Dr Bjoern Asmussen

PhD

Senior Lecturer in Marketing

Oxford Brookes Business School

Role

Bjoern is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing. He is also the subject coordinator for the MSc Marketing & Brand Management as well as the MSc Marketing Communications Management.

Bjoern has developed and teaches a number of modules in brand management and integrated marketing communications, for example, Product and Brand Management, Strategic Brand Management, Brand and Marketing Communications, Content Marketing Management, and PR & Branded Content in the Social Media Age. He has also taught Brand Management on international executive training courses (Red Bull) and supervises undergraduate and postgraduate dissertation students in his areas of research. As part of his teaching he has collaborated with organisations such as Harley-Davidson, Rolls-Royce, Facebook, Amazon, Lego, Vodafone, Fremantle Media, SAP, McCann Erickson, Oxford University Press, L’Oréal, and Oxfam as well as the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ipsos MORI, Forrester Research, the Market Research Society, the Association for Qualitative Research, and the Branded Content Marketing Association.

Bjoern brings to the faculty a wealth of industry experience, gained prior to joining Oxford Brookes University in October 2007. He worked over a period of over 10 years in a range of marketing disciplines such as branding, advertising, digital, sales, and media. Based on this comprehensive experience, Bjoern then specialised in brand strategy consulting and worked as a Senior Strategic Planner for advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi in Frankfurt, before becoming Head of Strategy for Figtree, the London-based brand management consultancy (now part of Prophet). During his time in the marketing industry, Bjoern has worked as a consultant for many organisations, including Procter & Gamble, Disney, and Samsung. He has commentated on brand management issues for the BBC and given guest lectures at universities in the UK and abroad.

Teaching and supervision

Courses

Modules taught

Strategic Brand Management
Brand and Marketing Communications
Content Marketing Management
PR & Branded Content in the Social Media Age

Bjoern also supervises undergraduate and postgraduate dissertation students in his two key research areas of Strategic Brand Management and Integrated Marketing Communications (particularly on Branded Content).

Research

Bjoern works on various projects related to his two key research areas of strategic brand management and integrated marketing communications.

He has a particular interest in Research & Knowledge Exchange between marketing academia and practice. Bjoern has organised and run a number of networking events called Brand Strategy Round Tables which provide a platform for knowledge exchange between academic researchers, teachers, and marketers working in the industry. He has also led a collaborative research project with the BCMA (Branded Content Marketing Association) and the worldwide market research company IPSOS on the topic of ‘Defining Branded Content for the Digital Age’.

Bjoern has presented the results of his research widely at a number of conferences in Europe and the US. Furthermore, as a result of his research, he has been invited to become an advisor to the Branded Content Marketing Association, the Institute of Branded Content, and the Branded Content Research Network. He has also been a judge for The Drum Content Marketing Awards and is now a permanent member of The Drum Judges’ Club.

Research impact

The results of Bjoern's research on Branded Content are now widely used internationally in marketing industry as well as academia.

Publications

Asmussen B, Harridge-March S, Occhiocupo N, Farquhar J, 'The multi-layered nature of the internet-based democratization of brand management'
Journal of Business Research 66 (9) (2013) pp.1473-1483

ISSN: 0148-2963
Abstract Published here

Book Chapters

Asmussen, B., Wider, S., Williams, R., & Canter, A. (2018): Defining Branded Content: Three Key Findings. In: Fifteen Years – A Branded Content Story, pp. 26-32, Branded Content Marketing Association: London.
Asmussen, B., Williams, R., Wider, S. & Canter, A. (2015): Defining Branded Content for the Digital Age. The experts’ views from phase two of the collaborative research project. In: Best of Branded Content Marketing, Global Edition, pp. 93-98. ebook article published in December.
Asmussen, B., Canter, A., Butler, A. and Michels, N. (2014): Towards the Future of Branded Content. In: Kirby, J. (ed.): The Best of Branded Content Marketing, 10th Anniversary Edition (ebook), pp. 93-100, Branded Content Marketing Association: London.

Industry Report

Asmussen, B., Wider, S., Williams, R., Stevenson, N., Whitehead, E. & Canter, A.: Defining branded content for the digital age. The industry experts’ views on branded content as a new marketing communications concept. A collaborative research project commissioned by the BCMA and conducted by Oxford Brookes University and Ipsos MORI. Published in June 2016.

Journal Article

Asmussen B, Harridge-March S, Occhiocupo N, Farquhar J, 'The multi-layered nature of the internet-based democratization of brand management' Journal of Business Research, 66 (9) (2013) pp. 1473-1483.

