THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2019/2020

University Homepage
DRPS Homepage
DRPS Search
DRPS Contact
DRPS : Course Catalogue : Business School : Business Studies

Undergraduate Course: Brand Culture (BUST10127)

Course Outline
SchoolBusiness School CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryBrands are considerable vehicles for cultural meaning, self-expression, community, social movement and communication. Increasingly, for better or worse, the logic of brands and branding can be seen in diverse areas of life, beyond consumer goods e.g. the political brand, branded religion and person as brand. In short our daily lives are saturated by brand messages and meaning. This course offers students the opportunity to study and understand this fundamental marketing technology.
Course description Taking a socio-cultural perspective, Brand Culture provides students with a deeper knowledge of the place of brands in the lives of consumers and the skills used to manage them. It does this by considering the meanings of brands and by outlining different brand strategies available to companies to both meet the needs of consumers and achieve strategic organisational goals. Section one - which explores the socio-cultural meaning of brands - is designed to equip students with an understanding of what a brand is, how they are used by consumers and from where their meaning is derived. With this grounding in place, we then move, in section two, to explore the concepts of brand equity before discussing different approaches to the management of brands

Syllabus

The Product and the Brand
Emotion and Brands
The Symbolic Meaning of Brands
Consumer Communities and Brands
Brand Equity
The Film Brandscape
Managing Brands
Managing Brands: Portfolio and Extension
Luxury Branding
The Dark Side of Branding

Student Learning Experience

The course is designed to deliver the space and skills to enable students to analyse brand meanings in relation to symbolic material such as marketing communications and, importantly, their own consumer behaviour As such reflexivity and classroom discussion are central aspects of the course.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: Marketing (BUST08004)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements Year 4 only. Business Studies Honours Entry
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesVisiting students must have at least 4 Business courses at intermediate level, at grade B or above. This MUST INCLUDE at least one Marketing course at intermediate level. This course cannot be taken alongside BUST08004 Marketing. We will only consider University/College level courses.
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2019/20, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  80
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 20, Revision Session Hours 1, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 175 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Assessment of the course (100%) consists of coursework only as per below:

1. Brand Diary: max 1500 words (40%)
2. Critical review essay: max 2500 words (60%)

Students are to individually produce a critical review of two brands; one that you believe follows a functional branding strategy and one that follows a symbolic branding strategy. You are to review and deconstruct the marketing activities of the brands to explain how they follow this strategy and, ultimately, provide recommendations on how the marketing of these brands could be improved.


Feedback Feedback on your coursework, together with individual marks, will be available on Learn.



No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Understand and discuss critically how consumer involvement and emotions affect consumers choice of, and relationship with, brands
  2. Understand and discuss critically how the postmodern consumer uses brands as a resource to manage their identity
  3. Critically evaluate symbolism and the meaning of brands and explain how service and corporate brands differ from product brands.
  4. Discuss critically how brands gain their meanings from various cultural agents including marketers and consumers and evaluate the concept of brand equity.
  5. Understand and discuss critically strategies used in the management of brands, both functional and symbolic
Reading List
Readings may be found either in the University library collection or accessed via The Library electronic journals on

http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-services/services/library-museum-gallery/finding-resources/find-ejournal/search-ejourn


JOURNALS

Journal of Consumer Research
Journal of Marketing
Harvard Business Review
Journal of Marketing Management
European Journal of Marketing
Journal of Brand Management

ADDITIONAL SOURCES

Additional sources are all around us: the marketing communications campaigns of your favourite brands, social media, websites, celebrities, athletes, retail spaces and your friendship groups.

Look to the newspapers (not just the business pages) and other online news sources such as the BBC. Keep your eyes open for any coverage of BRANDS.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Cognitive Skills:

Students will develop analytical skills such as:
- The ability to apply concepts and theories to real life brand management;
- The ability to critically evaluate product portfolios;
- The ability to appraise brand strategies and make suggestions for improvement;
- The ability to use introspection as an analytical tool

Subject Specific Skills

Students will gain:
- The ability to recognise and respond to challenges in the management of brands;
- The ability to make recommendations to overcome and avoid specific brand challenges and threats.

By the end of the course students will be expected to:
- Be able to work individually and in a team;
- Be able to communicate and exchange ideas in oral and written formats
- Be able to analyse visual content and brand management strategies.
Additional Class Delivery Information 1 lecture per week
KeywordsBC
Contacts
Course organiserDr Susan Dunnett
Tel: (0131 6)50 3814
Email: Susan.Dunnett@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Chrysanthi Manidou
Tel: (0131 6) 50 3826
Email: Chrysanthi.Manidou@ed.ac.uk
Navigation
Help & Information
Home
Introduction
Glossary
Search DPTs and Courses
Regulations
Regulations
Degree Programmes
Introduction
Browse DPTs
Courses
Introduction
Humanities and Social Science
Science and Engineering
Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Other Information
Combined Course Timetable
Prospectuses
Important Information