Applied Corporate Brand Management MSc

About the Course

MSc Applied Corporate Brand Management is offered in a choice of two routes:

• MSc in Applied Corporate Brand Management –  a one year standard masters OR
• MSc in Applied Corporate Brand Management (with Professional Practice) 16 months

The MSc in Applied Corporate Brand Management (with Professional Practice) incorporates a 16 week work placement component at a company or a consultancy. The unique feature of the work placement distinguishes the programme from other Masters in the country. 

The programme covers issues of branding in blue chip companies, the service industry, banks, petroleum companies, lifestyle organisations, corporate brand heritage, nation and place branding.

The core contents of branding are examined at the corporate level rather than at the product level. In other words, teaching on the programme focuses on branding of the corporation rather than branding the product. 

The focus on corporate branding considers the following components:

• corporate identity
• corporate image and reputation
• corporate design
• corporate culture
• corporate behaviour
• corporate brand structure and brand strategy

Students undertake a project in collaboration with branding firms as part of their consultancy-based dissertation option. Examples include projects that are concerned with measuring the corporate image and ascertaining brand success of a chosen corporation.

The academic experts contributing to the programme are prominent world class researchers in the branding field, namely, Professor John Balmer and Professor T C Melewar from Brunel Business School, and Professor Stephen Greyser from Harvard Business School - who is also a Visiting Professor of Corporate Marketing on the programme.

The programme enjoys the input from a dedicated corporate advisory board made up of experts from the branding world, including senior brand executives of multi-national firms, brand consultants and design gurus. Read more under the 'Special Features' tab.

Aims

In addition to offering an unrivalled opportunity to study and evaluate not only contemporary theory relating to corporate branding, the programme will also offer students the chance to examine current research relating to the management of an organisation’s corporate reputation, its corporate identity and its corporate communications.

Furthermore, graduates of this programme will gain a thorough understanding of the issues related to marketing at the corporate level, and of equal importance, a comprehensive appreciation of how to apply corporate branding and marketing theory and practice in the context of a contemporary organisation. 

Enquiries

Course Director: Professor T C Melewar
Email t.c.melewar@brunel.ac.uk
Tel +44 (0)1895 265859

For applications already submitted
Contact Admissions online
Tel +44 (0)1895 265265

Business School Enquiries Desk:  for enquiries prior to application
Email masterbbs@brunel.ac.uk
Tel +44 (0)1895 267124 or 265910

Related Courses

• Marketing MSc
• Management MSc
• International Business MSc
• Business Intelligence and Social Media MSc

Special Features

The MSc in Applied Corporate Brand Management (with Professional Practice) incorporates a compulsory work placement component at a company or a consultancy of 16 weeks. The unique feature of the work placement distinguishes the programme from other Masters in the country. 

Besides formal teaching and the Professional Practise, students are exposed to the myriad of practical applications of the theories taught, such as:

• guest speakers from the industry and brand consultancies;
• visits to brand companies and consultancies;
• career talks and presentations;
• visits to the Design Museum and Branding Museum in London. 

Brunel Business School is home to the Centre for Research in Marketing (CREAM) which was created in 2005 with a mission to develop, promote and facilitate research on various aspects of marketing. The Centre's expertise ranges from branding, corporate identity, CRM, consumer behaviour, international marketing and marketing communications to political marketing, managing organisational creativity, marketing professional service firms, multi-channel marketing, e-learning and on-line banking.

 

Corporate Advisory Board

The programme enjoys the input from a dedicated corporate advisory board made up of experts from the branding world, including senior brand executives of multi-national firms, brand consultants and design gurus. From advising blue-chip companies on brand strategy, to implementing brand communications for employees and customers all over the world, their experience is invaluable to our MSc Applied Corporate Brand Management programme. They also share their expertise with students as visiting lecturers, and act as a sounding board for our academic plans, and offer placements, projects, field trips and other practitioner-based components.

