Do you see a future for yourself as a brand manager or do you want to work in the field of brand activations? Do you want to learn how to emotionally engage people with your brand, or even make them fall in love with your brand? Then this minor is the right choice for you!
Admission
To enter this programme, you need a foundation of introductory course(s) in Marketing Management, and you need to be fluent in English writing and speaking (English language skills at CEFR level B2).
The Examination Board determines which minors do not have a higher professional education level and/or have an unacceptable overlap with the compulsory curriculum of your own study programme. Check at the page Not allowed minor courses under your institute which minors are not allowed. This page will be updated from 21 February for the 2025-2026 minor offer.
Content
Branding and brand communication has shifted from transaction-oriented marketing to customer relationship marketing. The true power and value of a brand now reside in the minds and hearts of the customers.! People often forget what a brand says or does, but they remember how a brand makes them feel.
In this minor, you will acquire the knowledge and skills to create compelling concepts for brand experiences and events. These concepts are designed not only to allow (future) customers to experience what your brand is about but also to encourage them to engage with your brand and ultimately fall in love with it. You will become an expert at creating brand ambassadors and fans, driving brand awareness and long-term brand performance through a customer-centric strategy. The focus in this minor is on the use of brand experience and brand events as a strategic marketing tool for building brand equity.
Experience marketing adds emotional value to a brand, touching the heart of the target group and inspiring them to take action. Empathizing with your (target) customers and putting the customer needs at the heart of your design, is key to creating meaningful experiences. On the other hand, brand marketers should really understand the core identity of their brand. They need to search for the soul in their brand, seeking the brand essence or brand DNA. It is this intangible concept that makes customers relate to your brand, setting it apart from competitors.
During the minor you will work on challenges and assignments according to the principle of ‘learning by doing’. The design thinking model is a useful tool that will be used to designing customer centric events and experiences. Lecturers and field experts will provide you with input, inspiration and feedback to support your learning experience. During the entire minor, intensive team coaching is provided.
Learning objectives
During the minor, you will learn to:
- Design and create meaningful experiences or events around the core values of a brand,
- appropriate to the positioning of the brand and distinctive from the competition,
- resulting in interaction between brand and target group,
- enhancing long-term loyalty and emotional bonding,
- ensuring brand performance and building brand equity.
Courses
The programme takes place during one semester and includes following subjects, skills training, and workshops:
- Experience marketing & experiential marketing
- Customer centric marketing
- Branding & Brand Strategy
- Market Research
- Design thinking
- Creativity & Innovation
The minor programme is based on ‘learning by doing’, consisting of exercises, challenges and assignments, where knowledge and skills training are offered according to ‘just in time’ principle. This means no separate courses, exams or other summative tests, but programmatic assessment for 30 ECTS. This requires a high level of independence and personal responsibility from you with regard to self-starting skills and self-discipline. You are expected to manage your own learning process, continuously and actively collecting feedback, feed forward and feed up. Attendance at work sessions is not mandatory, but highly recommended; The pace is very high and the risk of lagging behind and/or missing the connection to content or group is therefore high.
Please note that the programme reflects a (logical) bundle of work-sessions and subjects that should be followed as such. It is not possible to combine (two or more) programmes in one single period
Assessment
During the entire minor you will put together an individual portfolio consisting of completed assignments and challenges, and feedback from peers, experts and teachers, in which you demonstrate that you have acquired the necessary competences, knowledge and skills. This individual portfolio serves to determine whether you have met the desired learning outcomes. As such, there is no decision moment based on a single assessment; the decision is made based on rich information on your entire learning process.
Literature
All course materials and readings for the minor will be made available on the Canvas course site.
Schedule
The timetable and teaching days will be published the month prior to the start of the minor. On average, there are three work sessions and lectures per week, each lasting approximately three hours, along with six-hour workshops. Expect to be physically present at HU for three days per week. This minor is full-time with a study burden of total 840 hours → 30ECTS.
With the exception of the first teaching period of the academic year (starting September), the lesson and test schedules are always posted on Mijn Rooster four weeks before the start of each teaching period. The schedule for the first teaching period of the academic year can be found on the site three weeks before the start. The most up-to-date schedule is always visible on Mijn Rooster.
At HU, full-time education may be scheduled between 08:30 and 19:00.
Additional costs
Travel costs for field trips & field work: maximum € 250