DM415BKK
Brand Building & Creative Strategy
Faculty
Neil Feinstein
Associate Professor at St. John’s University
Course length
Duration
Total hours
Credits
Language
Course type
Fee for single course
Fee for degree students
Skills you’ll learn
Overview
What do you think when you see the Nike logo? The Starbucks logo? The Disney logo? How does each brand make you feel? In this course, students will learn how to build a brand strategy, explore the emotional connections a consumer has with a brand, and discover how the brand drives creative strategy and consumer messaging.
Week one starts with the highest level of brand strategy: differentiating the brand from its competitors, identifying the brand’s promise to the consumer, defining the emotions the brand will evoke, and developing a brand voice.
Weeks two and three are devoted to translating the brand characteristics into a persuasive campaign by bringing that voice to the marketplace with advertising and consumer messaging.
This is a hands-on course in which students will work every day developing ideas, devising and testing concepts, collaborating with team members, and, ultimately, creating advertising.
Learning highlights
- Students will learn the dynamics of brand strategy and how to apply the concepts to building a brand, developing a brand personality, writing marketing messaging, and creating advertising. Students will:
- Explore brand strategy concepts.
- Apply concepts to build a brand ladder and write a positioning statement.
- Conduct a brand audit.
- Understand why a brand’s personality and voice are so important.
- Create a messaging architecture.
- Write a creative brief.
- Develop an advertising campaign (the final project).
Course outline
15 classes
Session 1
- What is a brand?
- A brand’s language
- Brand positioning within a competitive set
- Exercise: develop a perceptual map
Brand Strategy Workshop, Part I
- The value of a brand audit.
- Attributes, benefits, and values
- Brand laddering: building a brand from the ground up
- Exercise: brand laddering, Part I
Brand Strategy Workshop, Part II
- Positioning statement: what is it and how to write one?
- Student persona reviews
- Connecting your target with your brand values
- Exercise: brand laddering, Part II, writing a positioning statement
Session 4
- Brand personality: what is it, and why is it important?
- Brand voice: establishing distinction
- Homework: write a brand personality statement.
Session 5
- Read: Brand Positioning (HBS Publishing)
- Discussion and exercises
- Presentation practice workshop
Brand Strategy Presentations
- Brand ladder
- Brand positioning
- Brand voice
Session 7
- What is a value proposition?
- Why is a value proposition different from brand positioning?
- Simon Sinek’s “The Why” (Ted Talk)
- Exercise: value prop workshop
- Messaging architecture
- Homework: write value propositions for each persona.
Session 8
- The power of storytelling
- Watch “The Hero's Journey According to Joseph Campbell.”
- Elements and structure of a story
- Storyboarding 101
- In-class exercise: storytelling workshop to engage consumers.
- Homework: video storyboard
Session 9
- What is a creative strategy?
- The theory of creative constraint
- Uncovering human insight
- The role of a creative brief
- In-class exercise: writing a creative brief
Sticky Ideas
- A day of mind mapping and brainstorming.
Campaign Planning and Development
- Defining the objective
- Strategy (with a lowercase “s”)
- Picking the media (personas, journey maps, and social technographics)
- Overlaying the value proposition
- In-class exercise: develop a campaign
Session 12
- Writing for digital media
- Writing for traditional media
Session 13
- Creative workshop
- Discussion topic: what makes an idea
Campaign Presentations, Part I
Campaign Presentations, Part II
- Closing remarks
Methodology
Lecture, assigned reading and articles, writing assignments, in-class exercises, individual, and, since collaboration and presentation are important course takeaways, there will be lots of group work, plus multiple collaborative projects and presentations.
Grading
Neil is a Professor of Advertising, a digital marketer, an energetic and engaging trainer, a small business owner, and an advocate for unforgettable customer experiences.
Academically, Neil is an Associate Professor of Advertising at St. John’s University in New York City, where his research focus is digital innovation, influencer marketing, and creative strategy. He is a highly rated speaker at both academic and professional conferences. Through his podcast, Conversations With the Creators. Neil delves into visionaries who are doing the coolest things in advertising, PR, media and technology.
See full profileApply for this course
Brand Building & Creative Strategy
by Neil Feinstein
Total hours
45 Hours
Dates
Jul 10 - Jul 28, 2023
Fee for single course
€1500
Fee for degree students
€750
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May 29 - Jun 16, 2023
Malon Kraaijvanger
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How to secure your spot
Complete the form below to kickstart your application
Schedule your Harbour.Space interview
If successful, get ready to join us on campus
FAQ
Will I receive a certificate after completion?
Yes. Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate signed by the director of the program your course belonged to.
Do I need a visa?
This depends on your case. Please check with the Spanish or Thai consulate in your country of residence about visa requirements. We will do our part to provide you with the necessary documents, such as the Certificate of Enrollment.
Can I get a discount?
Yes. The easiest way to enroll in a course at a discounted price is to register for multiple courses. Registering for multiple courses will reduce the cost per individual course. Please ask the Admissions Office for more information about the other kinds of discounts we offer and what you can do to receive one.