SEMESTER: Fall 2019

COURSE NUMBER: EWMBA 262.1

COURSE TITLE: Strategic Brand Management

UNITS OF CREDIT: 3 Units

INSTRUCTOR: Judy Hopelain - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jhopelain/

EMAIL: jahopelain@berkeley.edu

PREREQUISITE: EWMBA206 Marketing

TIMES & DATES:
The class is held Thursdays, 6:00-9:30. The first class is Thursday, August 29, and the semester ends on December 12 when student teams will present their Team Assignment #3 recommendations.

REQUIRED READING & DETAILED CLASS PLAN:
No textbook; reading assignments will include selected chapters, cases, articles, and websites.

Each week’s class consists of three separate components as shown in the Detailed Class Plan (see Draft). This Plan includes the specific topics covered, required readings and assignments for each session.

YOUR CAREER:
Having an understanding of brand management is relevant for anyone working on the demand side of an organization. Startups, mature organizations, B2B, B2C, NGOs, all face challenges growing, acquiring and retaining profitable relationships. Brand is an essential component of the growth strategy and go-to-market plan for any organization. The knowledge about brand management from this course will increase the effectiveness of product managers, designers, sales people, recruiters, and executive managers.

ABSTRACT OF COURSE CONTENT & OBJECTIVES
Brand...it's one of the last remaining legal sources of unfair competitive advantage. It's up to us as marketers to build brand strength and leverage our brand assets on behalf of our organization's growth objectives. Smart brand marketing is the underpinning of an extraordinary number of business successes the world over.

The creation and capture of value through branding is complex. Strong brands are carefully created, actively managed, and judiciously leveraged for growth. They require aligned business models and organizational cultures.
Brand and marketing are disciplines of ideas, their expression, and their ongoing relevance and value creation. Creativity, structured problem solving and analytics, critical thinking, and writing and speaking convincingly are all important marketing skills. You will have a chance to further develop all of them in this course.

The primary objective of this course is to equip students with the tools brand marketers actually use and the knowledge to apply them on a range of brand marketing and business challenges. By the end of the semester, students will:
• Understand how brands are built
• Have experience building a brand
• Know how to apply fundamental brand concepts to brands at different stages of their development and have practice doing so to a range of brands and brand situations
• Better appreciate the challenges brand managers face, and understand alternative approaches to addressing them
• Have greater insight into your company’s brand and approach to brand management

To accomplish these objectives, the course will include:
• Assessments of Real Time Brand Challenges - A significant portion of class time during the semester will involve assessing the actions taken by brands right now. These discussions and many others will provide an opportunity for students to explain how they would approach the increasingly critical issues brands are facing.
• Emphasis on CX – Brand management is increasingly focused on the customer experience (CX). Through course assignments and in-class discussions, students will explore the many ways that brands project their presence to customers and prospects and discuss opportunities to enhance the customer experience.
• Discussion of a Day in the Life if a Brand Marketer: Throughout the semester, we will discuss what a brand manager does in various industries.
• Current Cases and Topical Articles – This course does not require a textbook. Instead, assigned reading will focus on cases and articles that bring to life relevant issues that students are likely to encounter in the workplace.

COURSE COMPONENTS & GRADING
I believe students learn best through a variety of experiences. As a result, classes are a mix of facilitated discussions, student presentations, practice session, “client” and potentially other guest speakers. Each class meeting consists of three separate sessions with different required reading, assignments and discussion topics as described in the Detailed Class Plan (See Draft).

The course will include the following graded components:
• Three team assignments in Powerpoint presentation format, accounting for a total of 65% of student grades:
o A 15-slide Brand Audit in which student teams will dig into the client’s brand and business to understand their current image , strengths and competitive position. Teams will present the implications of their findings to the class and the client on September 26 (10% of student’s grade)
o A 20-slide recommended Brand Vision for the client brand. Teams will present their recommendations to the class and the client on October 31 (20% of student’s grade)
o A 25-slide recommended Brand Experience, Positioning & Activation Plan (35%) to be presented at the conclusion of the course which will serve as the course final. This includes strategic and tactical marketing recommendations to address messaging and several specific ideas for bringing the positioning to life using minimal staff and financial resources. Teams will present their recommendations to the class and the client on December 12 (35% of student’s grade)
• Quality of responses to questions about assigned reading, accounting for 14% of student grades, due on Tuesdays before class
• Attendance and in-class contributions during highly interactive exercises and class discussions, accounting for 16% of student grades
• Team dynamics self-assessment, accounting for 5% of student grades
• Details on the Team Assignments will be posted on bCourses.