Members of the Corporate Advisory Group

Amanda Clay - Head of Brand at Telefónica Europe (formerly O2 plc)
Amanda leads on all things brand for O2 and Telefónica across Europe, from protecting them, to overhauling them for the future. An expert on external and internal rebrand and cultural change projects, she’s won three prestigious awards last year including; 'The Best Change Communication Campaign' at the 2011 European Excellence Awards. Before that, she made history in the Czech Republic. Leading an international team on the biggest brand launch the country has ever seen when Czesky Telecom, Eurotel, Telefónica and O2 merged into one. Amanda has also worked extensively across Europe, North America and Asia

Dave Allen - Founder at BrandPie
Dave is an experienced creative brand strategist who specialises in mergers and acquisitions, corporate positioning, rebranding and employee engagement programmes. Dave has previously worked with clients such as BP, Capital Research, Castrol, Citizen, KPMG, L'Occitane, Mazda and Vodafone.

Ian Symes – General Manager UK & Ireland at Right Management
Ian is responsible for leading the UK & Ireland business of Right Management, a Manpower group company specialising in career and talent management workplace solutions. Previously Ian has held international executive sales and marketing positions at Electrolux, Interpet and Cisco as well as founding a successful strategic marketing consultancy that supported clients across multiple business sectors. In 2012 Ian led Cisco’s marketing for their sponsorship of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. Ian is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Jim Bodoh - Brand consultant at Radley Yeldar 
Radley Yeldar is a firm of consultants that delivers solutions in brand strategy, identity and architecture. Jim is a brand consultant who specialises in conceptualising an initial brand idea through to realizing the physical presence of the brand. Prior to his role at Radley Yelder, Jim was Director of Strategy at LloydNorthover.

Jim Northover - Director at Jim Northover Limited
Jim is an independent brand strategy and design consultant advising business leaders and organisations. A designer by training, he has pioneered corporate identity and the strategic use of design as a business discipline. He co-founded consultancy Lloyd Northover and was the company’s Chairman until 2011. He is now Chairman of Industry Partners, a branding agency based in London. Jim works internationally and is currently advising on programmes in the Gulf Region and South East Asia.

Les Wynn - Managing Consultant at HCL Technologies
Les has extensive experience in both in-house and the consultancy environment across a broad range of consumer and industrial products. His current role involves working in a $6 billion global consultancy project as manager of Experience Design, responsible for delivering user interfaces and product hardware. Prior to his role at HCL, Les was Manager IDHF and Product User Experience at Xerox responsible for user experience of Xerox products manufactured around the world.

Mark Shaoul - Head of Marketing Services at Network Rail
Mark is responsible for brand management, advertising, live events & exhibitions, digital communications, corporate publications, promotional videos and market research for Network Rail. Before he joined Network Rail, he was Brand Director of Oyster Card responsible for launching and branding the Oyster card. In his own words, Mark left Oyster Card where the cards were in the wallets of over 2 million Londoners.

Neal Stone - leapSTONE
Neal founded and runs leapSTONE - a strategic design management consultancy, which helps clients use creativity to resolve challenges and generate opportunities. leapSTONE works with clients from many sectors including: WWF-UK; Car Design Research; Department for Transport; Intercontinental Hotels Group; and Design Council amongst others. Neal was previously the Head of Design for British Airways and railway company, GNER where he was responsible for bringing those brands to life across myriad customer experience touchpoints using multiple design disciplines. He is a visiting lecturer at the Royal College of Art and Fellow of the RSA.

Accreditation

This Masters programme has obtained full accreditation from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) to provide entry onto the CIM’s Chartered Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing.

Memberships

Chartered Management Institute (CMI)
A number of Associate memberships to the CMI are open to graduates of Brunel Business School postgraduate programmes, offering discounted full membership rates upon application. Members of the CMI may use the following letters as appropriate: Associates can use 'ACMI', Members 'MCMI' and Fellows 'FCMI'.
 

Course Content

Core Modules

• Corporate Branding Theory
  The module aims to provide a critical understanding of corporate branding theory through an examination of key theoretical frameworks. In addition, the course also teaches stakeholder theory, models of corporate brand management and how brand equity is built and measured. Students will also study the challenges faced by organisations in the context of corporate brand management and consider the factors critical to a successful rebranding exercise. By the end of the module, students will have a thorough understanding of what to analyse when looking to improve elements of an organisation’s corporate brand management plan.
  
  
• Applied Corporate Branding
  The application of corporate branding theory to practice is the main focus of this module which examines issues such as brand positioning and brand architecture, managing retailers’ own brands, managing luxury brands, crafting new branding strategy, building brand equity, brand recovery, corporate rebranding, co-branding and corporate branding and new media.
  
