Master of Arts: Creative Brand Leadership
Purpose:
Sources: SAQA official qualification record, SAQA registered qualifications record. Yiba Verified does not own the underlying qualification data shown on this page.
Qualification type
Master's Degree
Credits
180
Sub-framework
HEQSF - Higher Education Qualifications Sub-framework
Providers listed
1
Qualification snapshot
Official qualification identity fields captured from the qualification record.
Originator
The Independent Institute of Education (Pty) Ltd
Quality assurance functionary
CHE - Council on Higher Education
Field
Field 03 - Business, Commerce and Management Studies
Subfield
Marketing
Qual class
Regular-Provider-ELOAC
Recognise previous learning
Y
Important dates
These dates are carried directly from the qualification record.
Registration start
2024-07-01
Registration end
2027-06-30
Last date for enrolment
2028-06-30
Last date for achievement
2031-06-30
Purpose and entry context
Official SAQA text formatted for easier reading.
Purpose and rationale
Purpose
The purpose of this qualification is to produce graduates with the expertise to evolve and build their careers in Creative Brand Leadership and also to promote postgraduate study. This qualification will provide learners with the knowledge, skills and competencies identified by industry as critical for senior brand management and brand business leaders, to be able to contribute to the development of brand leadership knowledge at an advanced level. The qualifying learner will be well-prepared to direct and contribute to the innovation of sustainable brand strategies. This qualification will prepare learners to continue their leadership, business, brand, marketing and communications strategy studies.
Rationale
The qualifying learners must demonstrate self-direction and originality in planning, problem solving and advancement of knowledge through scientific research. This qualification engages individuals and teams in making sense of complex situations to develop meaningful and sustainable brand strategies; therefore the field requires both research input and advanced professional expertise.
Scientific research is required to ensure brand leadership in a way that builds brands with original and meaningful purpose and sustains stakeholder relationships. Advanced professional expertise in brand leadership through research is required to ensure strategic development of brands and the achievement of triple bottom-line performance in the modern market place.
This level of education is required to produce specialists who are able to take the lead in brand building within developed and developing economies. This can only be achieved through scientific enquiry into creative brand leadership to inform advanced systemic, strategic and design thinking theories and models. Scientific enquiry in this field is necessary to position individuals and teams to make shared sense of complex situations and to design and implement innovative and sustainable brand strategies.
Career opportunities for the qualifying learner exist in/as
- Chief Executive Positions.
- Chief Brand Officer/Director.
- Brand Manager.
- Strategic Planner.
- Corporate Research Director/ Manager.
- Brand Auditing.
- New Business Development.
- Communication Director/Manager.
- Corporate Social Investment Director/Manager.
- Corporate Social Responsibility Director/Manager.
- Marketing Director/Manager.
- Strategic Brand Consultant.
- Brand Contact Strategist.
- Brand Designers (Identity and Corporate Identity).
- Brand Research and Development.
Entry requirements and RPL
It is assumed that learners who access this qualification have met the entry requirements and are competent in English as the language of teaching and learning.
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
The learner can be given access to the qualification through RPL and can achieve this qualification through RPL. The institution's RPL policy and Academic Credit and Qualification Completion policy guide this process. Skills, knowledge and experience in respect of competencies acquired through informal and non-formal learning are assessed in the RPL process.
Access to the Qualification
Learners who wish to enrol for this qualification must have completed a Bachelor of Arts Honours: Brand Leadership or cognate qualification.
Structure and assessment
Qualification rules, exit outcomes, and assessment criteria from the SAQA record.
Qualification rules
The qualification comprises a dissertation which consists of 180 Credits at NQF Level 9.
Exit level outcomes
The qualifying learner will be able to
- Identify and solve advanced problems in brand building and leadership through the development of branding strategies against a background of highly specialised and unpredictable markets.
- Conduct independent scientific research to inform the design and development of creative brand leadership strategy in an academically appropriate manner.
Critical Cross-Field Outcomes
All the Critical Cross-Field Outcomes are addressed in this qualification.
Associated assessment criteria
Associated Assessment Criteria For Exit Level Outcome 1
- Relate organisational change and development to the impact on Creative Brand Leadership design.
