Brand Management

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, students should be able to:
• Understand the evolutionary trajectory of brand management
• Identify the building blocks of powerful brand strategies
• Apply appropriate branding approaches to tackle real life brand challenges
• Analyze and critique branding strategies

Content

In this course, we will examine multiple theoretical perspectives on brand and will understand how each theoretical approach involves a different brand management toolkit. We will approach branding from multiple perspectives from rational branding to emotional branding to cultural branding. To complement the theoretical foundations, we will discuss real life strategic challenges that brand and their managers face and learn from the success and failure of particular brand strategies. We will also understand how brands and brand management have evolved in the 21st century and what are the key ethical, environmental and socio-cultural implications of brand management’s evolutionary trajectory. We will explore concepts such as unique selling proposition (USP), mindspace positioning, cultural brand strategy and performance metrics such as brand equity, brand love, share of voice.

We will attempt to simulate the life of a brand manager in a typical multinational organization, who is working with incomplete data, technological vanishing points, multi-method research reports, changing marketplace dynamics, intensifying competition and increased customer power.

Teacher

Tatsiana Padhaiskaya

Study material

Lecture slides and workshops, no textbook required; course centers around academic and articles assigned by the lecturer (e.g., Journal of Marketing, Harvard Business Review, etc.). Course materials include 14 mandatory and 14 supplementary readings.

Online learning environment for the course & Activating Aalto ID

MyCourses online learning environment is a tool for both students and teachers for communication and managing everyday course work. You need an Aalto User ID to log in to the course's MyCourses workspace and participate in teaching. You can activate your Aalto User ID the day after the registration and you should activate it no later than the day before the start of the course. Instructions for activating your Aalto User IDDigital workspace of the course:
MyCoursesMore details on completing the course will be available at MyCourses closer to the start of the course.

Workload

6 credits, 160 hours:

• Lectures 24 h
• Independent studying (incl. readings) 63 h
• Individual assignments 15 h (5h x 3)
• Group project work 42 h
• Take-home exam 16 h

Prerequisites

Basic course in marketing (e.g., Principles of Marketing) or equivalent knowledge

Evaluation

Grading is based on a 0-5 scale.
90-100 points - 5
80-89 points  -  4
70-79 points  -  3
60-69 points  -  2
50-59 points  -  1
Below 50 points - Fail

The assessment will be based on the following deliverables:

Participation (10 points, individual grading)
Students may earn participation points by actively engaging in the class discussions, commenting, etc. and/or by leaving personal reflections on the course readings through Perusall.

Short individual assignments (30 points (10 points each), individual grading)
Three individual assignments. Further information will be given during Lecture 1.
Individual assignment submission deadlines: 13.08.2023, 20.08.2023, 27.08.2023

Group project (30 points, group grading)
The group project entails an in-class presentation of 20 minutes (15 minutes presentation, 5 minutes Q&A). Groups will have 3 to 5 members. Further information on the topic of the group project and deliverables will be given during Lecture 1.
Presentation deadline: 04.09.2023 – 23:55

Take-home exam (30 points, individual grading)
Take-home exam is an individual assignment which consists of 5 questions. The assignment will be specified and given to the students during the Lecture 12.
Take-home exam deadline: 17.09.2023 - 23:55

Teaching time and location

Please note that all session will be held online via Zoom. Recording of the sessions will be available on MyCourses after every lecture. Schedule and readings are the subject to minor changes. Always check up-to-date information from MyCourses-page.

Take-home exam
The assignment will be specified and given to the students during the Lecture 12.
Take-home exam deadline: 17.09.2023 - 23:55

Exam instructions at the Open University

Registration and course fee

Registration for Open University courses is done in Sisu-service. Course registration:
Sisu-serviceRegistration for this course starts on 6.6.2023 at 9.00  
Registration for this course ends on 25.07.2023 at 23.59

The course fee is paid upon registration for each course at a time and it is binding. Familiarize yourself with registration and payment rules as well as other guidelines for students:
Registration, payments and rules

If you are an attending degree student at Aalto University, it is possible for you to complete this course for free of charge during summer 2023. Registration is done normally in Sisu. Please make sure that you have the correct course code in your study plan before registering to the course. You can check the course code from the top of this page.
Instructions for course registration (for Aalto degree students)

This course is organized by the Aalto University Open University.

Equivalences to other courses

Brand Management (23D320,23E24000,A23E24000k),Brands in Strategic Marketing (23E53000), Brändin voiman johtaminen ja arviointi (A23E53015),Brand Performance Management (23E53010)

Individual study arrangements

If you need individual study arrangements in order to attend a course, contact the Open University office ([email protected]) in good time, at least 14 days before the start date of the course or the examination date. Further information about individual study arrangements:
Individual study arrangements at Open University