  Teaching and learning revolve around a critical discussion of ten relevant, contemporary case studies. When analysing these ten case studies, students will benefit from the input of senior branding professionals from both the client and the agency side. Students will thus gain the ability to evaluate corporate branding as well as the knowledge, skills and confidence needed to put theory into practice.
  
  
• Strategic Corporate Brand Management and Consulting
  Over the course of this module, students have the chance to consider the strategic nature of corporate brand management and its inter-relationships with other business functions. Students gain an understanding of the management of change in the context of corporate brand management as well as an understanding of corporate brand management from the perspective of organisations involved in mergers, acquisitions, takeovers and franchising.
  
  A distinguishing feature of this module is the opportunity of an in depth study from a very practical perspective of the roles, activities and approaches adopted by corporate brand consultancies and to benefit from the active involvement of a number of senior brand management professionals in this module’s delivery and assessment.
  
  
• Strategic Corporate Marketing
  This module focuses on corporate marketing. It examines the philosophy and management of corporate marketing at the strategic level and considers its historiography. The dimensions of the corporate marketing mix are examined in the context of key, corporate-level constructs/theories relating to corporate branding, corporate identity; organisational identity, corporate communications; corporate image and reputation. Stakeholder theory and corporate social responsibility are also studied. Students gain an understanding of how to evaluate, plan and manage corporate marketing activities, taking into account factors such as corporate positioning, change management, the CEO’s vision, stockholder concerns, and the business environment.
  
  
• Marketing Communications
  Over the course of this module, students study the process, theory, social impact and ethics of marketing and corporate communications. Students gain a thorough and practical understanding of the role, nature and diversity of marketing communications theory and how the different elements of the communications mix (including recent developments such as new media) can be coordinated and managed to produce an integrated marketing communications plan. By the end of this module, students will know how to appraise the differences between corporate identity, corporate image and corporate reputation and be able to critically evaluate specific concepts such as stakeholder management and understand the evolution of corporate communication as an organising framework of communication.
  
  
• Understanding Business and Management Research
  Quantitative and qualitative methods clearly have an extremely important part to play in management research and senior managers benefit from having a thorough grounding in how to appraise research reports and how to use information to improve the quality of their work, the decisions they make, and their understanding of complex management problems. Over the course of this module, students will acquire an appreciation of the importance of research within a particular field and gain the skills and understanding needed to be able to critically identify relevant information in a research report. This module will provide students with knowledge of the relevant research methods and techniques needed for their dissertation.
  
  
• Dissertation
  A research-based dissertation is an integral element of the programme to which considerable importance is attached. It offers students the opportunity to demonstrate their academic competence and professional potential. There are few constraints on the research topic other than that it must be directly relevant, amenable to enquiry and of appropriate intellectual depth. The dissertation, which should be no more than 12,000 words in length, involves the full cycle of proposal development, literature review, methodology, evaluation, and final reporting. Students who have undertaken a work placement will be expected to draw on the experiences they have gained whilst on placement.
  
  Students may undertake a project in collaboration with branding firms as part of their consultancy-based dissertation option.  Examples include projects that are concerned with measuring corporate image or ascertaining the brand success of a chosen corporation.
  

Elective Modules (one from)

• Global Diversity Management
  This module provides an insight into Global Diversity Management by examining how organisations plan, co-ordinate and implement a set of management strategies, policies, initiatives such as training and development activities that seek to accommodate diverse sets of social and individual backgrounds, interests, beliefs, values and ways of work in organisations with international, multinational, global and transnational workforces and operations.
  
  
• International Business Ethics, Sustainability and Corporate Governance
  This module provides students with the chance to consider business ethics, corporate social responsibility and corporate governance in the international context. These issues will be addressed from both the ‘business’ side and the ‘society’ side, and for both large corporations and small firms, using a combination of empirical studies and the theoretical resources of moral philosophy.
  
  
• Knowledge Management, Social Networks and Innovation
  This module explores the intersection between knowledge, social network technologies and innovation. It examines how organisations create, utilise and communicate knowledge in the global knowledge-based economy and the wider social and economic factors affecting knowledge transfer. The module identifies the exploitation of Web 2.0 which enables social engagement and processes for business development.

