Guest Lecture Digital Marketing and Brand Management

Four expert guest speakers from industry and academia were invited to share their knowledge, stories and expertise in the area of branding and digital marketing. The main objective of the event was to share knowledge, collaborate and exchange ideas, creating the link between practice, and academia. As well as, enriching and adding value to marketing students as future creative leaders. With that being said it was also a great opportunity for the aspiring marketing students to learn from practice, and develop greater insights in the field.

The event was lead by Dr. Azza Hamood Al-Busaidi, Senior Marketing and Branding Lecturer, along with the organizing team- digital marketing and branding students at advanced diploma. The event was held at the Youth Center in Grand Mall, Muscat.

1st guest speakers was Mr. Fahad Abdullah Al-Suqri, Co-Founder and CEO of Bastah Majan, who spoke about his inspiration of his brand conception, brand story and the challenges faced in brand management.

2nd guest speaker was Dr. Khalid Talib Al-Nabhani, Researcher and expert in digital marketing and branding, who shared his well noted and published research in the field of digital branding. Specifically addressing his research titled “Examining consumers' continuous usage of multichannel retailers, mobile applications”. His research focused on the theoretical underpinnings used in the research, to the methodology adopted and the results of the research.

3rd guest speaker was Mr. Wail Rashid Al-Muhrizi, Managing Director at Aman International Engineering Consultancy, who discussed the importance of having a brand strategy, brand architecture, international trends, and the state of integrated communications.

4th guest speaker was Mr. Badar Mohammed Al-Nadabi, the chairman of Vodafone and the co-founder of Mazoon Dairy. Mr. Badar shared a wealth of experience on both brands, the brand story and how it came into conception. He also addressed some of the challenges faced in relation to the brand management and the marketing strategy utilized by Mazoon Dairy, and the marketing strategy applied by Vodafone Oman.

Overall, the event included student participants as well as some faculty members from the business studies department who were interested in the area. The event was a success and allowed the opportunity for an integrated learning experience and discussion on future collaboration in research as well as student engagement in industry in the area of marketing and branding.