Bachelor of Arts Honours in Strategic Brand Communication

Purpose

The purpose of this programme is to impart the necessary skills and knowledge to students in order that they are able to demonstrate the necessary outcomes to be qualified at this level of study and to enable them to find employment in the advertising, brand and creative industries at an appropriate level. The purpose is to provide students with the postgraduate skills and knowledge in order to prepare them for junior and middle management positions in the creative industries as well as to equip them with further skills and competencies in their chosen area of application.

This qualification is aimed at students who wish to further their skills and knowledge in brand communication research and brand development as well as learners who wish to manage and implement brand communication strategies. One of the main strengths of this Honours Degree lies in the combination of an academic and practical focus together with business and management areas of application. The graduates who specialise in Strategic Brand Communication will find employment as Account and Research Managers and Strategic and Media Planners across all sectors of the communications industry.

This Honours Degree in Strategic Brand Communication will graduate students with a real world understanding and skills to build and manage brands in highly competitive and cluttered communications environments. Students will also acquire the ability to apply knowledge and insights gained to the development of accountable, competitive and innovative brand and brand communications strategies. Graduates will have the expertise to track and assess brand-building strategies and to develop strategic recommendations as well as the ability to brief, manage and assess brand-building partners. The outcome of this programme is to graduate an immediately productive learner with the ability to apply knowledge and insight in the hands-on development of real world, accountable and innovative brand and brand communication strategies.

The Honours Degree in Strategic Brand Communication will give qualifying students the intellectual capital for a competitive edge in industry, and will also provide them with the basis on which to continue learning through Higher Degrees, and in particular enable them to enter into Master Degree programmes. The programme will provide students with real world understanding and the skills to build and manage brands in a highly competitive and cluttered communications environment.

This qualification is primarily intended for application in the advertising and brand industries whereby graduates will be able to move into more senior positions as Account and Research Managers, Marketing and Brand Communication Managers, Strategic and Media Planners. This Honours programme is an important opportunity for professionals in the brand industries to build on their existing qualifications, and in turn, become part of an important move to upskill these industries.

The Honours Degree in Strategic Brand Communication is delivered as a one-year full time course, or an eighteen-month part time course, where students complete 5 modules.

Rationale

The Honours Degree in Strategic Brand Communication is borne out of the ever-changing nature of the brand and communications industries in South Africa, and answers a need for skilled expertise in the relatively new arenas of brand management and leadership. The students who graduate from this programme will be employed into various marketing and communications industries with the skill and expertise to develop and build brands that will add value to business and society as a whole. When brands die, businesses die. We believe that our students will play a valuable role in building South African brands that will grow South African business.

The advertising, marketing and communications industries have identified the necessity to change the nature of brand management as it functions in the South African climate. The Honours Degree in Strategic Brand Communication addresses the need and rationale for change on a number of levels. The curriculum offers an integrated approach to brand communication within the context of brand development and management in South Africa.

Students acquire valuable business, marketing and communications knowledge in University and University of Technology programmes but often do not know how to go about applying their knowledge in a hands-on strategic planning environment. The nature and scope of brand building and brand contact planning is, to our knowledge, also not a core area of focus in marketing and communications Degrees/Diplomas offered at Universities and University of Technologies. Industry shifts and the pace of change demand that students have profound insight into brands and brand building and can apply their skills and expertise in strategy planning. This Honours Degree in Strategic Brand Communication answers this need.

The Honours Degree in Strategic Brand Communication will give qualifying students the intellectual capital for a competitive edge in industry, and will also provide them with the basis on which to continue learning through higher Degrees, and in particular enable them to enter into Masters Degree programmes. The programme will provide students with real world understanding and the skills to build and manage brands in a highly competitive and cluttered communications environment. The emphasis is on learning how to learn, and encouraging life long learning at our institution, and within South African society as whole.

The Honours Degree in Strategic Brand Communication is delivered as a one-year full time course, or an 18-month part time course.

We have committed ourselves to forging a truly South African blend of educational material with both global and local influences, giving our students the benefit of an immediately relevant curriculum that reflects international trends. Our wide network of industry connections and active support from many individuals in the field help shape this aspect of our programme.

We are well recognised and admired in the industry for producing high calibre students who have good all round knowledge of the branding, communications and visual communications industries. Our reputation as educational leaders in the fields of branding leaves us in no doubt that the Honours programme will attract both high calibre students and industry professionals.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

RPL can be used to admit no more than 10% of a cohort but to date very few students have been admitted through the formal RPL process which is governed by the relevant policies. RPL processes are programme specific in that the criteria against which evidence of prior learning must be provided are determined by the learning normally assumed to be in place for qualifications at the level concerned in the field concerned. Instruments are only designed when requests are made as they are expensive to design, implement and assess. To date most applications to The Independent Institute of Education (IIE) for RPL of non-formal learning are at the Honours level. The procedure is governed by the Academic Credit Policy and Qualification Completion Policy [IIE004] while recognition of non-formal learning is governed by the Recognition for Prior Learning Policy [IIE010]. Both are discussed here.

