Syllabus MBA Paper II: Brand Management

SECTION A

Unit I: Product Management - Basic concepts, Product management process, Product planning system,

Product line decision.

Unit II: Product Portfolio - Portfolio concept, Logic for portfolio approach.

Unit III: Overview of the Brand Management Framework - What is a Brand? Why do Brands Matter?

Can anything be branded? What are the strongest Brands? Branding challenges and opportunities, The

Brand equity concept, Strategic Brand Management Process; Customer-Based Brand Equity Making a

Brand Strong: Brand Knowledge; Building A strong Brand: The four steps of brand building, Brand-

Building Implications.

Unit IV: The Value of Branding - Product positioning concept, Perceptual mapping, Brand Positioning

and Values - Identifying and Establishing Brand Positioning, Positioning Guidelines, Defining and

Establishing Brand Values, Internal Branding.

Unit V: Tools for Measuring the Sources and Consequences of Brand Equity - Developing a Brand

Equity Measurement and Management System- The Brand Value Chain, Designing Brand Tracking

Strategies, Establishing a Brand Equity Management System; Measuring Sources of Brand Equity-

Qualitative Research Techniques, Quantitative Research Techniques; Measuring Outcomes of Brands

Equity: Capturing Market Performance, Comparative Methods, Holistic Methods.

SECTION B

Unit VI: Building and Borrowing Brand Identity - Choosing Brand Elements to build brand equity-

Criteria for choosing the brand elements, Options and Tactics for Brand Elements; Integrating Marketing

Communications to Build Brand Equity-Information Processing Model of Communications, Overview of

Marketing Communication Options, Developing Integrated Marketing Communications Programs;

Leveraging Secondary Brand Knowledge to Build Brand Equity- Conceptualizing the Leveraging Process,

Country of Origin and other Geographic Areas, Channels of distribution , Co- branding, ,Licensing,

Celebrity endorsement, Sporting , Cultural, or Others Events, Third Party Sources.

Unit VII: Global Brand Expansion - Managing Brands over Geographic Boundaries and Market

Segments- Rationale for Going International, Advantages of Global Marketing Programs, Disadvantages

of Global Marketing Programs , Standardization Versus Customization, Global Brand Strategy , Building

Global Customer- Based Brand Equity.

Fighting Generics And Private Labels, Brand Extensions - Designing and Implements Branding

Strategies- The Brand Product Matrix ,Brand Hierarchy, Designing a Branding Strategy.

Unit VIII: Brand Architecture - Managing Brands over Time- Reinforcing Brands, Revitalizing Brands,

Adjustments to the Brand Portfolio.

Unit IX: Branding Licensing - Introducing and Naming New Products and Brand Extensions-New

Products and Brand Extensions, Advantage of Extensions, Disadvantages of Brand Extensions ,

Understanding How Consumers Evaluate Brand Extensions, Evaluating Brand Extension Opportunities.

Unit X: Closing Perspective - Strategic Brand Management Guidelines, What Makes a Strong Brand?

Special Applications, Future Brand Priorities.

Suggested Readings:

1.

Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity (Second ed.).Keller, Kevin L. (2003),

Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

2.

Strategic Brand Management: Creating and Sustaining Brand Equity Long Term Kapferer, Jean-Noël (1997), (Second ed.),

London: Kogan Page.

3.

The Brandgym: A Practical Workout for Boosting Brand and Business.Taylor, David (2003), Chichester, UK: John Wiley &

Sons.

4.

Brand Positioning: Strategies for competitive Advantage by Sengupta, Tata McGraw-Hill

5.

Aaker D, Managing brand equity