In today’s competitive environment, brands have become increasingly important assets to businesses as customers often associate brands with concepts of quality, trustworthiness, prestige and value, and base purchase decisions on their identification with the brands. Realising this important asset in hospitality management, the Institute For Tourism Studies will co-organise an Executive Development Programme in Brand Management with Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland, on 16 – 17 March.

The two-day programme draws industry leaders and practitioners’ attention to issues in developing, managing and evaluating global brand leadership strategies. Participants will discover how creating a coherent brand experience requires the alignment of every touch point in the organization with a customer value proposition.

Over the two days, participants will be familiarised with:

l Developing brand identities

l Developing brand-building programmes

l Management of brand equity

l Brand leveraging and brand extension

l The process of brand orientation

l Product and service strategies

l Customer value proposition

l How to market brands

The programme will be conducted by Prof. André Mack. Prof. Mack has an extensive career in the in-flight catering industry and management consulting. He specialized in the areas of strategic marketing, customizer service and business process re-engineering. He is both Director, Lausanne Hospitality Consulting, and a faculty member of Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland, lecturing on project management and consulting.

The Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL), Switzerland, is the first and leading hospitality school founded in 1893. EHL provides solid hospitality management education based on the philosophy that hospitality management is both a science and an art. Its approach emphasizes not only the technique but also the culture of hospitality: the mixture of tangible and intangible elements that make up this unique industry.

The establishment of this partnership has once again proven the international recognition of IFT’s teaching quality. As one of the leading tourism and hospitality education institutions in Macao and Asia Pacific, IFT will continue to provide top-notch programmes and contribute to the sustainable development of the industry.

More information about the programme and application can be found on http://www.ift.edu.mo/edp/brand2010/ or contact Ms. Sandi U at 8506 1281 for enquiry.