Vega Short Learning Programme Course Outline

PR is a fundamental tool in the brand builder's kit. Through PR we build brand credibility and relationships that will endure. Moreover, the social issues embedded in emerging markets call for greater Corporate Social Responsibility and PR is perhaps the best tool to communicate brand values around community, leading to the 'ubuntu' concept of marketing for Africa. This course is an introduction to all of these facets.

Outcomes

• Understanding the role of PR in total brand management
• Understanding the heightened need for PR
• Planning a brand building public relations programme
• Executing a brand building public relations programme
• Assessing a brand building public relations programme
• Understanding the role of Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Social Investment and branding
• Planning a strategy that takes cognisance of all audiences

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This course covers the actual execution of a brief, with a view to both sides of communications: strategy and creative. Moreover, both sides - strategy and creative - will be actualised through total brand management. It is not enough that strategy and creativity be aligned; the entire signification around the brand must be aligned to the brand's values. This course aims to do exactly that: how all visual and verbal signifiers communicate the total brand experience. More importantly, the execution of brand strategy must take cognisance of the local consumer environment.

Outcomes

• Understanding the brief
• Applying different strategies to different stages of the product life cycle
• Understanding and practicing brand development and communication through physical evidence
• An overview of design methodologies and methods
• Using brainstorming and conceptualisation skills to originate ideas
• Applying the expression of a brand through all contact points possible
• Understanding local audiences
• Applying brand development by using tools provided and with local audiences in mind
• An overview of basic digital design tools

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Branding and its execution through creative tools must be as closely aligned as possible. This course introduces learners to creative tools and their role in brand management. Most importantly, it relates strategy to creativity and creatives to strategy.

Outcomes

• Conceptualising relevant and insightful creative solutions for a variety of brief requirements
• Understanding and interpreting advertising briefs from a variety of sectors
• Understanding of product insightful copy for a variety of briefs
• Understanding various mainstream media and their use in brand solutions
• Applying media understanding to campaign development

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...and anyone who wishes to communicate more effectively through writing.

You will create a portfolio of work throughout this course to showcase your skills. The course, although intensive, is exhilarating. Whatever writing skills you already possess are enhanced and brought to blossom. And whilst you may have what it takes to be copywriters, you might well be an excellent writer of novels, children's books, travelogues, newspaper or magazine articles, or just a more effective communicator through your writing ability.

Content of the Course

• The copywriter as a communicator - above the line, through the line, below the line
• Honouring the brand and its personality
• The Unique Selling Proposition - your ad must perform a valid function - it's not just about pretty pictures
• Do you really know your Target Audience? Do you know how they talk? How they think? Their needs?
• Good creatives are responsible - they work within budgets, they read briefs, they stick to deadlines, they think about the consumer, the product and the competition
• The art of writing attention-grabbing headlines
• The role of the payoff line - how to devise one that works for the brand
• Writing body copy that draws the reader in and persuades them of the benefits of the product
• How to write a radio script, choose voice-overs, sound effects and music
• How to write a TV commercial - brief directors, select cast, location, music. Ensure good production values
• Exploring your unique writer's voice and style - the story teller
• Preparing yourself for an industry influx - where is advertising going? What opportunities are out there?
• Great long copy and how to write it
• Industries that influence advertising and writing
• Billboard rules
• How to tell a good ad from a mediocre or bad one

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Students will be introduced to the various elements of digital design: Photographic manipulation, graphic design, digital illustration, typesetting, page layout and PDF publication.

Photoshop is used to manipulate and prepare photographic material and create illustrations in the pixel format. Illustrator is a vector format tool which is used to generate intricate line drawings, illustrations and diagrammatic representations. Once a designer has prepared all their visual material in Photoshop and Illustrator, they will place their images in InDesign, incorporating visual material into a professional page layout design. InDesign is a professional typesetting and page layout tool. Once the layout is completed, a designer will export and publish their layout to the PDF format according to appropriate output settings. Acrobat specialises in PDF document manipulation and converts static layout pages into interactive content suitable for e-mail, web and device publication.

Course Outline

• Design principles and elements to a design project
• Development and interpretation of design briefs
• The variety of different design methodologies and methods
• The variety of different design media and mediums
• Brainstorming and conceptualisation skills to originate ideas
• Creativity and self expression

A portfolio will be completed incorporating the following projects:

• Drawing: content of which should include a pack and typography
• Poster
• Magazine layout
• Package
• Extensive corporate identity including:
• Logo: colour and black and white
• Stationery: letterhead, compliment slip, business and envelope
• Branded vehicle and clothing
• Invitation

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The Principles of Brand Building provides an introduction to the brand environment and the outline of the structure of branding. It is a strategy orientated course, with a core focus on the brand co-ordination part of the brand structure.

