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Brand & Merchandising Manager for SMEs in the Chil..
Brand & Merchandising Manager for SMEs in the Children's Products Sector
Start date: Oct 1, 2009,
The role of the Brand Manager is a key factor in the management of SMEs in the Child fashion sector, including clothes, shoes and all the childcare products in general. Their functions and responsibilities are not determined yet, but must take in charge all the issues related with the perception, visualisation and communication of the brand, looking to reach the defined target groups with the required values, as well as their suitability for the strategic mission and vision. One single Company can be, owner or licensee of one or some brands and the values and mission of each of these have an objective to address the market in different products or services. The efforts that SMEs are making in RTD and Innovation will profit the use of professionals with an adequate knowledge in brand management. And the SMEs will be able to consolidate their stability and position in the market..All the activities of the brand in front of the target groups must be coherent with the values and mission of the brand. To take care of this coherence is the function of the brand manager, from the logo to the product smell, from their utility to their perception by the final customer in the point of sale.The brand manager role must cover all the issues related with the values and mission of the brand. Product development; Product positioning in Point of sale; Communication; Post-sale services; and Social Corporate Responsibility.It is also part of this new profile the revue and update of the mission and values of the company, as well as the training in relation with these values and mission addressed to: - the company employees,- the external collaborators, and- the people in the points of sale, paying especial attention to these that are multibrand and independent.This new profile requires a training thatno longer exists, This training requires a sound curriculum, able to transfer to the future professionals the knowledge and skills that they need. First of all it is necessary to define the professional profile, and finally to define and develop training system and materials.The objectives of the project are: to define a professional profile for the Brand Manager of SMEs in the children’s fashion sector; to define and develop a curriculum for the training, as a European standard, including a qualification and recognition framework; to define and develop a training system ICT based, as well as the corresponding training materials; and to deploy a pilot action, with the corresponding evaluation and readjustment of the previous results.The final result will be the ‘BraM’ Course, addressed to obtain management of the brands in the market. It will be available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Greek, Italian and Finish.The results of the project, besides their focus in the children’s fashion sector, will be applicable to all the SMEs working in sectors with high value of the brand, and with a commercialisation channel composed mainly by multibrand and/or independent retailer shops. Thus, their impact will be broad in the set of European SMEs.The work will be done through nine work packages:1. Analysis of Needs2. VET curriculum3. Training materials4. Training system5. Pilot test6. Dissemination and Communication7. Exploitation8. Quality and Evaluation9. Management and CoordinationThe consortium is integrated, in a balanced way, by Companies Associations of the Sector, Training higher Institutions with curricula in the sector, Technical developers, and a Consultancy company focused in innovation management.