Brand Content

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

• 5. Gender equality
• 12. Responsible consumption and production

Objectives

Course desription

In a world inundated with information and choices, the role of brand content has never been more critical in shaping consumer perceptions, fostering brand loyalty, and driving business success. This comprehensive course is designed to immerse the student in the multifaceted landscape of brand content, emphasizing its pivotal role in contemporary marketing and advertising within the context of socio-cultural and technological shifts. In the age of information overload and rapidly changing consumer behaviours, the ability to craft and manage compelling brand content has become a backbone for successful marketing and advertising strategies. In this course, the student will explore how brand content serves as the cornerstone for building authentic connections with consumers, driving engagement, and ultimately, influencing purchase decisions.

Beyond individual touchpoints, this course emphasizes the importance of crafting a unified brand experience. Student will learn how to seamlessly integrate brand content into every facet of every marketing and advertising effort, creating a cohesive narrative that leaves a lasting impression on the audience.

This course has been designed to be aligned with the latest marketing trends, from influencer marketing and content personalization to the integration of brand content into omnichannel strategies. This course will equip the student with the knowledge and tools to navigate these trends seamlessly, ensuring that a brand remains relevant and resonant.

This course pretends to be a transformative journey through the world of brand content, where creativity meets strategy, and innovation converges with consumer insights. In this course, the student will explore the boundless possibilities of strategic brand content management in the contemporary marketing landscape. 

Course objectives 

Description: In the context of inbound marketing and pull communication, this subject focuses on how to create engaging and strategic branded content. 

·         Understand the different contents that a company develops in the digital and offline environment, aimed at its main audiences. 

·         Explore diverse brand content types and sources, understanding their significance in the context of modern marketing and advertising.

·         Acquire practical knowledge about brand content resources, tools, and applications, while discerning the distinctions between offline and online content.

·         Develop the skills to create a comprehensive brand content strategy and plan, considering current market trends, emerging customer needs, and the socio-cultural context.

·         Develop the skills needed to write and create corporate content in different audiovisual and multimedia formats. 

·         Learn to integrate the contents into a transmedia narrative and will recognize the storytelling techniques. 

·         Develop the skills needed to manage and plan corporate texts and videos.

Learning outcomes

Under review. Pending publication

Content

Course Content 
 

MODULE 1- Reshaping Strategic Brand Management

-          Designing the brand identity (brand style, brand language and brand architecture)

-          Managing and monitoring the brand equity (brand image and brand performance and results)

MODULE 2- Brand content management

-          Brand content types: writing contents for the net (language and reading patterns. understanding users and accessibility), textual branded content (blogs, whitepapers, e-books, newsletters and mailing lists), multimedia branded content (podcasts, video formats, webinars, infographics and data visualization)Brand content types

-          Brand content sources

-          Brand content resources 

-          Brand content tools and applications 

-          Offline versus online content 

-          Shaping and sharing a brand message, a brand meaning and knowledge and a unified brand experience for customers 

o    The current versus the desired brand meaning and knowledge

o    Brand Content Management through the Integrated marketing communications (IMC) 

o    Effective and efficient content selection, creation, distribution and diffusion: The Brand Content Mix 

MODULE 3- Brand content management cycle and workflows.

-          Creating a brand content strategy and a brand content plan

-          Stages, tasks and tools of a brand content plan 

MODULE 4- Brand content value creation: 

o    Brand content of informative value

o    Brand content of entertainment value

o    Brand content of social value

o    Brand content of user co-creation value 

Evaluation

Learning Assessments 

The overall grade of this course will be the weighting of the grades of the following summative assessments:

1)    Brand content group project: 60% of the final grade. Students must develop a Brand Content group project about a current or new company, organisation, product, brand or business activity. The primary goal of this project is to provide students with a real-world application of the principles learned in the course by developing and implementing a comprehensive brand content strategy for a specific company. Within this project students need to conduct independent research focusing on the key developments related to different key issues and initiatives about brand content management inside and outside of their selected case organization and its specific context and market. The professor will provide the group project guidelines and briefing to students in the third week of the course. 

