Course Descriptions

SXB 100 Brand Strategies: Creating and Marketing Brands and Increasing Sales, Market Share, and Profits
This course will change the way you look at and manage a business, whether it is your own or if you are working for someone else. We'll examine the global practice of brand management used successfully by consumer goods companies, beauty businesses, and fashion brands to drive planned sales into business realities. Integrating psychology with management best practices, we’ll delve into how wants and desires, aligned with sustainability & social responsibility, drives consumer loyalty. These five MBA-like sessions cover every aspect of strategic branding—what works, what doesn't, and why. Learn how a brand persona is created, why brand storytelling is important, what role archetypes and consumer research play in developing and registering/brand names & trademarks; actual case studies of global brands are discussed as examples. The uses of segmentation models and neuropsychology are explored. Finally, the impact of social and viral networking is examined, and how brands as communities influence social media and social media, brands.

Instructor: Bill D'Arienzo, founder and CEO of WDA Brand Marketing Solutions and Apparel Analytics™; author of Brand Management Strategies: Luxury and Mass Markets.

SXB 300 Brand Metrics: Measuring, Managing, and Monetizing A Brand's Value*
Prerequisite: SXB 100
Learn how to analyze a brand's worth to measure its marketplace value. This intensive course shows how brands are numbers driven at their core and teaches how to use metrics to monitor the heart of business by tracking strengths and weaknesses.

Instructor: Bill D'Arienzo, founder and CEO of WDA Brand Marketing Solutions and Apparel Analytics™; author of Brand Management Strategies: Luxury and Mass Markets.

SXB 350 Branding: How to Think Like Your CFO
(Formerly called SXN 130 How to Think Like Your CFO: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Fashion's Bottom Line)
Gain a proper appreciation for financial elements such as balance sheets, cash flow, key performance indicators, and inventory management, plus much more as you participate in a reality-based enactment, guided by a highly experienced industry CFO. Spend the day “working for” Software, Ltd., a multichannel fashion company, up for sale. It’s a hot line, with a continuous buzz in the fashion press. Should you support buying or recommend turning this opportunity down? Learn how to put all of the number pieces together, talk finance with confidence, and make decisions that are fiscally sound. Work in teams learning how to assess a company’s health, identify risk factors, and brainstorm about the important measurements necessary for smart business decisions. Transform your ability to make fiscal decisions in your own work, whether you are on the creative side or business side, through this custom-designed FIT program.

Instructor: Lawrence C. De Paris, CPA, CFO, and COO, LT Apparel Group; former President and CEO, Escada (USA); former SVP and CFO, Calvin Klein.

SXB 375 Branding: Crafting the In-Store Experience
(Formerly called SXB 275 Crafting the In-Store Experience to Convey the Brand)
Now is the time to invigorate "bricks and mortar" shopping with innovative solutions that maximize the brand story to generate sales and perpetuate happy customers. Learn how to get customers into your space with an atmosphere that exudes both retail and product brand attributes that include choice of labeling, packaging, promotion, in-store location, display, and service. Site location in relation to demographics and culture are included, along with how new apps for smartphones and iPads should be incorporated. Each lesson is made more meaningful with examples of leading practitioners.

Instructor: Robin Drake, adjunct professor, Exhibition and Experience Design; brand and experience design solutions expert.

SXB 400 Brand Lab Practicum: Create and Write A Brand Marketing Plan*
Prerequisite: SXB 300
In preparation for receiving a certificate, students develop a strategic plan for repositioning an existing brand or launching their own business. Each plan results in an operational platform built with market potential analysis, SWOT analysis, positioning, consumer targeting, brand architecture, and aspects of branding learned in previous courses. The plan must include pro forma financials to drive the business.
Note: The 3rd session is a one-on-one with the Instructor, scheduled on an individual basis.

Instructor: Bill D'Arienzo,  f ounder and CEO of WDA Brand Marketing Solutions and Apparel Analytics™; author of  Brand Management Strategies: Luxury and Mass Markets .


*Denotes course has prerequisite(s). This means that specific classes must be completed prior to enrolling in this course. If you have not completed these courses with a passing grade, please wait to register as your registration will be cancelled. Please see course descriptions for more information.