Branding
Summary – MSc Business Administration – 2026
Topics
Week 1. Brand value
- 1a. Branding challenges
o Role and boundaries of branding
o Branding in an interactive marketplace
- 1b. Brand equity
o Brand value
o Customer-Based brand equity
Week 2. Brand associations & attitudes
- 2a. Brand positioning
o Associative networks
o Brand image & positioning
- 2b. Brand intangibles
o Brand concepts & brand personality
- 2c. Luxury branding
o Luxury associations as brand intangible
Week 3. Branding & social responsibility
- 3a. Social responsibility
o Brand values & activism
o Authenticity & X-washing
- 3b. Retail context
o Sustainable retailing
Week 4. Brand resonance & salience
- 4a. Brand resonance
o Consumer-brand relationships
o Brand resonance & loyalty
- 4b. Perceived brand differentiation
o Relevance of differentiation
o Brand salience & distinctiveness
- 4c. Bonus topic 4c. Badvertising
o Analysis of poor brand communication
,Week 5. Brand building tools
- 5a. Brand communication
o Social media & human brands
- 5b. Primary brand elements
o Elements and criteria for evaluation
- 5c. Secondary brand knowledge
o Sources of secondary knowledge
o Association transfer & country of origin associations
Week 6. Branding strategies
- 6a. Brand equity leverage
o Brand extensions & brand alliances
- 6b. Brand architecture
o Brand portfolio strategies & brand pruning
,Week 1. Brand Value
Literature:
- 01. Swaminathan, V., Sorescu, A., Steenkamp, J. B. E., O’Guinn, T. C. G., & Schmitt, B.
(2020). Branding in a hyperconnected world: Refocusing theories and rethinking
boundaries. Journal of Marketing, 84(2), 24-46.
- 02. Keller, K. L. (2016). Reflections on customer-based brand equity: perspectives,
progress, and priorities. AMS review, 6(1-2), 1-16.
1a. Branding challenges
Hyperconnectivity (Swaminathan et al. 2020)
= That people, devices, and organizations are constantly connected, regardless of time or place.
This has two major effects on brands:
- Blurring boundaries: Brands are no longer owned by companies alone. Consumers,
employees, and society all help shape what a brand means, since information is easily
available to everyone. → Shared ownership, co-creation, control etc
- Broadening boundaries: The concept of a 'brand' now covers much more than products
or services. Think of platforms (Airbnb), social movements (#MeToo), people (Kim
Kardashian), and places. Brands also increasingly play a societal role, such as activism
or protecting data privacy. → What is a brand?
Branding in a digital world? (Keller, 2016)
Brand engagement pyramid, which
distinguishes between highly engaged
customers (want deep relationship) and not
engaged customers (no interest beyond
purchase).
➔ Key question: what are the most
effective marketing activities for each
group?
Schultz (2016) – Research agenda for reinventing brand management in an interactive
marketplace
- Shift to behavioral data
- Longitdinal analysis
- Networked systems
- Multidimensional models
- Financial focus
- Connections to/inclusion of other organizations in brand (development)
, 1b. Brand equity
= The added value that a brand provides to a product. Anything that identifies and differentiates.
Brand value chain (Keller 2016)
= A model that explains how brand value is created and conceptualized. It traces value through
four stages:
• Marketing Program Investment: The strategic actions a firm takes to build the brand
(product, communications, trade, employee, other).
• Customer Mindset: The value of the brand in the mind of the consumer – awareness,
associations, attitudes, attachment, activity.
• Market Performance: How this mindset translates into actual market outcomes – price
premiums, market share, profitability.
• Shareholder Value: The financial value for investors – stock price, P/E ratio, market
capitalization.
Between each stage there are multipliers/filters (moderating factors):
The front of the chain is the
most interesting – the
marketing variables
Our interpretation of brand equity = Customer Based Brand Equity: The added value of the
brand in the mind of the consumer.
So Marketing Program Investment (traditionally maybe a form of the 4 P’s), is a way of looking at
the idea of brand building → What are the strategic actions we can take with our brand to create
this customer mindset? To generate this Customer Based Brand Equity?
Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE)
If brand value ultimately resides in the mind of the consumer, then we need to understand brand
equity in consumer behaviour terms. Keller’s definition of CBBE has three key components:
Summary – MSc Business Administration – 2026
Topics
Week 1. Brand value
- 1a. Branding challenges
o Role and boundaries of branding
o Branding in an interactive marketplace
- 1b. Brand equity
o Brand value
o Customer-Based brand equity
Week 2. Brand associations & attitudes
- 2a. Brand positioning
o Associative networks
o Brand image & positioning
- 2b. Brand intangibles
o Brand concepts & brand personality
- 2c. Luxury branding
o Luxury associations as brand intangible
Week 3. Branding & social responsibility
- 3a. Social responsibility
o Brand values & activism
o Authenticity & X-washing
- 3b. Retail context
o Sustainable retailing
Week 4. Brand resonance & salience
- 4a. Brand resonance
o Consumer-brand relationships
o Brand resonance & loyalty
- 4b. Perceived brand differentiation
o Relevance of differentiation
o Brand salience & distinctiveness
- 4c. Bonus topic 4c. Badvertising
o Analysis of poor brand communication
,Week 5. Brand building tools
- 5a. Brand communication
o Social media & human brands
- 5b. Primary brand elements
o Elements and criteria for evaluation
- 5c. Secondary brand knowledge
o Sources of secondary knowledge
o Association transfer & country of origin associations
Week 6. Branding strategies
- 6a. Brand equity leverage
o Brand extensions & brand alliances
- 6b. Brand architecture
o Brand portfolio strategies & brand pruning
,Week 1. Brand Value
Literature:
- 01. Swaminathan, V., Sorescu, A., Steenkamp, J. B. E., O’Guinn, T. C. G., & Schmitt, B.
(2020). Branding in a hyperconnected world: Refocusing theories and rethinking
boundaries. Journal of Marketing, 84(2), 24-46.
- 02. Keller, K. L. (2016). Reflections on customer-based brand equity: perspectives,
progress, and priorities. AMS review, 6(1-2), 1-16.
1a. Branding challenges
Hyperconnectivity (Swaminathan et al. 2020)
= That people, devices, and organizations are constantly connected, regardless of time or place.
This has two major effects on brands:
- Blurring boundaries: Brands are no longer owned by companies alone. Consumers,
employees, and society all help shape what a brand means, since information is easily
available to everyone. → Shared ownership, co-creation, control etc
- Broadening boundaries: The concept of a 'brand' now covers much more than products
or services. Think of platforms (Airbnb), social movements (#MeToo), people (Kim
Kardashian), and places. Brands also increasingly play a societal role, such as activism
or protecting data privacy. → What is a brand?
Branding in a digital world? (Keller, 2016)
Brand engagement pyramid, which
distinguishes between highly engaged
customers (want deep relationship) and not
engaged customers (no interest beyond
purchase).
➔ Key question: what are the most
effective marketing activities for each
group?
Schultz (2016) – Research agenda for reinventing brand management in an interactive
marketplace
- Shift to behavioral data
- Longitdinal analysis
- Networked systems
- Multidimensional models
- Financial focus
- Connections to/inclusion of other organizations in brand (development)
, 1b. Brand equity
= The added value that a brand provides to a product. Anything that identifies and differentiates.
Brand value chain (Keller 2016)
= A model that explains how brand value is created and conceptualized. It traces value through
four stages:
• Marketing Program Investment: The strategic actions a firm takes to build the brand
(product, communications, trade, employee, other).
• Customer Mindset: The value of the brand in the mind of the consumer – awareness,
associations, attitudes, attachment, activity.
• Market Performance: How this mindset translates into actual market outcomes – price
premiums, market share, profitability.
• Shareholder Value: The financial value for investors – stock price, P/E ratio, market
capitalization.
Between each stage there are multipliers/filters (moderating factors):
The front of the chain is the
most interesting – the
marketing variables
Our interpretation of brand equity = Customer Based Brand Equity: The added value of the
brand in the mind of the consumer.
So Marketing Program Investment (traditionally maybe a form of the 4 P’s), is a way of looking at
the idea of brand building → What are the strategic actions we can take with our brand to create
this customer mindset? To generate this Customer Based Brand Equity?
Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE)
If brand value ultimately resides in the mind of the consumer, then we need to understand brand
equity in consumer behaviour terms. Keller’s definition of CBBE has three key components:
