Marketing Communications and Brand Management

Overview:

Introduction:

This Marketing Communications and Brand Management training course provides participants with an understanding of the concepts of marketing communications and branding activities at a practical level. The focus is primarily on enhancing the skills and knowledge needed to coordinate communication activities and manage campaigns. Some theories and strategic issues are covered to provide a relevant context to practice.

Course Objectives:

At the end of this course the participants will be able to:

• Explain the role and win support for marketing communications from more senior executives
• Advice on how to create an effective plan tailored to their organization and stakeholders and using relevant tools and media
• Plan and deliver advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing campaigns that achieve their objectives
• Manage marketing communication and brand support activities using both offline and online media
• Evaluate the effectiveness of communication tools using appropriate criteria such as cost and credibility

Targeted Audience:

• All those who have the responsibility for developing and managing marketing communications and brand support activities within their organizations

Course Outlines:

Unit 1: How does Marketing Communication Work?

• The communications process
• How audiences process information and make decisions
• Establishing and maintaining successful stakeholder relationships
• Above and below the line activities
• Ethics, responsibility, and codes of practice
• Understanding global audiences and communication challenges

Unit 2: The Marketing Communications mix

• How and when to use the tools: advertising, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, personal selling
• Choosing between the different mediums: broadcast, print, outdoor, digital, social media, in-store
• Co-ordinating and integrating marketing communication activities
• Insights into media planning and buying
• Developing effective messages using the different types of appeals
• Creating content audiences pay attention to and understand

Unit 3: Managing Marketing Communication Programmes and Campaigns

• Selecting between the different marketing communication strategies
• Frameworks for planning communication activities
• Developing advertising and sales promotion campaigns
• Developing public relations and direct marketing campaigns
• Finances: forecasting expenditure and allocating budgets
• Metrics and evaluating the effectiveness of communication activities

Unit 4: Developing and Managing Brand Identity

• Elements of a brand: logo block, strapline, typefaces, typography, colors, tone of voice, photographic style, grids
• A-Z steps for building a brand: researching markets, finding a niche, putting your culture and identity into words, creating the brand manual, explaining the brand to different audiences, keeping your brand alive
• More complex branding decisions: naming families, positioning, extensions, multi-branding, repositioning
• Reproducing the brand: online, video, brochures, stationery, packaging, signage, promotional items, uniforms, vehicles
• The people aspects: finding champions to keep you on-brand, persuading customers to pledge loyalty to your brand, defending against internal and external threats
• Best practice branding case studies

Unit 5: Action Planning

• Putting it all together: developing a marketing communications plan tailored to your organization and stakeholders
• Identifying and setting priorities for implementation
• Winning support from key internal personnel for implementation
• Personal coaching: presenting the challenges you will face implementing your plan, for feedback and support
• Developing a personal action plan based on your strengths and areas for development identified during this program