Outcomes

• Understanding the role of brands and their importance to business
• Analysing the changing role of branding from a transaction to a relationship to a community driven approach
• Applying the tools of brand building
• Assessing the process of brand building
• Developing a brand strategy
• Defining target markets
• Practicing market segmentation

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Market Information Management takes a close look at the need for consumer and stakeholder insight in building brands. It places input into information based brand development. This means it has a gentle introduction of market research as a means for the brand leaders to gather market thoughts about the brand and trends in the marketing environment.

Outcomes

• Collecting market information as a strategic imperative in launching and building brands
• Identifying and utilising information resources to meet objectives
• Monitoring marketing information flow, collecting and processing marketing data
• Appreciating the role of information in brand building
• Distinguishing between qualitative and quantitative information gathering
• Understanding and using external syndicated market research information
• An overview of specialised media research vehicles
• Practical communication of market research results to multiple stakeholders
• The application of research information to brand building
• Data mining, data tracking and open sourcing

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This course has a strong communications focus, with a 360 degree understanding of communications practice, that is, communication is not only to the consumer, but to all stakeholders. A large part of this involves information gathering, its use and dissemination throughout the organisation. Thus the course has a strong emphasis on the internal planning/ business to business/ business within business component of the Vega brand learning structure.

Outcomes

• Understanding the role of communications in brand building
• Understanding the vital role of internal organisational communication in building brands
• Understanding the role of staff in brand communication
• Applying an understanding of intercultural communication to the contemporary South African context
• Managing internal business processes and staff involvement
• Managing conflict in the work environment
• Setting communication objectives
• Applying an understanding of verbal and non-verbal messages
• Working and communicating with different sized groups
• Predicting receiver responses
• Applying leadership skills
• Analysing a variety of contemporary communication using a variety of different communication theories

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This module will investigate and apply the function of strategy development. The objective is to gain both an understanding of and an ability to undertake planning. It is therefore process driven and will enable students to develop fully-fledged brand communication plans.

Outcomes

• The brand communications industry: status, role play and expectations
• Assessing the brand communications situation
• Setting brand communication objectives
• Identifying and profiling target audiences
• Developing a brand positioning statement
• Understanding and using various promotional tools to achieve objectives and build the brand
• Understanding the value of integrated marketing communications in the context of integrated brand contact management
• Understanding and using new channels for brand communication
• Understanding the role of creative work in the brand communication process
• Assessing creative work
• Understanding the role and scope of the media plan
• Understanding the measures of assessing brand communication effectiveness

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In this course, media selection, segmentation and brand experience management is reviewed. The course builds on conventional media planning, incorporates new media and facilitates 360 degree branding through the medium of the organisation itself. The course develops on the promotional toolbox of communicating with the public at large, thus entering the public action sphere of the Vega brand learning structure.

Outcomes

• Understanding and managing media, both traditional and new
• Interpreting media briefs and strategies
• Using media planning guidelines
• Conducting media research
• Calculating media commission
• Understanding of above the line media types
• Developing of an effective media plan
• Applying an understanding of above, below and before the line media types
• Experiential branding
• Understanding the media industry

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The current consumer-led digital economy is creating a myriad of exciting opportunities for companies to engage their consumers. In addition, the recent launch of an underwater fibre-optic cable promises to significantly reduce the cost of, and increase access to bandwidth and hence the cost of digital communications initiatives. This will increase brand building activities in this area exponentially.

This programme will assist practitioners to develop digital branding strategies and interactions with their customers in an environment in which technological innovation is a constant, and the digital landscape an ever shifting one. This digital landscape offers an opportunity for practitioners to integrate both electronic and mobile media in their strategies. This programme will assist these practitioners to design strategically innovative executions within this dynamic environment that work and that most importantly show return on investment (ROI).

This new 10 week part-time programme involves industry specialists who are at the forefront of developments to lead this course. We have consulted in-depth with the online/digital industry in the development of this programme and have therefore incorporated much of the current practice and thinking available.

Programme Purpose

The innovation economy results in brands functioning within ubiquitous environments. It requires of them to offer value to consumers that is bound by neither time nor place. This new brand thinking has resulted in traditional approaches to the way brands communicate with stakeholders becoming less effective. This programme aims to develop students that are capable of building powerful brands within a digital landscape which at the same time demonstrates quantifiable return on investment.

Who Should Attend:

Individuals in marketing, communications and/or branding working for a company or agency who wishes to know more about digital branding strategy and execution. It is preferable that individuals attending this course have at least two years experience in marketing, communications and/or branding.

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Get in touch to book your course.