brands and brand portfolios. Although manufacturing processes, product designs, service and retail concepts can often be duplicated, strongly held consumer beliefs and attitudes regarding a brand or business often cannot be so easily reproduced. Like people, brands have their own individual personality. This differentiation drives the ability for a brand to grow and expand or it could limit a company’s potential, if not managed effectively.

Since brands are intangible assets, creating and nurturing a strong brand is a challenge; thus, building a brand is both an art and a science, calling for more than building brand images through traditional marketing communication activities. By understanding the concept of brand equity, marketers can gain valuable perspectives that will allow them to interpret effectiveness and trade-offs for various strategies and tactics. The Strategic Brand Management course will provide students with the tools necessary to manage a portfolio of brand equities, focusing explicitly on the management task, as distinct from advertising, public relations, product innovation, and other marketing disciplines that are inputs to a brand’s optimisation. This course will combine the most current brand management theory with practical applications.

The course will cover topics such as creating brand equity and positioning, measuring brand equity, using brand equity to expand a business, understanding the functions of brand management to deliver sustained consumer and customer value and brand loyalty, as well as practical management of strategic planning, product management, consumer research decision tools, and evaluating of marketing mix elements. More specifically the course will be covering the following topics:

Building and sustaining brand equity
A new, comprehensive, integrated model of brand building shows, how you may create brand resonance with customers—intense, active brand loyalty. In addition, new tactics for building brand equity are illustrated in terms of, how to properly choose brand elements, design supporting marketing programmes, and leverage secondary associations.

Measuring brand equity and value
Students learn how to develop comprehensive brand equity measurement systems that include brand charters to inform and inspire employees, brand audits to uncover what motivates customers, and brand tracking instruments to measure customers' marketplace perceptions, attitudes, and behaviour. Popular industry models are illustrated and critiqued, including how to financially value a brand.

Managing and leveraging brand value
Students learn how to grow brand equity through carefully designed and implemented brand extensions. Students also study, how to adjust brand strategies over time to maximise brand equity.

A written four-hour, open book exam.

This course will include lectures, discussions and topical case studies. The course will also include a number of practitioners as guest speakers.

Indicative literature