Brand management
Chapter 0 - Introduction
Introduction of the lecturer
● Dr. Alexander Edeling
● Professor of Marketing at KU Leuven (since 2021)
● Business administration studies in Mannheim and Grenoble
● PhD in Marketing in 2016 at the University of Cologne, since then postdoctoral
🇩🇪 🇬🇧 🇫🇷 🇧🇪
researcher there and at Boston University
● Languages (scale from 1 [beginner] to 5 [native]): 5, 4, 2, 3
● Research interests: Marketing finance interface, digital / creator economy, unethical
firm behavior
● Board member of a German ”hidden champion” conglomorate
● Hobbies: Running, Tennis, Ski, history, reading, my little daughter
● Favorite brands: Adidas, Apple, The North Face, Patagonia, Audi, Vitra
Practical matters: general schedule
● 12 sessions each Friday at 1 pm from February 13 until May 15, 2026
● No lectures on
○ April 10 & 17 (Easter break)
○ May 1 (Labor day)
● The lecture on March 20, 2026 will be recorded and only provided online (due to a
conference)
● Each session will consist of two parts of ca. 1:20 hours, divided by a 10 minutes
break
Practical matters: guest lectures
Hyper-Digital Marketing
● Prof. Dr. Vanitha Swaminathan, Professor of Marketing, U Pittsburgh
● Date: March 13, 2026, 14:30 – 15:30 (online, subject to change)
Brand Positioning
● Alexandra Ceulemans, Senior Consultant at the House of Marketing
● Date: March 27, 2026, 13:00 – 14:30 (offline, subject to change)
Current topics in Brand Management*
● Janne Beke, Business Manager at Semetist
● Date: April 24, 2026, 13:00 – 14:30 (offline, subject to change)
→ Inhoud moet niet gekend zijn op het examen, maar kan wel als voorbeeld gebruikt
worden tijdens een examenvraag. Maar dus inhoud moet je dus niet leren
1
, Practical matters: online / offline
● The course will take place in the classroom
● The course will be recorded and uploaded via Toledo
● There will be no live online (“hybrid”) lecture.
Practical matters: Exam
● Date: Friday, June 12, 2026, 16:30 (subject to change)
● Closed book → Rekenmachine meenemen
● Open-ended questions
Literatuur
→ aanbevolen, maar niet verplicht
Use of generative AI for the assignment
● Please familiarize yourself with the KU Leuven guidelines on the responsible use of
generative AI at https://www.kuleuven.be/english/genai
● Importantly, make sure that your list of references is not created with generative AI,
as this has led to severe sanctions in the past
Literature
Text book
● Keller, Kevin and Swaminathan, Vanitha (2020), Strategic Brand Management –
Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity, 5th edition.
○ deze komt veel terug! Lees om beter te begrijpen
● Available via Limo
● Can be used as a reference for many aspects of the course
Journal articles
2
, Newspaper articles
● At the beginning of some sessions, we will have a discussion of newspaper articles
from leading media such as The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal
● Articles including discussion questions will be distributed before the respective
session
● Preparation and active participation is recommended, since some of the topics might
be part of the exam questions
Some general teaching/learning principles
1. Nobody knows what jobs will look like in the future
In the future, not only the statement “one job (in one company) per life” will be outdated. We
have to be prepared that we will have more than one occupation per life, which might mean
that “generalists” are better off than ”specialists”.
→ we weten niet wat er gaat gebeuren. Je gaat moeten leren voor een toekomst die niet
duidelijk is in wat er nodig is. Wat we nu leren is misschien in 5 jaar niet meer relevant.
3
, 2. While the future of work demands future skills...
→ meeste wat we hier leren gaat over cognitief en interpersonal (groepswerk).
→ self-leadership en digital is ook aanwezig, maar veel minder.
2. ... knowledge, theories & methods are still relevant...
● Knowledge of the truth is particularly important in times of fake news
● Theories and methods can always be used to address new challenges
2. ... and this is true even after the launch of ChatGPT
● Chat GPT is a powerful AI-based chatbot by the organization Open AI (with Elon
Musk and Microsoft being some of the investors)
● Multitude of applications (e.g., draft speeches, write computer code, categorization
tasks for researchers, etc.)