This course adheres to the Haas grading policy for electives which mandates that the aggregate GPA mean for the class will be no higher than 3.50.

Team Assignment Company
Each semester, student teams work on developing the brand strategy for a real brand and/or company. Past semester “clients” include Treasure Island’s Treehouse Craft Distillery (THCD) and INBRACE, a shape-memory metal-based solution for straightening patients’ teeth invisibly that competes with Invisalign.

Team Formation and Assignment #1 Focus Areas
The final number of teams and team size will depend on the ultimate class size; teams will include up to 5 students. For Team Assignment #1, in addition to the common components, each team will have a specific focus area to be addressed (see table below for what was covered in Fall 2018).

Grading
All assignments are to be submitted on bCourses and are due by 9pm the Thursday before class. This gives me (and our client) time to review your work before class.

Grades on team assignments will be posted and detailed feedback provided within 2 weeks of submission. All team members receive the same score for team assignments.

Grades on case questions and attendance/participation will not be published throughout the semester. Each case question answer is worth 2.0 points and will be evaluated based on how fully and concisely the questions are answered (no reward for long answers!), demonstrated understanding of the relevant issues in the case, and linkage to course concepts discussed in class. Students submitting answers before 9pm Tuesday will receive at least 1 point. Students submitting answers after 9pm Tuesday will automatically lose one point for late submission.

In-class contribution is subjectively evaluated based on how much I feel your comments enhanced the discussion. I also factor attendance into this assessment – your absence means your classmates do not have a chance to benefit from your insights.

I will post a PDF with the scores on your answers to case questions and your contribution to in-class discussions for your review near the end of the semester before final grades are due.

The Team Dynamics Self-Assessment is due the Monday after the final class of the semester. Everyone who submits it receives full credit.

Suggestions for Doing Well:
• Stay up with the reading. There are no texts in this class so that students may concentrate on the most market-relevant cases and articles to gain a comprehensive view of what’s happening right now in strategic brand marketing. All students will be expected to provide detailed points-of-view and rationale regarding the assigned reading.
• Anticipate the assignments. There will be required reading and/or an assignment for every class, so it is critical that you anticipate the work that will be needed to complete those assignments with quality deliverables. I will expect you to persuasively integrate into all of your work the lessons learned from our discussions and your reading.
• Work productively in your teams. By contributing significantly to your team’s work in preparation for similar experiences in the workplace, you will better prepare yourself for your current or next career positions.
• Participate energetically in class discussions. This class is designed to be interactive so that all students can demonstrate their grasp of the material presented and share their perspective on contemporary brand events. Class participation is evaluated on both quantity and quality of your participation and your contribution to improving the learning experience of the class as a group.
• Dig into the cases and be prepared to share your insights. This course will use cases to help students enhance their critical thinking and decision-making ability within actual business situations.
• State the data. As with everything in marketing, the more data or other hard information you can cite to support your recommendation, the more likely the recommendation will be favorably considered. So, when providing the class with your points of view, be specific about the data that supports your recommendations.

Attendance
If you are going to be absent from class, please email our course GSR (TBD) at least 24 hours ahead of class and provide the reason for your absence. I will take attendance in class and track absences.

Do not miss more than one class session during the semester. Only personal or family emergencies will be considered excused absences. Any additional absences will impact your course contribution grade. Please schedule travel to avoid any conflict with class times. Note that the last class is scheduled for December 5, and attendance that night is mandatory for all students.

Course Source Materials - Articles and Cases
All required reading will be available as articles, cases, and online postings as listed in the Detailed Class Plan and available in the course’s study.net reader.

Books, Newsletters & Blogs
Although there is no textbook required for this course, several worthwhile resources are listed below for students with an interest in learning more about brand management (not required for Course).

