• Explain what a brand is and its strategic significance for the firm or organization.
• Explain the components that managers can use to build brand equity and the theories and models of how this takes place in consumers’ minds.
• Explain different approaches to measuring brand equity.
• Have a broad comprehension of concepts, theories, and models to analyze the role of brands in consumers’ lives.
• Outline relevant consumer research on image and luxury brands.
• Apply this knowledge in the management of brands.

Building strong brands is one of the core activities in marketing and all marketing activities should have as one of its goals to maintain or increase the brand’s equity. Therefore, it is important that students wishing to pursue a career in marketing have an understanding of brand management and what brands mean to consumers. This course will look at brands both from the perspective of the marketing manager and from the perspective of the consumer.

This course will have a special focus on image and luxury brands and the roles they play in consumers’ lives. The course will draw on recent research on how consumers use brands for self-expression, evolutionary consumer psychology, and conspicuous consumption to illuminate how consumers use brands and the implications for the management of brands.

For the Preliminary Assignment students have to choose a brand and analyze its positioning. Their analysis should be written up as a brief (max. 2 pages) report. This will require students to read the first three chapters of the textbook and to apply the theories from the textbook to a practical case. For the Mandatory Mid-Term Assignment students will need to prepare a case study discussion and hand in a one-page report.

Preliminary Assignment: To help students get maximum value from ISUP courses, instructors provide a reading or a small number of readings or video clips to be read or viewed before the start of classes with a related task scheduled for class 1 in order to 'jump-start' the learning process.

The timetable is available on http://www.cbs.dk/uddannelse/summer-university-programme/courses.

Textbook: Keller, Kevin Lane (2012), Strategic Brand Management. Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity (Fourth Edition). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.

Journal articles:

Aaker, Jennifer L. (1997), "Dimensions of Brand Personality," Journal of Marketing Research, 34 (August), 347-56.

Chernev, Alexander, Ryan Hamilton, and David Gal (2011), "Competing for Consumer Identity: Limits to Self-Expression and the Perils of Lifestyle Branding," Journal of Marketing, 75 (May), 66-82.

Dawar, Niraj (2004), "What Are Brands Good For?," Sloan Management Review, 46 (Fall), 31-7.

Dunn, Michael J. and Robert Searle (2010), "Effect of Manipulated Prestige-Car Ownership on Both Sex Attractiveness Ratings," British Journal of Psychology, 101 (February), 69-80.

Griskevicius, Vladas, Joshua M. Tybur, and Bram Van den Bergh (2010), "Going Green to Be Seen: Status, Reputation, and Conspicuous Conservation," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98 (March), 392-404.

Han, Young Jee, Joseph C. Nunes, and Xavier Drèze (2010), "Signaling Status with Luxury Goods: The Role of Brand Prominence," Journal of Marketing, 74 (July), 15-30.

Hoeffler, Steve and Kevin Lane Keller (2003), "The Marketing Advantages of Strong Brands," Journal of Brand Management, 10 (6), 421-45.

Joachimsthaler, Erich and David A. Aaker (1997), "Building Brands Without Mass Media," Harvard Business Review, 75 (January-February), 39-50.

Keller, Kevin Lane, Brian Sternthal, and Alice Tybout (2002), "Three Questions You Need to Ask About Your Brand," Harvard Business Review, 80 (September), 80-6.

Melnyk, Valentyna, Kristina Klein, and Franziska Völckner (2012), "The Double-Edged Sword of Foreign Brand Names for Companies from Emerging Countries," Journal of Marketing, 76 (November), 21-37.

Muñiz, Albert M., Jr. and Thomas C. O'Guinn (2001), "Brand Community," Journal of Consumer Research, 27 (March), 412-32.

Park, C. Whan, Bernard J. Jaworski, and Deborah J. MacInnis (1986), "Strategic Brand Concept-Image Management," Journal of Marketing, 50 (October), 135-45.

Park, Ji Kyung and Deborah Roedder John (2010), "Got to Get You into My Life: Do Brand Personalities Rub Off on Consumers?," Journal of Consumer Research, 37 (December), 655-69.

Saad, Gad and John G. Vongas (2009), "The Effect of Conspicuous Consumption on Men’s Testosterone Levels," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 110 (November), 80-92.

Schneider, Joan and Julie Hall (2011), "Why Most Product Launches Fail," Harvard Business Review, 89 (April), 21-3.

Sundie, Jill M., Douglas T. Kenrick, Vladas Griskevicius, Joshua M. Tybur, Kathleen D. Vohs, and Daniel J. Beal (2011), "Peacocks, Porsches, and Thorstein Veblen: Conspicuous Consumption as a Sexual Signaling System," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100 (April), 664-80.

Wang, Yajin, and Vladas Griskevicius (2014) 'Conspicuous Consumption, Relationships, and Rivals: Women’s Luxury Products as Signals to Other Women', Journal of Consumer Research, 40(February), pp. 834-854.

Wilcox, Keith, Hyeong Min Kim, and Sankar Sen (2009), "Why Do Consumers Buy Counterfeit Luxury Brands?" Journal of Marketing Research, 46 (April), 247-59.