Philippe Mihailovich is indeed an expert in the true sense of the word. He has extensive experience in international marketing and lectures primarily on Transnational Brand Management, Luxury Brands and Place Branding. He has worked for some of the world's leading brands such as Virgin, Tesco, Nivea and The Body Shop. He is Visiting Professor of Branding for MBA, MSc and other business degree programmes at leading private Business Schools in France. An author of  numerous academic papers on brand architecture, his work has been published in the Journal of Brand Management and the Journal of Place Branding. His book on Luxury Brands is currently awaiting a publisher.

Mihailovich's multicultural upbringing certainly gave him a taste for an international future. He was born in South Africa of a French/Swiss mother and Serbian father and has worked all around the world: Johannesburg, London, New York, and Paris where he is currently based. Before starting his PhD research at Surrey University in the UK, he received his BA degree in Industrial Psychology and Social Anthropology at the University of the Witwatersrand which he followed on to an Executive Masters in Advanced Marketing.

The 30 hour module he is currently teaching, presents the fundamental branding theories illustrated by professor Mihailovichs' professional experience. Several group case studies are tackled and a key factor during the course is students' involvement.. An individual project includes a presentation of a brand repositioning where students are asked to choose a brand and apply different strategies seen during the module.

Students work on researching, creating, developing and re-positioning real brands for both domestic and international markets trough different case studies done during the module. A coherent international brand architecture is a key component of the firm's overall international marketing strategy as it provides a structure to leverage strong brands into other markets, assimilate acquired brands, and rationalise the firm's international branding strategies.

The latest theories and cutting-edge thinking are introduced with interactivity to enable students to work with real issues faced by today's brands.

Philippe Mihailovich is particularly satisfied with his class of MSc in Marketing Management students:

"I consider my EDHEC students to be at a higher level than all the French Business Schools I have ever lectured in. They are hard working, determined and relentless in their research and as such, they drive each other up to the highest of international standards. I love the fact that they have the knowledge, insights, and confidence to challenge my thinking and this drives my knowledge level up and helps to keep my thinking fresh - it makes teaching them a pleasure and a luxury experience."

Photo by Marija Randjelovic