Mr Guido Van Garderen

This course is available on the BSc in Management, International Exchange (1 Term) and International Exchange (Full Year). This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

This course is not available for postgraduates.

This course has a limited number of places (it is capped). Students who have this course as a compulsory course are guaranteed a place. Places for all other students are allocated on a first come first served basis.

Steven Forbes, founder of Forbes magazine, once stated “Your brand is the single most important investment you can make in your business” as it persuades customers to pay more, purchase more frequently, and retains their loyalty. In short, strong brands influence the behavior of customers, which subsequently drives business results. In this course you will learn how to evaluate a brand strategy and how to use defined models and analytical tools to improve upon it. It covers the complete process, from consumer research, competitor analysis and positioning, to bringing the brand to life through design and activations. The course is based on the latest academic insights and infused with examples from our daily lives. It will help you prepare for a future as a marketeer, brand strategist or entrepreneur.

Teaching hours in the WT will be commensurate with a usual half unit undergraduate course.

This course includes a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term, in line with departmental policy.

In its Ethics Code, LSE upholds a commitment to intellectual freedom. This means we will protect the freedom of expression of our students and staff and the right to engage in healthy debate in the classroom.

Students will work during class in groups, where they will do exercises and receive immediate feedback. The groups will use the same exercises to create their final group project. Detailed guidelines on the group project will be provided in the course syllabus and sample projects will be available.

• David A. Aaker (1996) Building strong brands. New York: The Free Press.

• Byron Sharp (2010) How brands grow - what marketers don’t know. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

• Youngme Moon (2010) Different, Escaping the Competitive herd. New York: Crown Business, Random House.

• Kevin Lane Keller, Brian Sternthal and Alice Tybout (2002) Three questions you need to ask about your brand, Harvard Business Review, volume 80, issue 9, page 80-86.

• March Chong (2007) The role of internal training and communication in infusing corporate values and delivering brand promise: Singapore Airlines’ Experience, Corporate Reputation Review, Volume 10, Number 3, page 201-211.

• David A. Aaker and Erich Joachimsthaler (2000) The Brand Relationship Spectrum – The Key to the Brand Architecture Challenge, California Management Review, Volume 42, Number 4, pages 8-23.

Exam (50%, duration: 2 hours) in the spring exam period.
Project (40%) and class participation (10%) in the WT.

The Group Project will be completed during the course in groups.