Typical Dissertations

Students undertake a project in collaboration with branding firms as part of their consultancy-based dissertation option.

Teaching and Learning

A particular feature of this course is the use of case studies to contextualise contemporary theory and practice and the importance attached to class presentations to demonstrate the ability to apply theory in practice.

The academic experts contributing to the programme are prominent world class researchers in the branding field, namely, Professor John Balmer and Professor T C Melewar from Brunel Business School, and Professor Stephen Greyser from Harvard Business School - who is also a Visiting Professor of Corporate Marketing on the programme.

• Professor T C Melewar
  Professor Melewar is an international authority on corporate identity/brand theory, having not only developed many of the models now used in the programme and worldwide in other institutions, but has made numerous contributions to prestigious international journals, books and conferences. Professor T C Melewar was the former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Brand Management and now holds the position of Emeritus Editor of the journal. Professor Melewar has also published in the Journal of World Business, the Journal of International Business Studies, Industrial Marketing Management and the International Journal of Management Review.
  
  
• Professor John Balmer
  Professor Balmer is equally distinguished in the international branding research field and is a prolific author and researcher, as well as the Founder, Chairman and Conference Organiser of the International Corporate Identity Group. Professor John Balmer is author of the highly acclaimed book Revealing the Corporation: Perspectives on Identity, Image, Reputation, and Corporate Branding and Corporate-Level Marketing. His works has appeared in the Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, European Journal of Marketing, and the Journal of Marketing Management.

Modes of Study

1 Year full-time in September. The taught element of the course (September to April) includes seven modules; delivery will be by a combination of lectures, seminars and tutorials/group work. A further four months (May to September) is spent undertaking the dissertation.

Assessment

• Modules are typically assessed by individual assessment and an examination in May.
• Teaching methods include lectures and informal small study groups.
• Coursework and examinations place considerable stress on the ability think and reason critically, but constructively.
• The dissertation (12,000 words) is the capstone demonstration of these skills, requiring students to conceive, justify, design and execute a major project.
• Individual and/or group presentations using laptops, PCs and digital projectors.

Employability

Employability Outcomes
Previous students of MSc Applied Corporate Brand Management have achieved graduate positions at:

• British Airways
• London Borough of Harrow (Local Council)
• Amer Sports
• Street Market Ltd
• Radley Yeldar

Employability Events, Visits and Training

The School’s Business Life Employability Programme is designed to help students to acquire a range of employability and networking skills, enabling them to gain a distinct edge in the labour market and to manage their career search and development more effectively. Typical events have included:

• BAT (Bloomberg Aptitude Test) with Bloomberg
  The BAT is offered as a three-hour online test taken on campus within an invigilated environment with a Bloomberg representative. BAT was designed in conjunction with leading financial institutions and academics to uncover an individual’s knowledge and skills relevant for a financial career. Students can choose to submit their names along with test scores or anonymously during job recruitment drives.
  
  
• Meet the Professionals Showcase
  A professional association is an organisation formed to unite and inform people who work in the same occupation. There are many advantages to joining professional bodies: typically they offer training and access to research, as well as networking opportunities like conferences and forums. Brunel Business School regularly invites key professional bodies to showcase these benefits to Business School students on campus. Professional bodies who regularly take part in the Showcase include: ACCA, ICAEW, CIPFA, CIMA, BCS, OR, CMI, CILT, CIPD, CII, CBI, CFA, CIM and CIPR.
  
  

UK Industrial and Commercial Visits

Where possible, events and external visits are arranged with UK organisations to help demonstrate theory in practice. Typical events have included: 

• Radley Yeldar Branding Consultancy
  As part of the programme, Course Director, Professor  TC Melewar, regularly organises external visits for students to help them engage with branding pioneers that can demonstrate theory into practice. In February 2012, students visited leading brand consultancy, Radley Yeldar – a communications and branding agency situated within London’s financial ‘City’. The visit included an exclusive two hour seminar on Radley’s branding concepts and creative philosophy for national and international brands such as 3i and EasyJet.
  
