Prof Michael Beverland presents Inaugural Lecture
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Michael Beverland, Professor of Marketing at the University of Bath School of Management gave his inaugural lecture on Wednesday 26th May, entitled ‘The Future of Brand Management: Negotiating Brand Meaning with Consumers’.
Addressing a packed lecture theatre comprising colleagues, alumni, and special guests, Professor Beverland summarised the global research he has been conducting over the past decade, exploring the way the meaning of brands have shifted over the years and presenting a new approach based on negotiating brand meaning within sub-cultural networks.
“Marketers are fast realising their consumers are in the driving seat when it comes to creating and owning brand meaning. As a result, consumers are demanding a genuine conversation with marketers, albeit one on their terms and according to their (and their peers') rules.”
Professor Beverland’s lecture examined how the marketers behind some of the world’s most enduring brands are responding to this new environment.
Using a wide range of examples from converse trainers to burger joints, Professor Beverland showed how brand managers, once the sole source of brand content, are now facing up to the fact that they live in an increasingly grey world - a world that renders their current tools irrelevant. Professor Beverland concluded by providing a new model of brand building to manage in the grey world.
A full podcast of Professor Beverland’s lecture is available to download here [38MB MP3]
See Professor Beverland’s research profile.
Notes to Editors
Professor Michael Beverland is Head of the Marketing Group at the School of Management. His current research explores the nexus between consumption and production with a particular emphasis on the management of brands, design of innovations and how consumers find meaning through consumption acts. His book, Building Brand Authenticity: 7 Habits of Iconic Brands is published by Palgrave MacMillan (2009) and is available to buy here.
For further information / press enquiries, contact:
Liz Alvey, Marketing Officer
School of Management
University of Bath
Claverton Down
Bath BA2 7AY
UK
Tel:+ 44 (0) 1225 383526
Email: pr@management.bath.ac.uk
General Notes For Editors:
The University of Bath School of Management has consistently achieved both top research and teaching ratings in the UK's Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) assessments. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), the School was rated 5th in the UK for management research.
We are one of a select number of international business schools accredited by EQUIS, the European Foundation for Management Development's quality inspectorate and the Bath MBA has been accredited by the Association of MBAs (AMBA) since 1976. The School is consistently ranked among the top UK business schools by The Times, The Sunday Times, The Financial Times and The Guardian.
The centrality of research to teaching is an essential feature of all our programmes. The School offers a full range of programmes from undergraduate to postgraduate up to PhD level and post-experience programmes including the world-ranked Bath MBA. The School also provides tailored executive development programmes for middle and senior management.
The School of Management has a faculty of around 90 teaching and research staff, including visiting academics, with a support team of around 70 managerial and administrative staff. Research income averages £2 million per annum. There are approximately 2,100 students in total comprising some 200 MBA students, 460 Master’s students, 210 full- and part-time research students, and over 1100 undergraduates following BSc degrees. The School also runs joint undergraduate programmes with Departments in the Faculties of Engineering and Design, Science and Humanities and Social Sciences.