● Can greatly increase productivity of firms
● Human-machine hybrid work is possible
● But: There are flaws (e.g., making up sources that were never written [see above],
not knowing scientific findings)
4
Chapter 0 - Introduction
Introduction of the lecturer
● Dr. Alexander Edeling
● Professor of Marketing at KU Leuven (since 2021)
● Business administration studies in Mannheim and Grenoble
● PhD in Marketing in 2016 at the University of Cologne, since then postdoctoral
🇩🇪 🇬🇧 🇫🇷 🇧🇪
researcher there and at Boston University
● Languages (scale from 1 [beginner] to 5 [native]): 5, 4, 2, 3
● Research interests: Marketing finance interface, digital / creator economy, unethical
firm behavior
● Board member of a German ”hidden champion” conglomorate
● Hobbies: Running, Tennis, Ski, history, reading, my little daughter
● Favorite brands: Adidas, Apple, The North Face, Patagonia, Audi, Vitra
Practical matters: general schedule
● 12 sessions each Friday at 1 pm from February 13 until May 15, 2026
● No lectures on
○ April 10 & 17 (Easter break)
○ May 1 (Labor day)
● The lecture on March 20, 2026 will be recorded and only provided online (due to a
conference)
● Each session will consist of two parts of ca. 1:20 hours, divided by a 10 minutes
break
Practical matters: guest lectures
Hyper-Digital Marketing
● Prof. Dr. Vanitha Swaminathan, Professor of Marketing, U Pittsburgh
● Date: March 13, 2026, 14:30 – 15:30 (online, subject to change)
Brand Positioning
● Alexandra Ceulemans, Senior Consultant at the House of Marketing
● Date: March 27, 2026, 13:00 – 14:30 (offline, subject to change)
Current topics in Brand Management*
● Janne Beke, Business Manager at Semetist
● Date: April 24, 2026, 13:00 – 14:30 (offline, subject to change)
→ Inhoud moet niet gekend zijn op het examen, maar kan wel als voorbeeld gebruikt
worden tijdens een examenvraag. Maar dus inhoud moet je dus niet leren
1
, Practical matters: online / offline
● The course will take place in the classroom
● The course will be recorded and uploaded via Toledo
● There will be no live online (“hybrid”) lecture.
Practical matters: Exam
● Date: Friday, June 12, 2026, 16:30 (subject to change)
● Closed book → Rekenmachine meenemen
● Open-ended questions
Literatuur
→ aanbevolen, maar niet verplicht
Use of generative AI for the assignment
● Please familiarize yourself with the KU Leuven guidelines on the responsible use of
generative AI at https://www.kuleuven.be/english/genai
● Importantly, make sure that your list of references is not created with generative AI,
as this has led to severe sanctions in the past
Literature
Text book
● Keller, Kevin and Swaminathan, Vanitha (2020), Strategic Brand Management –
Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity, 5th edition.
○ deze komt veel terug! Lees om beter te begrijpen
● Available via Limo
● Can be used as a reference for many aspects of the course
Journal articles
2
, Newspaper articles
● At the beginning of some sessions, we will have a discussion of newspaper articles
from leading media such as The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal
● Articles including discussion questions will be distributed before the respective
session
● Preparation and active participation is recommended, since some of the topics might
be part of the exam questions
Some general teaching/learning principles
1. Nobody knows what jobs will look like in the future
In the future, not only the statement “one job (in one company) per life” will be outdated. We
have to be prepared that we will have more than one occupation per life, which might mean
that “generalists” are better off than ”specialists”.
→ we weten niet wat er gaat gebeuren. Je gaat moeten leren voor een toekomst die niet
duidelijk is in wat er nodig is. Wat we nu leren is misschien in 5 jaar niet meer relevant.
3
, 2. While the future of work demands future skills...
→ meeste wat we hier leren gaat over cognitief en interpersonal (groepswerk).
→ self-leadership en digital is ook aanwezig, maar veel minder.
2. ... knowledge, theories & methods are still relevant...
● Knowledge of the truth is particularly important in times of fake news
● Theories and methods can always be used to address new challenges
2. ... and this is true even after the launch of ChatGPT
● Chat GPT is a powerful AI-based chatbot by the organization Open AI (with Elon
Musk and Microsoft being some of the investors)
● Multitude of applications (e.g., draft speeches, write computer code, categorization
tasks for researchers, etc.)
● Can greatly increase productivity of firms
● Human-machine hybrid work is possible
● But: There are flaws (e.g., making up sources that were never written [see above],
not knowing scientific findings)
4
