Postgraduate Diploma in Brand Contact Management

The core purpose of the qualification is to train students (who have completed a relevant three year qualification), in real-world brand strategy planning. The focus of the course is therefore on brand building and brand contact management within the context of marketing and business strategy.

Rationale for the Qualification

In the context of its contribution to regional and national goals

The Vega students in Brand Contact Management graduate 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.

On a more immediate, in-programme level, the students partake in several real-world briefs and thus contribute both socially and economically to the development and execution of brand strategies. These briefs include social causes and not-for-profit initiatives, for example, `The Brand South Africa Campaign`, `Love Life` and `Cotlands`.

In the context of fulfilling educational/industry needs

Students do acquire valuable business, marketing and communications knowledge in university and technikon 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 technikons.

Industry shifts and the pace of change demand that students have profound insight into brands and brand building and can apply their skill and expertise in strategy planning, from day one. Vega`s post- graduate programme in Brand Contact Management answers this need.

To our knowledge the AAA School of Advertising offers a post-graduate programme in Integrated Marketing Communications with a focus on Advertising. Marketing Communications and Advertising is but an aspect of brand building and therefore the Vega programme is both more holistic and focused in its strategic orientation.

To undertake the programme in Brand Contact Management students must have a three year degree or three year tertiary qualification. Because strategic planning relies on both analytical and creative skill, students from all fields (languages, marketing, business, sociology, philosophy, the arts etc. are screened.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

The knowledge and application level of this programme requires a three-year tertiary qualification as entry level. Prior learning acquired in completion of a BA or B.Com degree is for example recognised. However, brand management relies on analytical, strategic and creative skill. For this reason prior learning is also assessed in terms of reasoning maturity and creative skill. Vega has developed an `Entrance Challenge` with input and guidance from a professional Clinical Psychologist to specifically assess the reasoning, strategic and lateral thinking skills that students have acquired in prior learning.

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Exit-level Outcomes are as follows

• Insight into the world context of business in the form of environmental influences and industry dynamics.
• Understand the process of business and the concepts of strategic thinking and planning.
• Insight into types of business strategies and business plans.
• Insight into entrepreneurship in business.
• Understand the role, scope and process of marketing research.
• Conduct a marketing audit and set marketing objectives.
• Assess and select a marketing strategy.
• Plan and manage the strategic marketing elements (product, pricing, distribution and promotion strategies, people and process variables, positioning, brand physicality).
• Understand and practice the concept of brand and branding.
• Conduct a brand contact analysis.
• Insight into and apply the brand communications planning process (identify key issues, set objectives, profile target audiences, craft a positioning statement and develop an effective and integrated campaign strategy).
• Insight into the promotional tools (Advertising, Sales Promotions, Direct Marketing, Public Relations and Personal Selling) and their application in the real world.
• Understand and undertake effective and innovative media planning.
• Insight into building brands online and digital marketing.
• Understand, manage and contribute to the creative process.
• Insight into the function and process of account management.

Integrated Assessment

The post-graduate programme in Brand Contact Management presents an integrated strategic planning process (the integration of business, marketing, brand and contact communications strategies). Learning and the assessment thereof are thus fully integrated.

The programme is highly practical in nature. Real life briefs are introduced to which vigorous integrated strategies are developed, executed and presented to integrated industry panels. The industry panels consisting of the Marketing/Brand Managers of the relevant brand as well as the agency strategists and creatives` working on the account/brand ensure that integrated assessment of student work is achieved. Real world assessment of students learning is furthermore enhanced with industry apprenticeships and the integrated assessment that is received from the industry apprenticeship mentors. The post-graduate programme relies heavily on internal and external integrated assessment and performance feedback to students.