  
• Telefonica
  Telefonica is a world leader in the integrated telecommunication sector, providing information and entertainment solutions throughout Europe, Africa and Latin America. In 2009 the company launched a new brand model, O2, as a part of the company's focus on meeting customer needs. A visit to Telefonica’s Head office in May 2012 helped MSc Applied Corporate Brand Management students to understand how a large corporate brand rolls out a new product within their identifiable brand ‘voice’ to target consumers in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Czech Republic and Slovakia.
  
  
• The Design Museum, London
  The Design Museum in London was a key destination for Applied Corporate Brand Management students in March 2012 who were hungry to discover the aesthetic aspects of branding. Curator, Ria Hawthorn, provided a tour of the museum’s collections whilst demonstrating how political, social and cultural influences like the recession and environmental concerns can inspire designers to create unconventional designs for everyday life.
  

Graduate School Workshops
In addition to the events and training sessions organised within the Business School, Masters students have exclusive access to the workshops and skills training provided by the Brunel University’s Graduate School. Typical sessions have included:

• CV Writing for Masters Students
  A good quality CV is crucial and takes time to perfect. Students on taught masters are invited to attend this special training session on how to prepare their Curriculum Vitae towards a targeted job or sector.
  
  
• CV Writing Drop-in Clinic for Masters Students
  Masters students are invited to bring along their CVs for a one-to-one review session with a careers advisor or as a follow-up to the Graduates School’s CVs writing for Masters Students.
  
  
• How to Succeed in Assessment Centres (Masters Students)
  This session will help students to prepare for assessment centres which are used as part of an organisation’s recruitment processes for jobs in the industry or academia, in particular for highly competitive positions.
  
  
• Interview Techniques for Masters Students
  A training session especially for masters students that explores the whole competitive process of the interview from preparation to presenting and demonstrating your interest on the day.
  
  
• Transferrable Skills for Masters Students
  Students are encouraged to widen their skills base during postgraduate study in response to employer demand for transferrable skills as well as intellectual knowledge.
  

For further Masters Skills Training Courses, visit the University’s Graduate School website.

Careers

Corporate Brand Management is growing in importance as a management discipline and we are confident that graduates of this programme will secure managerial positions either 'on the client side' – in organisations (from the public, private and not for profit sectors) or 'on the agency side' within leading branding consultancies.

Placements

The MSc in Applied Corporate Brand Management (with Professional Practice) incorporates a compulsory work placement component at a company or a consultancy of 16 weeks. The unique feature of the work placement distinguishes the programme from other Masters in the country.  
The purpose of the placement is to provide students with hands-on experience working with a brand consultant or a brand-related department of an organisation in the UK. It is an integral part of the course and students will receive support from the academic staff and the Placement & Careers Centre while on placement.

Brunel students have been undertaking industrial placement for over 40 years. Please visit: http://i.workat.org/ to see what students have to say about their placement.

Fees for 2013/14 entry

UK/EU students: £8,000 full-time

International students: £13,500 full-time

Internship

Additional £800 for internship

Postgraduate Scholarships Available Now

Brunel University is offering Academic Excellence Scholarships to postgraduate students (15%) and scholarships for Brunel Alumni (15%). Those alumni who graduated with a first class degree would be able to benefit from a double scholarship of almost 30% discount. View information on the postgraduate scholarships.

Read about funding opportunities available to postgraduate students

Fees quoted are per annum and are subject to an annual increase.

Entry Requirements

Normally we require candidates to have:

• A good honours degree (usually 2.1 or above) in management, business studies or cognate discipline and
• A minimum of two years' marketing and branding experience;

Candidates with only a 2.2 will be considered if they can demonstrate three years' marketing and branding experience. Candidates without a bachelor's degree will be considered if they can show 5 years' senior level branding experience.

Candidates from non-business/management disciplines (and without any business/management element) will be eligible if they have a first class honours degree or the overseas equivalent.

English Language Requirements

• IELTS: 6.5 (min 6 in all areas)
• TOEFL Paper test: 580 (TWE 4.5)
• TOEFL Internet test: 92 (R20, L20, S20, W20)
• Pearson: 59 (51 in all subscores)
• BrunELT 65% (min 60% in all areas)

Brunel also offers our own BrunELT English Test and accept a range of other language courses. We also have a range of Pre-sessional English language courses, for students who do not meet these requirements, or who wish to improve their English.