The course has the following objectives:

• Learning about the history of brand management
• Developing an understanding of key terms and models in brand management
• Understanding different theories in branding
• Gaining an understanding of the role of brand management in marketing strategy
• Introduction to several topics of brand management
• Introduction to the role of advertising and communication in branding
• Studying how the effectiveness of branding initiatives can be measured
• Learning about new developments in branding
• Actively applying the acquired knowledge by working on a real life branding and communication problem

Brand Management studies how to build, maintain, and exploit a company's most valuable asset: its brands. While products are increasingly becoming more standardized, the only difference that remains is the brand label on them. But brands are no manna from heaven. It takes serious efforts to build a brand, and marketing communication is a major tool in achieving an outstanding brand.
How brands can be managed is the starting point and primary topic of the course. We will study what a brand is, which elements constitute a brand, and what needs to be considered in brand management. Brand measurement as well as the basic branding strategies related to brand systems and brand extensions will be discussed.
For building brands, advertising and communication is perhaps the most important instrument and deserves explicit attention. advertising and communication seeks to influence consumer behavior; therefore, understanding the basic aspects of that topic is important for studying brand management. Throughout the course, students work on a real life branding or communication problem.
For bachelor students at Maastricht University, the course is part of the Marketing Major. But it can also be chosen as an elective and may therefore be interesting for students who plan to focus on another business area. For example, accounting students learn about the background of an important intangible asset. Strategy students dive into one particularly important strategic issue. Further the course is of interest to anyone who wants to get experience in bridging theory and practice and who wants to learn more about the thrilling world of branding and advertising, which is around us anytime, anyplace, anywhere.

A detailed literature list will be available on the Eleum site of the course