1)    Mid-term submission of the group project (10% of the final grade). At the mid-term of this course all groups will have to submit their partial projects including all the topics and parts that the professor will specify previously. 

2)    Final submission of the group project (35% of the final grade) at the end of the course and during the final exams period (1st call) according to the established guidelines. 

3)    Presentation and oral defence of the group project (15% of the final grade) at the end of the course and during the final exams period (1st call) according to the established guidelines.

2)    Final Exam (written in class): 25% of the total grade. This is an in-class written exam testing students' understanding, knowledge and application of the theory, materials and information covered during the course. Students will only be able to take the resit exam at the given time/sessions organized by the Academic Secretariat. Students not attending this exam will be graded with 0 (zero) in this assessment. Pass grade is 5 or more.

3)    Classroom practice (written and submitted in class): 15% of the total grade. This will consist in in- class written assignments based on different case studies and exercise that students will analyse and prepare for submission on Moodle. These cases are designed to helps students apply the different concepts, monitor their learning and provide ongoing feedback that can be used by students to improve their performance. Cases not submitted are graded 0 (zero). Pass grade is 5 or more.

Assessments requirements

-  In order to pass the course, it is mandatory that students pass separately each one of the three learning assessments with a minimum mark of 5 over 10. The overall grade of the subject is then an average of the grades of the different learning assessments. In case that a student fails one of these three assessments, his/ her overall grade is capped at 4 (which means that the student fails the subject) 

-  Those students who have failed the final exam will need to take a resit exam. The resit exam grade will be capped at 5. Those students who have not passed the classroom practice or/ and the group report will need to resit one or both assessments according to the professor instructions with the grades being capped at 5. 

-  Please take into account that the dates and times of the submissions, presentations and final exam that are specified in the working plan cannot be moved or changed by any circumstance. For this reason, students will need to plan their extracurricular activities according to the planned schedule.

-  In the oral presentation sessions, the professor will assign the order of presentations 

-  Class assignments and briefings must be submitted on Moodle no later than the deadline set by the professor that is specified on the Moodle platform. All works submitted after the deadline will not be marked and the formal grade for the piece of work which will go on the grade sheet will be ZERO. All students are expected to submit assignments in a Word format

Methodology

The methodology for this course embodies a dynamic blend of theoretical frameworks, real-world examples, interactive workshops and group project development aimed at equipping students with practical skills and insights essential for navigating the complexities of strategic brand content management. Lectures will provide an in-depth understanding of basic concepts and latest trends in brand content. The content of each session will be uploaded to Moodle after each session. The content of these lectures will be evaluated in the written final exam. By working on a project for a real company, students will gain valuable practical experience, applying the principles of strategic brand content management in a tangible and impactful way. This hands-on approach not only reinforces theoretical knowledge but also prepares students for the challenges they may encounter in their future career.

Practical assignments and the group project will challenge students to apply theoretical concepts in realistic scenarios and prepare them for the dynamic nature of the industry. Continuous feedback and evaluations, will ensure students receive timely guidance and exposure to industry practices, while the recommended bibliography, the online resources and e-learning platforms will supplement the traditional classroom sessions, keeping students updated on the latest trends and technologies. By embracing this multifaceted approach, the course empowers students to thrive in the ever-evolving landscape of brand content management, emphasizing practical application, creativity, innovation, and strategic marketing thinking.

Bibliography

Key references

• AGUILERA, Joaquín; & BAÑOS, Miguel (2016). Branded entertainment. Cuando el Branded Content se convierte en entretenimiento. ESIC.
• HANDLEY, Ann, & CHAPMAN, C.C. (2012). Content rules. How to create killer blogs, podcasts, videos, ebooks, webinars (and more) that engage customers and ignite your business. Wiley.
• LIEB, Rebecca (2017). Content: the atomic particle of marketing. The definitive guide to content marketing strategy. Kogan Page.
• PULIZZI, Jose (2013). Epic content marketing. How to tell a different story, break through the clutter, and win more customers by marketing less. McGraw-Hill Education.
• SANAGUSTÍN, Eva (2013). Marketing de contenidos. Anaya Multimedia.

Further reading

Teachers will provide complementary bibliography and compulsory reading throughout the course via the Virtual Campus.