Books:
• How Brands Grow by Byron Sharp, Part 1: 2010 and Part 2: 2015
• Brand Admiration by Park, MacInnis and Eisingerich, 2016
• Aaker on Branding by David Aaker 2014 

• Strategic Brand Management (Fourth Edition) by Kevin Keller, 2013
• Brand Meaning by Mark Batey, 2008
• The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier, 2005
• Brand Portfolio Management by David Aaker, 2004
• Building the Brand-Driven Business, by Scott Davis, Michael Dunn and David Aaker, 2002

Newsletters & Blogs
• www.brandchannel.com
• www.brandingstrategyinsider.com
• www.mediapost.com/publications
• www.prophet.com/thinking/
• www.emotivebrand.com/blog/

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Judy Hopelain is a brand and marketing executive who has spent her career helping companies drive profitable growth through product/service offering, brand, and marketing innovation at leading consultancies and retailers. Her thought leadership and insight have driven top- and bottom-line impact for B2B and B2C clients like McKesson, eharmony, Foster Farms, and others.

She is the founder and managing partner at Pure Gravy LLC and a partner at Brand Amplitude LLC, two consulting firms that deliver practical recommendations to drive business results through go-to-market strategy, product and brand positioning, portfolio strategy and employee brand engagement.
Judy’s consulting experience runs the gamut from corporate strategy giants to specialty brand and strategy boutiques. She was a Partner and Managing Partner at Prophet Brand Strategy, an Associate Partner at Accenture’s Retail Practice, and promoted up the ranks from Associate to Manager at the Boston Consulting Group.

In addition to helping to grow three major consulting practices, Judy was SVP of Direct Channels at specialty retailer, Illuminations, and Director of Corporate Strategy at Patagonia. She has been on the advisory boards of four Internet startups, and a board member at a non-profit committed to economic empowerment by providing reliable employment to deaf artisans in Kenya.

Judy earned a Master of Public Policy from University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and a B.A. in Political Science/Public Service from UC Davis. An empty nester, she lives in Mill Valley with her husband, Rick, and their dogs Barney and Rosey.

Teaching Experience

Judy joined the Berkeley Haas Marketing faculty in 2010 to teach UGBA162 – the undergraduate Strategic Brand Management elective. She is the course manager for the Haas feeder course Principles of Business (UGBA10), and teaches the Marketing module. She is on the IBD faculty in the full time MBA program and mentors student teams working with clients all over the world and on the EWMBA faculty teaching Strategic Brand Management. She also sponsors the American Advertising Federation's case competition team at UC Berkeley and is the undergraduate faculty advisor for Marketing.

Consulting Experience
In her consulting work, Judy provides hands-on advice to senior management on driving business growth through customer insight, brand and marketing. She also develops and delivers custom training for marketers as well as non-marketers interested in partnering more effectively with marketing at their organizations.

She has served the following clients in a brand consulting, training and/or research capacity (alpha/abridged): Angie’s List, American Girl, Carhartt, Chevron, Concur, eharmony, Foster Farms, Gap, Genentech, Guavus, Healthy Pet, Janssen, J. Crew, Jet.com, Kaiser Permanente, Madewell, Maple Leaf Farms, Mattel, McKesson, Phillips 66, TripIt, US Oncology Network, and Visa.

Thought Leadership
Below are links to articles I’ve written on a range of brand-related issues:

• https://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2017/07/using-brand-communities-to-fight-low-cost-rivals.html#.WaYOxJOGNE4
• https://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2017/07/5-ways-to-exploit-amazons-brand-weakness.html#.WaYPYZOGNE4
• https://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2012/12/the-trinity-of-brand-strategy.html#.WaYP2pOGNE4
• https://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2012/08/brand-identity-defined.html#.WaYPH5OGNE4
• http://www.mobilepaymentstoday.com/articles/opinion-loyalty-is-more-than-points-programs/
• http://loyalty360.org/Content-Gallery/Daily-News/Engagement-is-the-New-Loyalty
• http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2012/01/brand-threat-the-out-of-touch-ceo.html#.VyvspyMrLe0
• https://www.retailcustomerexperience.com/articles/how-retailers-are-giving-men-what-they-want/
• http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/indie-woman-138525
• http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/business/media/name-brands-embrace-some-lesswelloff-kinfolk.html?_r=0
• http://www.millennialmarketing.com/2011/11/mobile-brands-are-in-for-a-thrill/
• http://retailhitsandmisses.blogspot.com/