BRANDING AND COMMUNICATION - 1

The course is the part 1 of a course including also business communication (part 2) and is strongly connected with the second part. In marketing brand management is one of the most important sources of value for the company, mainly in B2C markets, but growing faster in imprtance also in B2B ones.
The Branding course aims to make the students aware about the importance of branding, about the complexity of brand management, about the opportunities a strong brand can create for a compani.
The course presents topics concerning Brand management. Beyond specific types of brands (luxury brands, corporate brands or retail brands for example), is presented a theoretical perspective along with illustrative examples. Will be analyzed concepts such as brand image, brand identity, brand personality, brand territory, brand values, and the brand evolution (new brand, expanding brand, mature brand etc.). The financial aspect of brand management, brand valuation, will be considered. The last part of the course will be devoted to the product marketing management and strategies, including product features and packaging.

1. Knowledge and understanding
● Knowing the main theories about branding and models of brand analysis.
● Knowing the different ways of adaptation of branding strategies and solutions used by companies in different market contexts.
● Knowing the basics of strategic marketing and brand management behavior of companies in international markets and culturally distant markets.
2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
● To Know how to correctly recognize which brand management tools and activities can be used in the various situations of international markets.
● To Know how to do a simple analysis of the brand management problems that a company faces daily in a complex market context.
● To Be able to recognize the key aspects of a brand management decision and its implementation.
● To Be able to work in a multicultural team to solve complex marketing problems.
3. Ability to judge
● Knowing how to formulate and argue hypotheses for solving brand mangement problems, also developing a critical approach to the evaluation of alternative hypotheses.
4. Communication skills
● Knowing how to use the appropriate language in describing aspects of brand mangement.
● Knowing how to interact with peers, critically and respectfully, problem-solving.
5. Learning skills
● Knowing how to critically consult the reference texts and the bibliography contained.
● Knowing how to find, collect and select useful information from various sources to solve branding marketing problems
The students will know the main features of the brand, the connection among brands, the brand architecture, and the problems to solved in an international market context. Students should be able to manage the main tools for a brand strategy, to identify common pitfalls and risks in brand management. The students will be able to analyse the brand strenghts, weakenesses, and opportunities, and apply in a real situation what they learnt form the course.

Basic marketing management knowledge. The course will consider as known the marketing fundamentals.

1-Introduction to Brand management concept
2-Launching the brand
3-Brand equity
4-Brand building
5-Brand identity and positioning
6-Brand architecture
7-Managing brand across life cycle
8-Corporate branding and reputation
9-Retail brands
10-Packaging, product design and branding
11-country image and country of origin branding
12-Global and international brands

K. L. Keller, T. Aperia, M Georgson (2012) STRATEGIC BRAND MANGEMENT, Prentice Hall. Capitoli 1, 3, 4, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14.
or
Richard Rosenbaum-Elliott, Larry Percy, Simon Pervan (2018) Strategic BRAND MANAGEMENT, 4th Edition Oxford University Press; 4 edition; ISBN 978-0198797807
and
Vescovi T (2016) UNEXPECTED LESSONS IN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, Libreriauniversitaria.it, 8,90 €
available in Italian: CHIAVI CHE APRONO GABBIE; T. Vescovi; FrancoAngeli 2017.

The attending students will be involved in the Experior Project, preparing and presenting a project work for a company, as part of the exam (25%). They will be evaluated about their ability in solving brand and communication problems. They will prepare a short paper describing and commenting a brand marketing strategy (15%). They will make a short video focusing presenting a brand (10%). The final exam (only written) will refer to the textbook and to the topics discussed during the lessons (50%).
For non attending students the final exam (written -11 open questions- +oral) will refer to the textbook and to other materials available online. To be admitted to the oral exam the student should pass the written part.

Lectures will be concentrated in the first part of the course. Cases studies will be used to develop group works. Students will be directly involved in the lessons through discussion on brand topics. Some managers will be involved who will present the brand strategy in the business in which they operate. At the end of the course there will be a collective presentation of group work.

English

written and oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Circular economy, innovation, work" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development