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Home » Supplement » Business School
UBC focuses on building brands
November 9, 2009, Monday
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Print Edition
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WITH China leading the world out of global recession, it's no surprise that companies increasingly focus on global marketing and branding opportunities in order to leverage the international spotlight °?- and take advantage of unprecedented growth opportunities abroad.
New offerings from the University of British Columbia's IMBA program mirror this business trend in the world's fastest growing economy.
The Shanghai-based IMBA program, hosted by the Robert H. Lee Graduate School at the Sauder School of Business, has been strengthened by the Young Entrance Award, a scholarship that recognizes outstanding Chinese marketers who pursue the IMBA in 2010. The award is given by Hong Kong entrepreneur Alex Yeung, and is valued at C$13,000 (US$12,020).
The gift's impact will be felt by more than one aspiring marketing executive. It also enables a brand development module to be added to the IMBA curriculum. The resulting module will help students develop further expertise in marketing and branding in the Chinese and global marketplace.
"We are at a new crossroads of doing business in China and Asia, and I feel that more than ever, there is a need for ongoing dialogue in the finer aspects of marketing and building international brands," said Yeung.
"We are seeing Chinese companies growing in size through business growth and mergers and acquisitions," he said.
"Many of these firms are also evolving from privately held entities into publicly listed national and international companies. Branding and the development of goodwill will become an essential part of current and future business strategies."
According to Tim Silk, an assistant professor of marketing who teaches the branding module in the IMBA program, today's marketing professionals must have the knowledge necessary to develop international brands.
"Many Chinese companies have gone global and inversely, companies that are based in other countries also need marketing specialists who can promote their products in China," said Silk.
His comments underscore the trend of international companies moving into China. In late October, the Wall Street Journal reported that French advertising company Publicis Groupe SA was looking for acquisition targets in China to strengthen its position there. Its chief executive noted that China will soon become the world's second or third largest advertising market globally.
In her 2008 book "Brand New China," author Jing Wang, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), noted that the once "young, unstable (advertising) sector has turned into an industry with total billings of US$18 billion by 2005, up 12 percent from the previous year." As of 2005, she noted, there were 84,272 ad agencies and about 9,650 advertising media.
And Shaun Rein, founder and managing director of the China Market Research Group, a leading strategic market intelligence firm focused on China, wrote in Business Week magazine that the key to successful branding in China revolves around understanding the customer base.
According to Rein, "multinational companies have not always done an adequate job of identifying and understanding their core markets in order to target them effectively."
The complex industry picture, with its need for perspective and experience, bodes well for the UBC IMBA. In addition to foundation work in areas such as marketing, graduates will gain a broad-based, senior-level strategic approach to business decision-making and a general management perspective based on a solid understanding of business fundamentals.
"This program allows young executives in the region to continue their careers while attaining an international quality MBA degree," said Grace Wong, assistant dean and senior advisor-international at UBC and the Sauder School of Business. "It makes perfect sense for us to offer the UBC International MBA degree in Shanghai together with our longtime partner, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, since Sauder has been working in China since 1980."
UBC's 20-month part-time IMBA is fully approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education and employs the same world-class professors as in Vancouver. For more information about the UBC IMBA in Shanghai, visit www.sauder.ubc.ca/imba.
New offerings from the University of British Columbia's IMBA program mirror this business trend in the world's fastest growing economy.
The Shanghai-based IMBA program, hosted by the Robert H. Lee Graduate School at the Sauder School of Business, has been strengthened by the Young Entrance Award, a scholarship that recognizes outstanding Chinese marketers who pursue the IMBA in 2010. The award is given by Hong Kong entrepreneur Alex Yeung, and is valued at C$13,000 (US$12,020).
The gift's impact will be felt by more than one aspiring marketing executive. It also enables a brand development module to be added to the IMBA curriculum. The resulting module will help students develop further expertise in marketing and branding in the Chinese and global marketplace.
"We are at a new crossroads of doing business in China and Asia, and I feel that more than ever, there is a need for ongoing dialogue in the finer aspects of marketing and building international brands," said Yeung.
"We are seeing Chinese companies growing in size through business growth and mergers and acquisitions," he said.
"Many of these firms are also evolving from privately held entities into publicly listed national and international companies. Branding and the development of goodwill will become an essential part of current and future business strategies."
According to Tim Silk, an assistant professor of marketing who teaches the branding module in the IMBA program, today's marketing professionals must have the knowledge necessary to develop international brands.
"Many Chinese companies have gone global and inversely, companies that are based in other countries also need marketing specialists who can promote their products in China," said Silk.
His comments underscore the trend of international companies moving into China. In late October, the Wall Street Journal reported that French advertising company Publicis Groupe SA was looking for acquisition targets in China to strengthen its position there. Its chief executive noted that China will soon become the world's second or third largest advertising market globally.
In her 2008 book "Brand New China," author Jing Wang, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), noted that the once "young, unstable (advertising) sector has turned into an industry with total billings of US$18 billion by 2005, up 12 percent from the previous year." As of 2005, she noted, there were 84,272 ad agencies and about 9,650 advertising media.
And Shaun Rein, founder and managing director of the China Market Research Group, a leading strategic market intelligence firm focused on China, wrote in Business Week magazine that the key to successful branding in China revolves around understanding the customer base.
According to Rein, "multinational companies have not always done an adequate job of identifying and understanding their core markets in order to target them effectively."
The complex industry picture, with its need for perspective and experience, bodes well for the UBC IMBA. In addition to foundation work in areas such as marketing, graduates will gain a broad-based, senior-level strategic approach to business decision-making and a general management perspective based on a solid understanding of business fundamentals.
"This program allows young executives in the region to continue their careers while attaining an international quality MBA degree," said Grace Wong, assistant dean and senior advisor-international at UBC and the Sauder School of Business. "It makes perfect sense for us to offer the UBC International MBA degree in Shanghai together with our longtime partner, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, since Sauder has been working in China since 1980."
UBC's 20-month part-time IMBA is fully approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education and employs the same world-class professors as in Vancouver. For more information about the UBC IMBA in Shanghai, visit www.sauder.ubc.ca/imba.
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