SINGAPORE. MasterCard Worldwide in collaboration with the ESSEC Business School is offering 15 scholarships to the MasterCard-ESSEC Luxury Brand Management Executive Program.
The programme is designed to equip professionals in the luxury retail and services industry with an understanding of current branding, management and consumer trends. A key focus this year will be the changes in prestige consumption patterns given a slowdown in market growth, and how the luxury industry can deal with this challenge.
“The luxury industry has rapidly expanded through Asia/Pacific over the past decade with the opening of new stores, reaching large populations of new consumers in markets such as China,” said Michel Phan, Assistant Professor of Marketing and LVMH Chaired Professor at ESSEC Business School in Paris.
“Given the slowdown in luxury goods consumption, the new challenge is to keep the aspirational aspects of the brand and products alive while allowing more and more accessibility.
“The course will give participants an understanding of current luxury consumption trends and allow them to integrate this into an efficient emotional branding strategy.”
The MasterCard-ESSEC Luxury Brand Management Executive Program comprises scholarships for a four-day intensive course run by the prestigious ESSEC Business School. The renowned French institution runs the world’s only luxury brand management MBA programme, which has become a reference point for the global luxury industry. The curriculum had previously only been taught at ESSEC’s campus in France.
Through the MasterCard-ESSEC Luxury Brand Management Executive Program, selected modules have been made available to students in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa.
“This is a great time for professionals in the luxury sector to upgrade their skill-set through training and education and meet the challenges facing their industry,” said Georgette Tan, Vice President, Communications, Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa, MasterCard Worldwide.
“With an understanding of new consumption patterns, programme participants will be able to develop the right product development and marketing strategies to grow their businesses,”
The Chinese luxury market is another focus area, with a whole day dedicated to the study of its enormous growth potential. This will incorporate an analysis of the luxury consumer market, the geographic distribution of China’s affluent consumers and the different regional characteristics.
The programme’s emphasis on Asia struck a chord with recipients of last year’s scholarship. “I think the course has really reminded me how different the consumers in the mainland China market are to the consumers in the rest of the world, and how we really need to factor that into our marketing strategies to make them a success,” said David Man, Chief Operating Officer of Richemont in Greater China.
“Marketing in China is very challenging because it is such a big country, with different provinces. Each store location has unique characteristics which have to be managed in way that is appropriate to the locality,” said Sophia Wu, General Manager of fashion house, Chloe, in China.
This year’s scholarship recipients will attend the program from 25-28 September in Singapore. They will receive an intensive learning experience over four days of lectures and training. The program will be conducted in English.
Admission to the MasterCard-ESSEC Luxury Brand Management Program is based on a rigorous selection process. Professionals currently employed in the luxury industry in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa are invited to apply.
All applications will be reviewed by a MasterCard-ESSEC academic panel, which will determine a select group of 15 scholars. Course graduates will be awarded internationally-recognized certificates by ESSEC Business School.
The deadline for application is June 30. Those interested in more information on the scholarships and course components can log onto www.essec.edu/mastercard-essec
MORE ON MASTERCARD WORLDWIDE
[comments]
