Branding & Communication is a well-defined field, but also broad enough to open the door to many different career opportunities. At the same time, this breadth makes it more challenging to clearly differentiate the program from others in the market. I therefore defined the following four key pillars to make the program stand out:
 

Entrepreneurial Spirit & Creative Branding

Entrepreneurship meets the spirit of Design Thinking – defined by creativity, experimentation, curiosity, innovation, and optimism.

Digitalization

Integrating technology into brand strategies to create dynamic, interactive, and highly personalized customer experiences.

Content Strategy & Depth

Content is king. Focusing on timeless analytical skills (e.g., semiotics, symbolism, consumer psychology), students learn how to direct and guide AI systems.

Purpose & Ethics

Students learn how to discover their purpose in life, their career, and how to align a higher-order reason for existence with a brand.

As part of the program development, I established partnerships with leading educational institutions for the new program. This included identifying and approaching potential partners, designing the program schedule for the exchange period, and conducting contract and pricing negotiations.
 

Penninghen is one of Paris’s leading schools in art direction and visual communication. Students will develop their creative skills through a five-day creative immersion workshop.

This partner is one of Europe’s leading business schools in innovation, digitization, and design-driven management. During an exchange period in Milan, students will strengthen the practical side of branding and communication through applied lab courses.

In close cooperation with the marketing team, I contributed to the development of the marketing and especially the digital communication plan and was involved in a range of recruitment activities aimed at attracting prospective students, including webinars, interviews, and related outreach initiatives.
 

I developed the official accreditation dossier for the creation of the MSc in High-End Brand Management at emlyon business school, Shanghai, for submission to the Conférence des Grandes Écoles (CGE), the French accreditation body for Grande École master’s programs. Its purpose is to demonstrate that the program meets the academic, professional, and institutional standards required for accreditation. It defines what the program is about, why it is needed, who it is designed for, how it leads to concrete career outcomes, and how academic quality and governance are ensured over time. This program was the first Master of Science accredited by the Conférence des Grandes Écoles to be delivered primarily outside France.
 

Core Components of the Dossier

• Target Audience & Career Opportunities: This part defines the target audience and describes the professional activities, core competencies, typical types of future employers, and the functions, jobs, and career paths the program prepares students for. It explicitly links industry expectations in the high-end and creative industries to the competencies and skills students are expected to acquire for these roles.
• Benchmarking & Differentiation: I conducted a competitor analysis and benchmarking against leading French and international programs, demonstrating how this program is positioned differently. The benchmarking directly informed decisions regarding the program’s entrepreneurial focus and high-end branding orientation.
• Market Gap Analysis: This section shows why existing programs were not sufficient, what gap this program fills, and how it responds to structural changes in luxury, high-end cultural & creative industries.
• Academic & Industry Partnerships: This part documents the program’s partnerships, including an industry advisory board, which help keep the curriculum aligned with real-world developments.
• Curriculum Architecture: This section presents the curriculum architecture and program schedule, outlining all modules, courses and study components with their key topics, learning objectives, and ECTS, and explaining the logic of course sequencing and learning progression, as well as how modules and courses are structured across study periods.
• Quality Assurance Framework: This part explains how the program is reviewed and improved over time. It describes how feedback from students, alumni, faculty, and industry partners is collected and used to ensure systematic and continuous curriculum evolution.
   

Zentrale Bestandteile des Dossiers

• Zielgruppe & Karrieremöglichkeiten: Dieser Teil definiert die Zielgruppe und beschreibt die beruflichen Tätigkeiten, zentralen Kompetenzen, typische Arbeitgeber sowie Funktionen, Positionen und Karrierewege, auf die das Programm vorbereitet. Dabei werden die Anforderungen der High-End- und kreativen Industrien direkt mit den Kompetenzen und Fähigkeiten verknüpft, die Studierende für diese Rollen erwerben sollen.
• Benchmarking & Differenzierung: Ich habe eine Wettbewerbsanalyse und ein Benchmarking mit führenden französischen und internationalen Programmen durchgeführt und gezeigt, wie sich dieses Programm klar differenziert. Die Ergebnisse sind direkt in die Ausrichtung des Programms eingeflossen, insbesondere in den unternehmerischen Fokus und die Orientierung auf High-End-Branding.
• Marktlückenanalyse: Dieser Abschnitt zeigt, warum bestehende Programme nicht ausreichen, welche Lücke dieses Programm schließt und wie es auf strukturelle Veränderungen in der Luxus-, High-End-, Kultur- und Kreativwirtschaft reagiert.
• Akademische und industrielle Partnerschaften: Dieser Teil dokumentiert die Partnerschaften des Programms, einschließlich eines Industry Advisory Boards, die sicherstellen, dass der Studienplan eng an der Praxis ausgerichtet bleibt.
• Struktur des Studienplans: Dieser Abschnitt stellt die Struktur des Studienplans und den Programmablauf dar. Er umfasst alle Module, Kurse und Studienbestandteile mit ihren zentralen Inhalten, Lernzielen und ECTS-Punkten und erklärt die Logik der Kursabfolge und Lernentwicklung sowie die Struktur über die einzelnen Studienphasen hinweg.
• Qualitätssicherung: Dieser Teil erläutert, wie das Programm regelmäßig überprüft und weiterentwickelt wird. Es wird beschrieben, wie Feedback von Studierenden, Alumni, Lehrenden und Praxispartnern erhoben und genutzt wird, um eine systematische und kontinuierliche Weiterentwicklung des Studienplans sicherzustellen.

1. Academic Coordination & Quality

• Ensuring the program meets international accreditation standards (AACSB, EQUIS, AMBA) and aligns with the requirements of the Conférence des Grandes Écoles (CGE), the French accreditation body for Grandes Écoles programmes
• Reviewing teaching quality, course evaluations, and feedback to continuously improve courses and drive pedagogical innovation

2. Faculty & Stakeholder Management

• Identifying, appointing, and coordinating faculty members, visiting professors, and guest speakers for course delivery
• Briefing course instructors on the program vision, its positioning, and the student profile
• Initiating Strategic Committee Meetings to steer academic direction and program priorities
• Identifying and addressing academic and operational risks affecting the program

3. Student Experience & Journey

• Defining the academic logic of the student journey (from onboarding to graduation)
• Coordinating closely with the program's operations manager to ensure smooth course scheduling, student communication, and administrative processes
• Tracking graduate outcomes (employment, placements) and integrating insights into program development

4. Program Development & Innovation

• Leading curriculum evolution and new course development
• Taking responsibility for academic decision-making and program governance (e.g. validation of curriculum changes, grading policies, progression rules)
• Integrating industry trends, applied industry projects, and guest expertise into the academic model
• Delivering teaching within the program and contributing to key courses

5. Admissions & Recruitment

• Designing the admissions interview process, including interview questions and evaluation criteria
• Contributing to admissions interviews and the academic evaluation of candidates
• Contributing to achieving the target cohort size and building a highly qualified, internationally diverse student cohort
• Aligning the marketing and communication plan for student recruitment with the relevant department

6. Program Branding & External Relations

• Promoting and positioning the program externally to strengthen its visibility and attract prospective students
• Communicating the program internally across departments, especially to recruitment and sales teams in different countries, so they clearly understand its profile and target audience and are motivated to support it
• Providing academic input for program rankings, accreditation, quality reviews, and official reporting
• Establishing a Program Advisory Board with reputable industry partners

7. Budgeting 

• Preparing the annual program budget, including teaching resources and external faculty planning
• Monitoring teaching budgets and external faculty costs