The purpose of this module is to equip students with the fundamental concepts and theories of strategic brand management and enable them to critically engage with and apply key brand management theories and strategies to a range of relevant sectors and contexts. This level 8 marketing module provides students with specialised strategic brand management knowledge and skills, while engaging students in a range of current branding issues including the role of ethics and CSR and global branding.

The module firstly presents the history and origin of branding before focusing on brand building theories and models. It then explores the nature and role of brand image and corporate identity and corporate brand management. Brand equity from a consumer and financial perspective is introduced and compared. Brand building strategies are explored in a range of contexts including services, retailing, B2B and online. Strategic brand building is explored with strong emphasis on developing valuable, sustainable and ethical brands and managing successful brands in an increasingly globalised and digitalised context.

Understand and articulate key tenets of branding and strategic brand management knowledge, theory and practice within a global context. Identify and critically engage with core branding concepts and strategies and evaluate their impact on marketing strategy and performance. Demonstrate a range of skills including critical analysis, creative thinking, communication and collaborative skills. Apply key strategic brand management theories to contemporary cases and examples and propose creative solutions to complex branding scenarios. Evaluate the strategic, ethical and global opportunities and challenges facing responsible brand managers in a variety contexts and cultures. Synthesise key knowledge to proactively demonstrate and apply understanding of strategic brand management concepts and tools to a variety of contexts.

Demonstrate an awareness of the importance of ethical and societal values within a stategic brand management context and an appreciation of the broader ethical and societal impacts of brand strategies on business and society as a whole.

N/A

This module will be taught through a series of weekly lectures supported by tutorials and will adopte highly active and experiential teaching and learning approach. In this module, there is a strong recognition of the importance of recent brand developments and research findings. A variety of key and current seminal branding literature and sources will be incorporated in the module with the students required to critically engage with and articulate key branding concepts, theories and practices. The students will therefore develop a deep knowledge of branding theory and practice. This knowledge will be applied through both tutorials/workshops and also continuous assessment where for example, students will collaborate and proactively research key branding issues and apply them to relevant examples and cases. This knowledge will be also be assessed in a end of term exam, requiring them to critically engage with core material. They will be able to articulate, both verbally and in writing, this new knowledge and application to practice. Continuous assessment and tutorials will also enable them to develop a range of skills including creative thinking, critical analysis, communication skills and team building skills where for example, students may be required to present and report a brand strategy analysis. A focus on ethics, CSR and societal implications of branding within a variety of business contexts and cultures will enable them to become aware of their role and responsibility as future marketers and brand managers within a global arena.