Branding

Introduction

Branding, or brand building and brand management concern almost all players in the public and private sectors of the economy. Branding deals extensively with positioning and value creation for customers, with the objective of becoming the preferred provider of products or services. As an increasing number of sectors and categories in the economy is becoming demand-driven, this implies that customers will have to make choices between competing, alternative suppliers. In this situation, most people behave as customers who choose between different brands to satisfy different needs.

This is a basic course in branding. With a wide focus, it stresses that branding is far more than making persuasive advertising. A brand is made by an organization, and subsequently positioned toward a target customer group. The frame of reference adopted by this course, is one of accepting that the brand and its position basically exist in one place: in the minds of the customers, as a mental representation, or position if you like. As such, this course holds a strong focus on the customer, and regards customer-value creation as the premise for brand strategies. Accordingly, the student's existing knowledge of consumer behaviour in particular, and marketing management in general, is the foundation on which to build an understanding of brand management.

Course content

• Introduction to brand management as a theoretical field and arena for managerial decisions
• Brand awareness and brand associations
• The brand value chain, methods for brand valuation, the customer based brand equity pyramid
• Brand elements
• Brand extensions, brand architecture and brand portfolio management
• Brand communications: objectives and planning
• Brand collaborations
• How brands are created by the entire organization
• Brands in the digital age