- Evaluate Creative Brand Leadership in the context of ethics, laws and regulations relevant to shared value creation for competitive advantage.
- Demonstrate the ability to apply complex and advanced concepts and approaches to Creative Brand Leadership strategies and policies to solve complex problems.
Associated Assessment Criteria For Exit Level Outcome 2
- Identify a research problem related to Creative Brand Leadership.
- Propose a plan to conduct research to resolve the problem in an academically appropriate manner.
- Carry out research by collecting and analysing data and presenting the results.
- Communicate research findings effectively to share new insight into Creative Brand Leadership.
Integrated Assessment
The Master of Arts: Creative Brand Leadership is awarded for successful completion of a dissertation. The research proposal must be approved by at Research Committee prior to the learner commencing work on the research dissertation. This Committee is responsible for assessing the validity and relevance of the proposed research. The summative assessment comprises the evaluation of the research dissertation. This dissertation will be assessed by an internal as well an external assessor.
Progression and comparability
Articulation options
This qualification allows for both horizontal and vertical articulation possibilities.
This Qualification articulates horizontally with the following qualifications at NQF Level 9
- A Master of Business Administration.
- A Master of Administration.
- A Master of Commerce: Business Administration.
- A Master of Technology: Business Administration.
The Qualification articulates vertically with the following qualifications at NQF Level 10
- A Doctor of Business Administration.
- A Doctor of Administration.
- A Doctor of Science: Business Administration.
- A Doctor of Technology: Business Administration.
International comparability
The launch of the Masters qualifications with Brand Leadership/Management as the primary focus seems to be increasing. For example, the DePaul University offers a Master's degree in Brand Management which focuses on the management of existing brands, planning, development, launch and management of new brands, as well as the assessment of brand equity.
The London Graduate School of Management offers a Master of Branding aimed at providing learners with the core skills in Branding along with an awareness of current issues in leading and developing brands in complex organisations.
The Master's in Luxury Brand Management offered by the European Business School of London recognises that luxury and prestige companies' top executives need a specific kind of business expertise to ensure that their brand building excels in a highly competitive international business environment. A leading brand requires innovation and creative potential with insight into the history and culture of an organisation to position it to achieve excellence. The qualification therefore focuses on developing innovative and creative brand leaders that will provide guidance and support to luxury and prestige companies.
The focus on Brand Management is contextualised in the study of business, marketing and or communications. Examples of this include the Master's in Marketing and Brand Management offered by the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (NHH), as well as the Master's in Brand Management and Communication offered by Instituto Europeo di Design Milan (IED Milan).
The study of Brand Management in context of a particular industry or category such Master's qualifications are professionally focused on developing knowledge and skills in a specialist or niche industry or category. Examples of this include the Master of Science in Applied Corporate Brand Management offered by Brunel University.The focus of this qualification is to identify brand building as the most valuable asset of an organisation and how to use this asset to increase sales in specialised industries.
This Master of Arts in Creative Brand Leadership demonstrates a synergy with international Master's qualifications in its critical understanding of brand building and management in business. The proposed qualification furthermore demonstrates an alignment with international Master's qualifications in addressing specialist or niche areas in brand building. Learners have the opportunity to explore, in the development of their dissertation and prototype, a particular research topic in a particular domain of Creative Brand Leadership. This lends itself to possible industry and category focus, for example, Creative Brand Leadership in the mobile communications industry. The proposed qualification focuses on Creative Brand Leadership that contributes to local and global social, cultural and economic development, enabling learners to focus in specialist areas.
Conclusion
The launch of a Master of Arts in Creative Brand Leadership will introduce the first postgraduate qualification in Brand Leadership in South Africa. Furthermore, the focus on Creative Brand Leadership is unique in that it addresses a particular imperative - the innovation of brands with shared stakeholder value for society, the organisation and the environment.
Notes
As per the SAQA Board decision/s at that time, this qualification was Reregistered in 2015.
NOTES
N/A
Providers currently listed
This reflects provider names published on the official record. It is useful for qualification discovery, but it should not be treated as a substitute for checking the relevant quality body’s latest provider status.
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