Mindful Marketing - MKTG 475 - Branding
Brand management is about meaning. Brand is more than just a name and a logo as brands must be carefully created, astutely managed, and judiciously leveraged if they are to thrive, brand is something that is important to peoples which gives them values. Religion is a brand, athletes are a brand, and you are a brand. By taking 475 brand management students will practice building a personal brand as well as learn how to establish brand identity and equity to attract and maintain customers which increase their customer lifetime value. This course will help individuals connect their brand with their customer base!
What is 475?
Marketing 475, or Brand Management, is all about branding and learning about what exactly makes life, religion, companies, etc. meaningful to the consumer. The professor, Tejvir Sekhon, gives us insight on these key ideas from the class:
- How to manage customer relations
- How to link your role within an organization to how you can effectively serve customers better
- Brand positioning, design, management and leverage
This course delivers knowledge in a variety of ways such as case studies, readings, discussions, lectures, and a research project where students will audit a brand! The brand audit will provide opportunities to engage in primary research and create marketing implications based on the results of the research.
Why should students take 475?
Branding Marketing focuses on how to cultivate a relationship between a brand and a customer, and how brands could utilize the relationships between their customers.
66% of customers today expect brands to “understand their unique needs, However, there’s a gap: 54% feel companies fail at providing the right information, and a staggering 66% feel treated like mere statistics” (Lumoa 2023 State of CX Report).
Since Branding is “about what makes life meaningful”, and customers are continuously let down by their relationships to brands, Tej argues that “we are dealing with a crisis of meaning.”
By taking this class, students will learn to create and distribute value customers want, and increase their customers’ lifetime value (CLV). By understanding how to serve customers better, anyone who takes this class will know how to provide more value to their customers, in their career, and in other aspects of their lives. You also will gain perspectives on what value you are taking into your own life.
The Benefit
As students take marketing 475, students will dive deep into an analysis of brand strategies. Some concepts covered in the course include brand identity, brand equity and the branding process. Ultimately, this is another great class to help students build skills that will help them in their professional career. So, as a student, if you want to learn the importance of brands and how developing a personal brand can give you useful knowledge of creating value for consumers, then it is recommended to take this class.
Past Student POV
Sierra Seabolt, WWU alum, shares the importance of being on top of MKTG 475's readings as time was “primarily spent on discussing the assigned readings and the reading prompts.” The main takeaway that Seabolt took from the class was the importance and value a brand story can hold. She notes that “as a marketer, it’s all about understanding your customer and understanding how they see, feel, and contribute to what makes a brand. This class really teaches you that through the assigned reading, lectures, and discussions.”
Seabolt, now working as a product manager, is thankful that she took Branding. She feels as if she really understands the importance of consumer perception. You have to “listen to your customers for how they see value in your products and use that language in your messaging and storytelling. This is a common practice in product marketing and a key lesson on why it’s important to stay open and curious in marketing,” said Seabolt.
Tej Talk
We sat down with Tej to get the professor’s views of MKTG 475 - Branding.
“Tej, How can this class help a student stand out during their professional career?”
“What’s important in your personal career is building your personal brand, if you’re known for something. This class can help in two ways, 1. Understanding building a personal brand. Having a unique point of view on things is the way. The experience on how to develop a unique point of view. 2. How people choose between brands and the meaning of life.....The idea of what makes life meaningful. You would be surprised at how much of that meaning is created through engaging in these commercial activities. The beauty of this; being interested in sociology, culture, religion, there are branding implications everywhere in these kinds of areas.”
“What are the most important lessons students can expect to get out of this class?”
“Maximizing customer lifetime value. Foundation of the CLV is the relationship that a customer has with a brand. Customers don’t have relationships with features, because they can be copied. They have a relationship with the brand itself or other users.”
Students can expect to learn:
- Different perspective on how to creative value
- How to manage customer relationships
- How to help people link what they do to bigger customer relations.
While Tej understands that most post-grad individuals may not use a personal brand immediately after college, as you work your way up the ladder, this course will immensely serve your professional career.
Resources
Resources students can check out to further their knowledge on how to be successful in 475 would be, the marketing website and blog, and speaking with Tej himself. Check out the professor’s office hours with any further questions pertaining to questions about 475.
Schedule Office Hours: https://calendly.com/sekhont/meeting-slotst
Email: Tejvir.sekhon@wwu.edu
Office Hours: In person Monday/Wednesday 10-11; On Zoom: Tuesday/Thursday 1-2
Office Location: PH411