In addition to RPL a Credit Accumulation and Transfer (CAT) mechanism exists for access and advance standing for formal learning from a recognised, registered and accredited institution on a registered and accredited qualification. CAT rules as proposed by national policy are applied - no more than 50% of a completed qualification which cannot represent more than 50% of the target qualification will be awarded. In reality these percentages rarely exceed more than 25%.

If an applicant applies for an RPL admission, the learning assumed to be in place for the programme is assessed against Exit Level Outcomes equivalent to the formal learning required for admission. This would include an evaluation of the content as well as the applicant's cognitive and technical competence. Applicants prepare a portfolio against these stated requirements which is then assessed by a team of experts/academics in line with the policy.

Recognition is awarded for

• Learning, and not for experience per se.
• Learning that is on the level of the specific level descriptors of the qualification/unit standard.
• Learning that is in line with applied competence and has a balance between theory and practical application appropriate to the subject or unit standard.

Entry Requirements

• An appropriate Bachelors' Degree in a cognate field.

Or

• An appropriate Advanced Diploma in a cognate field, provided that a 360 Credit Diploma or appropriate equivalent has been completed. Candidates who have completed an Advanced Diploma after an NQF Level 5 Diploma must be admitted as a Senate Discretionary admission.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) - Demonstrate suitability for admission in terms of Senate's resolution 6.6 of 20 October 2005 which allows for Senate's discretionary conditional admission (if applicable).

Additional Admission Requirements

• Candidates are normally required to have a minimum average of 60% in their third year of their third year modules of their Degree or equivalent qualification, and they may be required to undergo an interview.

Level, credits and learning components assigned to the qualification

Higher Education Qualifications Sub-Framework (HEQSF) Level 8

• Module 1: Brand and Brand Building: 20 Credits.
• Module 2: Brand and Communication in Context: 25 Credits.
• Module 3: Brand Communication Strategy and Planning: 25 Credits.
• Module 4: Channel and Media Planning and Relationship Management: 25 Credits.
• Module 5: Research Methodology: 40 Credits.

1. Develop brand strategies
2. Implement brand strategies effectively.
3. Contextualise and assess a variety of brands and brand contexts within the South African economic and socio political environment.
4. Produce appropriate research that contributes to the academic and professional fields pertinent to contemporary brands and branding.
5. Brief, manage and assess internal and external brand partners.
6. Produce a theoretical and academic argument with appropriate structure.
7. Assess brand communications effectiveness and develop strategic recommendations.
8. Identify brand building opportunities and strategies.
9. Develop and define the architecture of a brand.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 1

• Strategies are contextualised within the socio, economic and political environment.
• Strategies are appropriate to the product and to the markets.
• Strategies are cohesive and developed logically.
• Strategies are developed to be implemented within appropriate media and time constraints.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 2

• Implementation is smooth and problems are addressed appropriately.
• Assessment of implementation is ongoing.
• Implementation is appropriate and effective.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 3

• Contextualisation is valid and substantive.
• Assessments are appropriate and accurate.
• Description of contexts and environments are appropriate and valid.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 4

• Research is contextualised within the brand and market environments.
• Research is substantive and valid.
• Research is conducted and collated in an appropriate structure.
• Collations and assessment of research are appropriate.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 5

• Briefs are clear, coherent and appropriate to the strategy.
• Management is efficient and effective.
• Assessments are valid and substantive.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 6

• Collected research is appropriate and has been used effectively to support the argument.
• Structure is appropriate, clear and valid.
• Argument is clear, substantive and presented logically.
• Argument acknowledges appropriate historical precedent.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 7

• Assessments are valid and accurate.
• Assessments are contextualised appropriately.
• Recommendations are appropriate and cohesive.
• Development is conceptual and original.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 8

• Definition and description of opportunities and strategies are accurate and substantive.
• Identification of opportunities and strategies is contextualised and appropriate.
• Analyses are accurate and substantive.

Integrated Assessment

Assessment Methods and Instruments

Formative Assessment

Learning and assessment are integrated. Continual formative assessment is required so that students are given feedback on their progress in the achievement of learning outcomes. The scheme of work includes assignments, real-world briefs, tests and an integrated programme portfolio based on the learning material and students are given feedback. The process is continuous and focuses on smaller sections of the work and limited numbers of outcomes.

Summative Assessment

Summative assessment is concerned with the judgement of the learning in relation to the Exit Level Outcomes of the qualification. Such judgement must include integrated assessments which test the student's ability to integrate the larger body of knowledge, skills and attitudes that are represented by the Exit Level Outcomes as a whole. Examinations, projects, reports or equivalent assessments, such as a portfolio of evidence, assess a representative selection of the outcomes practised and assessed. Summative assessment also tests the student's ability to manage and integrate a large body of knowledge to achieve the stated outcomes of a module.

Integrated assessments will be designed to achieve

• An integration of the achievement of exit level outcomes in a way which demonstrates that the purpose of the qualification as a whole has been achieved.
• The evaluation of learner performance which can provide evidence of applied competence.
• Criterion-referenced assessment which is clearly explained to, and understood by, the students and which can be applied in the recognition of prior learning.