1. The Telephone game and other communication exercises

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/24/offensive-words-_n_4144472.html

http://blog.trainerswarehouse.com/communication-and-listening-exercises/

2. The importance of word-of-mouth (WOM)  to SMEs

http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/word-of-mouth-advertising

3. Celebrities endorsement – not as straightforward as it appears

http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/endorsements

4. Innovation – the Dyson example

http://www.dyson.co.uk/shop.aspx?gclid=CM3gtrjE274CFYsfwwodKmUACw&mkwid=swoExucuf_dc&pcrid=48016251048&pkw=dyson&pmt=e&gclid=CMSd8L-EhMACFQjItAodJXAAOw

http://www.dysonairblade.co.uk/.

http://www.jamesdysonfoundation.co.uk/. 

Case 2 - Semiotics

Please note the first three articles per chapter have been provided open access, all other links require journal subscription access which may be available through your university.

Hirschman, Elizabeth (2007), Metaphor in the marketplace, Marketing Theory, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 227–248. http://mtq.sagepub.com/content/7/3/227.full.pdf+html

This is an account of the existence of the multi-vocal presence of symbolic meanings in the marketplace. The article argues that essentially metaphors are immortal whereas brands fade over time despite attempts to attach brands to particular meanings, persons, companies and other social institutions.

Carl, Walter J. (2006), What’s all the buzz about? Everyday communication and the relational basis of word-of-mouth and buzz marketing practices, Management Communication Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 6, pp. 601–634.http://mcq.sagepub.com/content/19/4/601.full.pdf+html

This article is about the influential role of word-of-mouth but also about the more recent emergence of ‘buzz’ marketing as a marketing tool to stimulate talk about the brand, product or service. As such the article is about the effectiveness and ethics of buzz marketing.

Martin, Ingrid M., Stewart, David W. and Matta, Shashi (2005), Branding strategies, marketing communication and perceived brand meaning: the transfer of purposive, goal-oriented brand meaning to brand extensions, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 33, No. 3, pp. 275–294. http://jam.sagepub.com/content/33/3/275.full.pdf+html

This article looks at the transfer process (in terms of brand meaning) between parent brand and extension brand and how marketing communications can be used to facilitate the transfer process.

Lindenberg, S., Joly, J.F. and Stapel, D.A. (2011), The norm-activating power of celebrity: the dynamics of success and influence, Social Psychology Quarterly, Vol. 74, No. 1, pp. 98–120. http://spq.sagepub.com/content/74/1/98.full.pdf+html

This article looks at celebrity endorsement from the standpoint of people being influenced by celebrity endorsers, even when they do not identify with a particular celebrity, through the activation of bundles of social norms which become relevant for behaviour. The authors argue that the celebrity has to have prestige to activate norms but when tarnished by waning success fail to activate norms entirely. The article also discusses the impact of the person’s environment on norm conformity and as such provides a robust discussion on micro processes and macro conditions of norm activation