Brand Management

The art and science of the brand

The key to effective marketing is understanding customers and delivering what they want, when they want it, at a price they want to pay. This requires you to analyze both hard numbers and qualitative information, to understand the reasons behind customer behaviour, and to develop strategy based on this analysis and insight.

The MBA in brand management allows students to select courses from a broad range of marketing areas such as advertising, internet marketing and international marketing. Specific topics include analyzing customers and understanding why they buy, gathering and analyzing customer and market data and developing successful programs for communications and distribution.

In the process you will develop an understanding of how customers make decisions and how to influence them, how to analyze markets and the strategies of competitors, how to develop successful advertising and promotional strategies, and how to successfully develop and manage a brand.

"With the advancement of digital and social media, marketing has become much more dynamic than ever before."

Milos Vranesevic, head of marketing at MasterCard Worldwide, in his interview for Rotman Management Magazine

Topics Covered

The key to effective marketing is understanding customers and delivering what they want, when they want it, at a price they want to pay. This requires you to analyze both hard numbers and less structured qualitative information, to have insight into the reasons behind customer behaviour, and to develop strategy based on this analysis and insight.

Specific topics include analyzing customers and understanding why they buy, gathering and analyzing customer and market data and developing successful programs for communications and distribution. In the process you will develop an understanding of how customers make decisions and how to influence them, how to analyze markets and the strategies of competitors, how to develop successful advertising and promotional strategies, and how to successfully develop and manage a brand.

Requirements to complete

You must successfully complete four of the following core courses:

Core courses

Marketing Strategy
Consumer Behaviour
Strategic Marketing Communication
Marketing Research
Sales Management
Branding
Pricing
One to One Marketing
Digital Marketing
Marketing and Behavioural Economics
Creativity and Business Innovation

It is also recommended that students in this emphasis choose other courses from the following selection:

Corporate Strategy
Financial Management

Activities outside of class

Case competitions

General Mills Case Competition
Wake Forest MBA Marketing Summit and Case Competition
the Internal Credit Case Competition
Rotman Marketing Challenge

Research institute

Rotman Behavioural Research Laboratory

Other opportunities

Rotman Marketing Speaker Series

Career paths

This major develops the skills required to be an effective marketer in a wide range of businesses, including consumer markets, business to business, financial services, technology, healthcare and the not-for-profit sector.

Career preparation

Marketing Industry Day
Marketing Case Interview Workshop
Mock Behavioural Interview Workshop

Flexible Internship Program

The Rotman Full-Time MBA Program provides a unique opportunity for students to integrate and apply management knowledge gained within the program through a 4-month internship. Students are required to complete the course “Applied Management: Placement” in conjunction with a work placement which may be done in the Summer, Fall or Winter terms. Depending on their academic area of concentration/major and career objectives, students will be guided on the best work term option to secure a placement with an employer. Throughout their work placement, students will benefit from enhanced communication with their host employers, tracking of project deliverables and feedback from faculty supervisors.

Notable alumni

Jeffrey Zietlow, Mother Parker`s Tea & Coffee, Director of Marketing
Annette Sullivan, Vice-President, Marketing, The Shopping Channel
Bill Dertilis, Partner, Vicar + Tart
Cybelle Srour, SVP Group Digital Planning Director, Energy BBDO
Doug Collier, Chief Marketing Officer, La-Z-Boy Incorporated
Douglas McGillivray, VP of Sales, Corporate Officer, General Mills
Janet Biver-Carpenter, Global Communications Director, Leo Burnett Worldwide London
Karin Koonings, CMO, Savers
Marnie Peters, Sr Director Brand Development, Rogers Publishing
Raja Shankar, Digital Marketing Head - IB, Scotiabank