Organisations operate in environments characterised by heightened scrutiny, rapid information flows, and increasing stakeholder expectations across international markets. In this context, marketing communications play a critical strategic role in shaping meaning, credibility, and legitimacy over time. Effective communication is not simply about message delivery and short-term effects on sales, but about strategic coherence, consistency, and alignment across channels, audiences, and cultural contexts.

In this context, the course Reputation Building through Marketing Communications examines how organisations design, integrate, and manage marketing communications to build, sustain, and protect reputation at both brand and corporate levels. The course focuses on the strategic role of communication in influencing stakeholder perceptions, trust, and long-term reputational outcomes. Drawing on contemporary academic research, applied case analysis, and practical exercises, students develop the analytical and decision-making skills required to plan, evaluate, and justify marketing communications programmes in complex and dynamic international environments.

7 x 2 hour lectures

1 x 2 hour small group workshop for knowledge application

None

None

1. Report; Individual; 1700 words; 100%; ILOs 1-4.

The course aims to:

■ Develop students' strategic and critical capabilities in using marketing communications to build, manage, and safeguard organisational and brand reputation in competitive and international contexts.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Diagnose reputational challenges and opportunities by analysing organisational, market, and stakeholder contexts using relevant communication and reputation frameworks.

2. Design an integrated marketing communications plan that strategically aligns objectives, messages, channels, and tactics to build, sustain, or repair organisational and brand reputation.

3. Justify marketing communication decisions by critically integrating theory, empirical evidence, and market insights within a coherent strategic rationale.

4. Develop and justify a realistic marketing communications budget and evaluation, demonstrating appropriate allocation of resources across channels and activities in line with strategic priorities and expected reputational impact.