Brand-driv­en In­nov­a­tion.

Course content

This course uses real life cases and hands on material to discuss and reflect on the complex role of brands in our society.

As unique bridges between company and market, brands can drive innovative processes in different ways, this course aims to furnish students with academic insights into branding from a corporate and societal standpoint, along with a practical hands-on toolbox to navigate the challenges of brand management in our evolving society.

Brand-driven innovation in this vein, reflects branding processes where brands form and drive novel agendas on a corporate as well as societal level. This course is designed to explore four areas of brand-driven innovation; co-creation, product development, ethics and cultural changes. The four modules each delve into one area and unfold concepts, tools and literature that will help you reflect on and answer questions within the complexity of corporate and socio-cultural branding. 

Brands are increasingly ingraining themselves in our daily lives, providing a platform for the formation and expression of perspectives, personality, and identity. Consequently, the societal role of brands plays a pivotal role in shaping our understanding of societal structures and meanings. The assessment of whether brands contribute positively has become a crucial consideration for both brand managers and consumers when appraising brand value. For example, consumer loyalty is now more than ever contingent upon how brands conduct themselves within society.

Structure

The course is diveded in 6 modules. This includes an intro and an outro module that facilitate the students with key knowledge on the course content and the exam. The remaining four modules each represents a theme and will involve one or more real life cases. Some modules might involve company visits or field trips that enhances our understanding of the relevant theme. 

Introduction

   This module introduces the students to the main topics of the course; branding and brand-driven innovation and stresses the difference between branding innovations and brand driven innovation. The introduction covers fundamental brand definitions, why brands matter, characteristics of strong brands, brand equity and other important concepts within branding. Furthermore, the students will be introduced to different managerial mindsets in branding which will be used as a navigation tool throughout the course. 

Module 1: Co-creation of brand identity

         This module explores creation and co-creation of brand identity, as we will investigate how brand identity is created in a corporate setting as well as in a co-creation mindset. Literature about market orientation versus corporate branding and the implied processes will highlight different angles on finding the right balance between the corporation’s internal resources and a deliberate activation of external resources. 

Module 2: Brand meaning and innovation

            This module delves into the profound influence of branding and brands on markets through brand innovation and intangible brand meaning. The curriculum encompasses scholarly works introducing students to facets of branding literature, particularly those pertaining to branding processes and brand meaning, brand leadership, and branding that innovates market structures for example crowdsourcing. Employing a real-life case study, the module critically analyzes, discusses, and reflects upon the literature, fostering an understanding of how brands come to life through their products.

Module 3: Branding and ethicality

           This module explores ethics from a brand perspective, focusing on how ethics can both influence branding and brands and how brands, in turn, can shape new ethical standards. The discussion involves an in-depth analysis of literature on brand morality and ethics. Additionally, a specific case highlighting diversity and equality will be utilized to provide a practical context for the theoretical discussions. 

Module 4: Brands as drivers for cultural change

            This module focuses on brands’ ability to co-drive cultural changes in a co-creational process with the market. The theoretical point of departure will be cultural branding and the practical implications will be highlighted by a number of practical cases where brands successfully have pushed an activistic and idealistic societal agenda.

Outro

The culmination of the course involves summarizing key learnings and conducting a Q&A session, allowing students to pose pertinent questions related to the course content. During this session, our utmost effort will be dedicated to adequately preparing students for the upcoming examination.

Please note that the elective course is reserved for HA students who wish to write their bachelor project in this elective course. Others are also welcome!