“Stylish, elegant, wine (and beer…).” These are the words my classmates associate with me, how they perceive me. I wanted to be perceived as a crazy genius, but it is just not possible because, as we learned in our branding decisions class, PERCEPTION IS REALITY.
What about you? What is your favorite brand? Oh, and what is a brand anyway? If you want a sneak preview of the “Branding and Advertising Decisions” class taught by Professor John Greening, here is the answer: A brand is a promise kept; it lives in the consumer’s mind.
Welcome to the brand communications track. To choose this concentration, I’ve come a long way. I completed two required quarters (fall and winter) struggling with numbers – statistics, finance and database marketing (of course there are other courses as well). Coming from a long advertising agency and brand management career background, I wanted to cultivate the data-driven, quantitative marketing tools to analyze the data and measure marketing effectiveness. Although dealing with SPSS and statistic significance was painful for me, those classes were really helpful. In the end, I decided to over-invest in my strengths and to sharpen my brand communications skills further. I am taking Branding and Advertising Decisions, Customer Loyalty and Practicum: Marketing and Communications Research this spring quarter.
Elective Courses for Brand Communications:
• Branding & Advertising Decisions (required)
• Marketing Public Relations
• Crisis Management
• Global Marketing
• Entertainment Marketing
• Word-of-Mouth Marketing
• Investor Relations
• Internal Communications
What I like about this track is that I acquire knowledge not only by studying, but by doing. I have three Harvard Business School cases every week as well as real-time client-sponsored projects for the classes. Case studies help me analyze diverse business problems and come up with solutions for managerial decision-making. Client-sponsored live cases help me stay up-to-date with the marketing environment outside school and push my limits as I try to discover the consumer insights. I have to be a supportive teammate and a good leader in order to for my team’s projects to succeed.
Seth Godin, bestselling author of Permission Marketing and Purple Cow, firmly believes that in the age of Google, MySpace, YouTube and blogging, everyone is a brand. Your time at Medill IMC is a great opportunity for you – and me – to learn from the big brands and build the brand called YOU.
……….Hye Sun (Sunny) Yang
