GBS Seminar: Global Branding Strategy

Location

Coronado, 230

$295

August 26 and 28 (6 hours total) 6 - 9 p.m.

The intensity of competition across industries has tremendously increased in recent years. In this context, most organizations have become more strategic and focused on simultaneously developing brand strategies to obtain better positioning in their markets, increase their revenues, and explore potential opportunities abroad. Regardless of their size or location, for most organizations the notion of brand has gained a tremendous financial value over the last ten years, along with the internationalization process of these brands. Companies are now competing for consumers worldwide and the playing field is not always fair, as more prominent brands often easily build barriers to entry. In addition, there are some inherent obstacles such as norms, legal constraints, hyper-competitive environments or differences in consumption habits that may further hinder the brand internationalization process. This seminar will describe how to strategically plan and implement brand internationalization.

Seminar participants will develop an understanding of branding issues and learn how to internationalize a brand. A number of branding and internationalization concepts will be examined and discussed in the seminar from a practical perspective. There will be a strong emphasis on practical case resolution throughout the seminar, enabling students to apply theoretical knowledge towards decision making in real situations.

Learning Objectives:

• Uncover the basic tenets of internationalization processes and brand issues
• Identify and detail the key variables in developing international marketing and branding decisions.
• Develop and recommend global marketing strategies in practical situations.

Seminar Leader:

Dr. Pons is Full Professor of Marketing at Laval University (Québec, Canada), where he is currently teaching Consumer Behavior, International Marketing and Marketing Research. He has conducted research and led consulting projects in the United States, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Mexico and Lebanon. Dr. Pons has received several teaching awards, and has taught in the United States, Spain, Canada, Lebanon and France.

He has been an invited speaker at the ESSEC business school (Paris), HEC Montréal and the Ecole Superieure de Gestion (Beirut), and has published research in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Service Research, Journal of Business Research, Psychology and Marketing, Journal of International Business Studies and Sport Marketing Quarterly. In addition, he has presented papers at more than 50 international conferences and serves on several editorial boards of prominent academic journals. His research interests include consumer behavior, international marketing, strategy and sports marketing.