APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2014/2015

MRK 3564 Branding

Responsible for the course
Morten Erichsen

Department
Department of Marketing

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
7,5

Language of instruction
Norwegian

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.

Learning outcome
Acquired knowledge
The student shall

• Be able to describe and understand why brands exist, and their value and functions for buyers and owners
• Be able to describe, understand and identify central components of a branded article, brand awareness, brand associations, and how these components are established in consumers' memory
• Knowledge of, an ability to describe, and an understanding of the most important theories and principles for the development of brands at the article and corporate level
• Knowledge of, an ability to describe and discuss varying strategies for brand growth, including brand extensions, brand hierarchies and brand portfolios, brand elements, brand collaborations, and brand communications

• Be able to give a presentation of different methods for brand valuation, and how they (in principle) should be conducted
• Be able to apply the brand equity pyramid or other brand management models to identify gaps between a brand's real and desired position
• Be able to develop suggestions for brand growth strategies, including extensions, architecture, collaboration, brand elements and brand communications
• Be able to apply knowledge and theories of branding across contexts: products, services, public and private sector, concrete articles and abstract corporate levels

• 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 portfoliomanagement
• Brand communications: objectives and planning
• Brand collaborations