THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS

BA 4337.501: Product and Brand Management

Contact Information

Spring
Dr. Norris Bruce TA: Juncai Jiang
2009
R: 7:00PM
Office: SOM 3.220 Phone: 972-883-6359
– 9:45PM
Classroom: E-mail:
Phone: 972-883-6293 jiangjuncaigiant@gmail.com
SOM 2.904
E-mail:
norris.bruce@utdallas.edu
Office Hours: T. 4-7PM, by
appointment

Course Background and Objectives

This course is designed to give you insights into how profitable brands are created
and managed over time.
It also examines how marketers may measure the equity or the value of a brand, and the
importance of consumer perceptions in development of brands.

The course thus considers the following questions: (1) How do firms build brand equity?
(2) How can brand equity be measured?
and (3) How does a firm capitalize on its brand's equity to expand its business?

The take-away from the course is this: By the end of the course, you should have a better
understanding some of:

• the main issues in planning and implementing brand strategies; and

• the appropriate concepts for building, and leveraging brands equity.

Text and Course Materials

• Textbook: Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing

Brand Equity, 3e., by Kevin Keller, Prentice Hall.
• Best Practice Cases in Branding, Case Book Supplement, Kevin Keller, Prentice
Hall Publishing.
• Lecture Notes distributed via Webct.
Class Format:

Class sessions will consist of lecture/discussions, video presentations, case analyses, and
student presentations. The lectures/discussions
are designed only to reinforce and expand on, but not to substitute for, the information in
the assigned readings. Our weekly session
will examine specific marketing topics from the perspective of building, measuring, and
managing brand equity

This should be a highly interactive course, in which involvement and participation are
valued. You are thus expected to come to class
ready and able to discuss the assigned readings and conceptual material; so be prepared
to contribute.

Course Requirements:

Mid-Term Exam: This exam will consist of multiple-choice questions and may include
short-answer questions or short essays, all based
on the text and in-class discussions. 20% of overall grade.

Group Case Presentation: Teams of 3 students will each prepare a 20 minutes

presentation and a written report on an assigned textbook case. Each student must prepare
and present a section of the class presentation. Team members will also be asked to
conduct peer evaluations of fellow team members. The purpose of this evaluation of
course is to measure the contribution of each member to the group effort. Peer
evaluations must be provided on the day of the presentation. For confidentiality reasons,
each evaluation should be returned in a sealed envelope. I will provide the evaluation
forms. 20% of overall grade.

Homework Assignments: There will be 5 homework assignments. These will serve to

reinforce concepts covered in class and in the
assigned readings. 15% of overall grade.

Final Group Project: For this assignment students will be organized into teams of
4. The assignment is to pick a brand from the list of Business Week's Top 100 brands
(see link below) and conduct a brand audit. Each team must study a different brand, and
brands are assigned on a "first come, first serve" basis. Once you have formed your
groups, send me an e-mail with your brand and team members, and I will confirm that the
brand is appropriate and whether or not the brand is available. You are expected to form
your own groups.

The project consists of two deliverables: a 10-page (single-spaced) report and an in-
class presentation.
Team member are expected to participate equally in these presentations. Peer evaluations
also apply.
I will hand out specific project requirements (including report content) in week 4. 35% of
overall grade.

Class Attendance/Participation: Constructive contribution to the class discussion and

genuine listening to others are crucial
elements of this course. The discussion forum provides an opportunity to present your
position and to learn from others by
listening to their comments and criticisms. Keep in mind that quality, not quantity, is
the goal when it comes to class participation
(i.e. it’s not how much you talk but what you say that counts!).

I will sometimes call upon students who raise their hands wishing to participate, and at
other times I will ask students who have
not volunteered to contribute. While this is sometimes unpleasant, I think it will improve
the quality of class discussion to get
everyone’s input. An additional way to participate in class is to e-mail
comments/questions to me before the class session.
This e-mail participation must be received no later than 5:00pm the day before the class.
8% of your final grade will be based
on constructive participation in the discussions.

