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2016/2017  KAN-CSMCO1001U  Corporate Branding and Communities

English Title
Corporate Branding and Communities

Course information

Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Autumn
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for MSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Richard Jones - Department of Marketing (Marketing)
Main academic disciplines
  • Marketing
Last updated on 06-07-2016
Learning objectives
To achieve the grade 12, students should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor mistakes or errors: At the end of the course the excellent student is expected to be able to:
1. Structure and discuss the central assumptions that are lying behind the notion of corporate branding and communities and why these constructs are central for companies that aim to create a sustainable and strong market position.
2. Describe and explain how theoretical frameworks and the practice of corporate branding has developed over time and what the central ideas, issues, processes and capabilities are and why.
3. Structure, illustrate and explain the entities (roles, links, processes etc.) that constitute a community and how to analyse these entities.
4. Describe and explain the construct of co-creation and how to relate and apply the construct to corporate branding and communities.
5. Relate and apply the literatures frameworks about branding and communities and explain how and why companies can create compelling and strong brand experiences.
Examination
Corporate Branding and Communities:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Written sit-in exam
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration 4 hours
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Autumn
Aids allowed to bring to the exam Limited aids, see the list below:
  • Written sit-in-exam on CBS' computers
  • Books and compendia brought by the examinee
  • Notes in paper format brought by the examinee
  • Access to personal drive (S-drive) on CBS' network
  • USB key to upload your notes before the exam
  • Dictionaries (only some, see specification below)
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
If the number of registered candidates for the make-up examination/re-take examination warrants that it may most appropriately be held as an oral examination, the programme office will inform the students that the make-up examination/re-take examination will be held as an oral examination instead.
Description of the exam procedure

Language dictionaries

Course content and structure

During the first part of the course, the core issue dealt with is the corporate branding construct and process. Thus, the defining features and central premises of a corporate brand and of corporate branding are laid out. During this part we also discuss different perspectives on and experiences of corporate branding in various contexts, and how and why thoughts and practices of corporate branding appear to evolve over time. In the second part, social media and explicitly consumers’ communication processes and relationships with and within social media stand at centre. As with the corporate branding construct, we start off with a clarification of the concept. Thereafter follows the issue of what insight about consumers’ and about communities (types, roles within etc.) that is of value in corporate branding processes. In relation to this we also deal with the issue of how to retrieve insights about consumers’ communication processes in the virtual world. During the third and final part of the course the key issue dealt is management implications of the apparent increasing phenomenon of on-line consumer communities and of consumers’ demand for insight and participation in company processes. This issue will be dealt with through examples (cases) dealing with communication situations, problems and experiences within and from the business world.
 
Progression
The course is affiliated to the course ‘Marketing, Creativity and Innovation’.

This course deals with the following essential question: How to build and retain value creating brand relationships with consumers in the open source world? Accordingly, one central theme in the course deals with understanding consumers’ use of social media to experience, exchange and to co-create brand meanings. Thus the following overall question is addressed: What drives, motivates and influence consumers to acquire and to share market insights, consumption and brand related ideas, values and experiences in on-line communities? Another theme deals with social media from the company perspective. We discuss: What is being communicated in online consumer communities about products, brands and about companies, and how to gain insight about the actors, the contents, and the communication processes? What are the different types of consumer communities, and what are the arguments for a company to choose a particular type as a forum for engaging consumers in brand co-creation processes?A second theme deals with the understanding of corporate branding - in light of trends and development in social media, and consumers’ claim for transparency and participation in value creation processes, among other things. Thus, we discuss the following question:  What are the essential issues, considerations, insights and management processes - when the company vision is to become or to sustain as a differentiated and distinguished corporate brand in the open source world?
Accordingly, the course aim to develop the students’ theoretical understanding about corporate branding and about consumer’s social media behaviour.  Additionally, by a continuous interplay between theory and practice, a second aim of the course is to make the student become able to discuss what the decisions, and other management processes are, in order to make a successful use of social media in corporate branding processes. Furthermore, the course aims to make the student capable to discuss what the essential arguments and prerequisites (resources, values etc.) are for companies to be engaged in on-line communication processes with consumers.

Teaching methods
The course consists of lectures, case-works and a 4 hours written exam.
Student workload
Lectures 33 hours
Readings and preparation for the exam 173 hours
Expected literature

Taking Brand Initiative

Mary Jo Hatch and Majken Schultz, Jossey-Bass

ISB 978-0-7879-9830-1

 

Plus: a selection of articles

 

Last updated on 06-07-2016