Question

Topic: Branding

Msc Marketing Dissertation

Posted by eikifr on 2/8/2010 at 7:20 PM ET 250 Points
Good evening!
I am Erik and am in the process of starting my dissertation brainstorming for my MSc in Marketing in a UK-based university.

I acknowledge that there are many people who have got help from writing in here just to get their brains started, which is what I hopefully achieve.

I have been paging through Marketing Week magazine and trying to get my head around any subject to write about, and branding/PR or anything to do with famous persons does appeal to me. However, I cant seem to find a way to lock it down to a certain path where I can start my brainstorming process and get going.

The resources are there but the push towards a certain direction is what is needed. Any help is well appreciated.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 2/8/2010 at 8:35 PM Accepted
    Select a topic that is (a) interesting for you, and (b) could help position you for the job/career you want once you've received your degree.

    We can't help you very much because we don't know what excites you. I could suggest pricing strategy in household cleaning products, but if that's not interesting to you, it doesn't matter. Similarly I could suggest looking into online publishing companies and how they market, but you might not like that either.

    So in the end it all comes down to what gets your juices flowing.
  • Posted by thecynicalmarketer on 2/9/2010 at 9:11 AM Accepted
    I suggest you write about the application and relevance of Social Media in B2B marketing. It is a very popular topic with many new articles on the subject so you should be able to find loads of reference materials. Also, consider that one of the most frequently asked questions of applicants for marketing positions today is, "Can you tell me about your experience with social media?" Here is a great starting point for you: https://bit.ly/dyxkBZ

    Best of luck, JohnnyB
  • Posted by Markitek on 2/9/2010 at 1:20 PM Accepted
    You said you're interested in branding/PR and celebrity. So let's start there.

    First of all, "branding/PR" is kind of like "paleontology/theater arts": they're not really slash (virgule) material. So we'll come back to that. Let's go to the celebrity stuff first.

    A dissertation on issues related to marketing celebrities is pretty interesting. Some are obvious: promotion, fashion, scandal. Many many others. But that's a good enough kick start. Think about all kinds--Susan Boyle and Barack Obama and David Beckham and who knows who. And of course you won't be the first person writing on the topic so always remember T S Eliot's "lesser poets borrow, great poets steal" adage. I don't mean plagarize, but you're certainly going to be able to get some good ideas from there. Your own curiousity will drive some interesting topics to you. Scandal management is always fun to think about.

    Now back to the slash. I'm thinking you want to pick one or the other. PR might be the most fertile, but celebrity branding is pretty good soil too.
  • Posted by eikifr on 2/10/2010 at 12:56 PM Author
    Thank to all of you who replied. I was actually very surprised with the ideas I got from you guys (not that I didnt expect it! :)).

    I noticed afterwards when I had clicked the SEND button that branding and PR are not really connected as Markitek rightfully mentioned. I apologise.

    My "problem" is of the nature that I am very much indecisive on where in marketing I want to position myself in the future. It is such a vast field and for a person like me with absolutely zero experience (apart from being an impulsive buyer!), which really makes this difficult for me to decide the direction I should take.

    I thank you for all ideas you put forward and I will take them onboard for further processing in my overwhelming brain at the moment.

    There is surely a possible subject on the social media and how PR jobs are being conducted to benefit celebs, as well as big conglomerates (Toyota being the latest company trying to rectify their reputation through PR through media for their production flaws). Appealing subject indeed! At least I have got that "I might be on to something" look on right now! :)

    Further ideas towards the social media/PR direction and how I can tackle it are greatly appreciated.

    And again, thank you all who commented!
  • Posted by kschindler on 2/10/2010 at 8:53 PM Accepted
    Your quote: "My "problem" is of the nature that I am very much indecisive on where in marketing I want to position myself in the future."

    My dear, you need to let that go. You won't know where you want to be till you either a) happily arrive there by accident or b) unhappily see others basking in a success and contentment you can only presume would have been yours "if only" you had followed that path.

    Figure out what will make you rich and go for it. You may not enjoy it all, but I promise you won't enjoy all of
    what will make you poor, and at the end of the day which would you rather have to show for your time?

    Social media is quite the thing.
    Celebrity sells.
    So...
    How about a dissertation on "15 seconds of fame"? Consider it an overdue update to the "15 minutes of fame" which, according to Wikipedia is "...an expression which refers to the fleeting condition of celebrity that grabs onto an object of media attention, then passes to some new object as soon as people's attention spans are exhausted."

    Given the relentless intrusion of social media in our lives, it seems quite possible that the average person's attention span gets "exhausted" much faster these days. And given the plethora of socia media outlets, it seems that anyone can be a celebrity. The marriage should be rich.

    There are some YouTube and other things floating around out there with this title, but I don't see anything yet on this as an evolving theory.
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