Attendance is not mandatory, but will be reflected in your class participation score (if
you’re not there, you can’t participate).
If you miss a class, you will be responsible for making up material that you miss and for
making arrangements to get any handouts that
may have been distributed that day. 10% of overall grade.

Grading and Course Requirements

The following table summarizes how your grades will be determined.

Grading Element Weight Format

5 Homework Assignments 15% Based on Text, In-class Material

Group Case Write-up and Presentation 20% Report + 20 minutes Presentation

Mid-term Exam 20% Multiple Choice/Short Essay
Class Participation 10% See Above
Brand Audit Group Project 35% 10 (1-spaced) Page report + Presentation
Letter grades will be assigned as follows: (A+ = 95-100%; A = 90-94%; A-=85-89%; B+=80-
84%; B=75-79%; B-=70-74%; C+=65-69%;
C=60-64%; C-=55-59%; D+=50-54%)

Course Schedule
 Date Activity Reading
(A) Positioning and Customer Focused Brand Equity

Introductions Ch. 1
1 Jan. 15 Top 100
Brands, Brand Equity, and Brand Management
http://bwn

Customer Based Brand Equity

Case: Brand Identity - AFLAC
2 Jan. 22 Ch. 2
In-Class Pepsi vs. Coke Taste Test
Homework Assignment #1
Brand Positioning
3 Jan. 29 Ch. 3
Team #1: Case Presentation
(B) Planning and Implementing Brand Marketing Program
Choosing Brand Elements to Build Brand Equity
4 Feb. 5 Ch. 4
Team #2: Case Presentation
Designing Marketing Programs to Build Brand Equity

5 Feb. 12 Team #3.0: Case Presentation Ch. 5

Team #3.1: Case Presentation - Yahoo
Homework Assignment #2
Integrating Marketing Communications to Build Brand Equity
6 Feb. 19 Ch. 6
Team #4.0: Case Presentation
Team #4.1: Case Presentation - Got Milk
Leveraging Secondary Brand Knowledge to Build Brand Equity
7 Feb. 26 Ch. 7
Team #5: Case Presentation
Mid-Term Exam - Take Home Due
(C) Measuring Brand Equity
Measuring Sources of Brand Equity: Measuring Customer Mindset.
8 Mar. 5 Ch. 9
Team #6: Case Presentation
Designing and Implementing Brand Strategies
9 Mar. 12 Ch. 11
Team #7: Case Presentation
Homework Assignment #3
Spring Beak - March 16-20th, 2009
(D) Leveraging Brand Equity
 Introducing and Naming New Products and Brand Extensions
10 Mar. 26 Ch. 12
Team #8.0: Case Presentation
Team #8.1: Case Presentation - GE.
Managing Brands Equity over Time
Ch. 13
11 Apr. 2
Team #9: Case Presentation
Homework Assignment #4

Managing Brand Equity over Geographic Boundaries and Market

Segments
12 Apr. 9 Ch. 14
Team #10.0: Case Presentation
Team #10.1: Case Presentation – Ipod.
Project Group Presentations
13 Apr. 16
Homework Assignment #5
14 Apr. 23 Project Group Presentations
Project Group Presentations
15 Apr. 30
Project Report Due (7 PM- SOM 2.901)
Grades Available to students online: May 1-14th

Useful Brand Information Sources

Business Week, Fortune, and Forbes, The Economist, Business 2.0, Fast Company all
have marketing articles dealing with branding issues.
The Wall Street Journal has a daily column in Section 2 on advertising that often
addresses branding issues. Interbrand’s brandchannel.com provides a number of updates
and a wealth of resources. Two useful industry trade publications are Advertising Age
and BRANDWEEK. Both are excellent sources of current information about advertising,
branding, and marketing in general for that matter. To find out more about various
consumer characteristics or trends, American Demographics is a monthly publication
with lots of useful information.