Professional Development

Level: Masterclass

Key issues:

Marketers are under pressure to deliver successful outcomes in more demanding conditions. The most challenging of these is communicating successfully with all stakeholders. In particular we have a responsibility to manage the expectations of customers and stakeholders honestly and with integrity. This can only be achieved with a comprehensive understanding of all the ways in which an organisation communicates with its stakeholders and an ability to manage integrated corporate communications.

The purpose of this course:

With customers facing an ever-increasing barrage of media and messages, more and more organisations are recognising the need for consistency, not just differentiation, in their corporate and brand communications. This course is designed to address these issues, showing how to integrate communications activities with the broader marketing mix and other organisation influences.

Who this course is for:

This course has been specifically designed for those responsible for corporate or brand communications (internal or external), as opposed to product-based communications activities. It will best suit those charged with delivering consistent brand values and identity through integrated communications activities.

Benefits for your organisation:

Your customers will find loyalty and advocacy easier when they recognise your brand and see evidence of your identity and values across the customer journey. Your organisation therefore stands to benefit from better customer retention, brand awareness and recognition through building a strong reputation and stakeholder relationships.

Benefits for you as an individual:

You will develop a stronger understanding of managing the brand experience across all customer touch points by integrating all forms of communications and the broader marketing mix. This leads to better relationships with other contributors to marketing, including colleagues and agencies. You leave with a tried-and-tested approach to brand and corporate communications planning which can be integrated with the broader marketing planning processes in your own organisation.

You will learn how to:

• Evaluate the context for corporate communications
• Orchestrate and influence all forms of organisational communications
• Assess the value of a brand to both brand owners and stakeholders
• Communicate core values with both consistency and differentiation
• Plan and manage the corporate brand
• Plan and implement planned integrated corporate communications
• Use techniques to evaluate corporate brand communications performance

Course content:

• The communications planning framework
• Integrating communications with marketing and corporate plans
• Using communications to improve relationship management
• The context for corporate communications
• Conducting a communications audit – both external and internal
• Conducting a brand audit
• The broader marketing mix and indirect communications
• Strategic brand management
• Understanding brand dimensions and values
• Planning integrated marketing communications
• Determining communications objectives and strategy
• Developing positioning strategies and messages
• Making promotional mix, media and agency decisions
• Managing internal communications
• Producing contingency plans
• Measuring communications performance

To take away from the course:

Planning frameworks and techniques for developing and implementing corporate brand communications and internal communications.

Professional Standards

All of our marketing courses are based on CIM's Professional Marketing Standards, ensuring that marketers at all levels of seniority gain the practical skills that employers require to improve business performance. Review our Professional Marketing Standards framework.