Conferences

Asmussen, B., Wider, S., Budhathoki, T., Williams, R., Stevenson, N., Whitehead, E. & Canter, A.: What is branded content? A collaborative investigation of competing institutional logics in the marketing communications industry. Branded Content Research Network Conference, University of East London, London, November 2017.
Asmussen, B., Wider, S., Budhathoki, T., Williams, R., Stevenson, N. & Whitehead, E.: Defining Branded Content for the Digital Age: An Exploration of Marketing Communication Experts' Key Conceptualisations. Branded Content Research Network, Seminar 1, University of East London, London, November 2016. [invited presentation]
Asmussen, B., Wider, S., Williams, R., Stevenson, N., Whitehead, E. & Budhathoki, T.: Branded Content: Old Wine in New Bottles or The Dawn of a New Marketing Communications Concept? Academy of Marketing, Newcastle, July 2016.
Asmussen, B., Wider, S., Williams, R., Stevenson, N., Whitehead, E. & Budhathoki, T.: Defining Branded Content for the Digital Age: An Exploration of Marketing Communication Experts' Key Conceptualisations. Paper presented at the 45th EMAC European Marketing Academy, May 2016, Oslo.
Asmussen, B., Postler, K., Butler, A., Canter, A., Thomson, S., Macfarlane, G., Michels, N., Budhathoki, T., Wider, S. & Li, M.: How do you conceptualise branded content? An exploration of marketing communications discourse. Academy of Marketing, July 2015, Limerick, Ireland.
Asmussen, B., Butler, A., Canter, A., Michels, N., Macfarlane, G., Thomson, S., Wider, S. & Budhathoki, T.: Defining Branded Content for the Digital Age. Findings of a Research Collaboration between Academia and Practice, Phase 1. Conference: Brand Camp 3; March 2015; Obergurl; University of Innsbruck, Austria.
Asmussen, B. (2014) 'How do brand managers conceptualise brands as complex phenomena?'. Paper presented at the 43rd EMAC European Marketing Academy, Valencia, Spain, June.
Asmussen, B., Butler, A. and Michels, N. (2013) 'Towards the Future of Branded Content'. Paper presented at the Content London, BAFTA, London, November.
Asmussen, B. (2013) 'How do Corporate Brand Managers Conceptualise Brands? A Social Constructivist Investigation'. Paper presented at the 42nd EMAC European Marketing Academy, Istanbul, Turkey, June.
Asmussen, B., Butler, A. and Michels, N. (2013) 'Towards the Future of Global Branded Content'. Paper presented at the Brand2Global, Global Brand Management Conference, London, June.
Asmussen, B. (2012) 'Exploring the internet-based democratization of brand management'. Paper presented at the Multi-Stakeholder Branding Meeting, Innsbruck, Austria, March.
Asmussen, B., Harridge-March, S., Occhiocupo, N. and Farquhar, J. (2011) 'The Internet-Based Democratisation of Corporate Brand Management – An Exploration of Managerial Perspectives'. Paper presented at the Conference of the Academy of Marketing’s Brand, Corporate Identity & Reputation SIG, Oxford, April.
Asmussen, B., Harridge-March, S., Occhiocupo, N. and Farquhar, J. (2011) 'The Internet-Based Democratisation of Brand Management – An Emerging Concept'. Paper presented at the Brand Camp, University of Innsbruck, Austria, February.
Asmussen, B., Harridge-March, S., Occhiocupo, N. and Farquhar, J. (2010) 'The Emergence of the Internet-Based Democratisation of Brand Management: A First Conceptualisation.'. Paper presented at the Academy of Marketing Conference, Coventry, July.
Asmussen, B., Harridge-March, S., Occhiocupo, N. and Farquhar, J. (2010) 'The Internet-Based Democratisation of Brand Management – The Dawn of a New Paradigm or Dangerous Nonsense?'. Paper presented at the EMAC 2010 Conference,, Copenhagen, June.
Asmussen, B., Harridge-March, S., Occhiocupo, N. and Farquhar, J. (2010) 'The internet-based democratisation of brand management'. Paper presented at the Oxford Brookes Research Conference, Oxford, May.
Asmussen, B., Farquhar, J. and Harridge-March, S. (2009) 'In the Online Age, are Stakeholders the New Brand Managers? An Exploration of the Internet-Based Democratisation of Corporate Brand Management'. Paper presented at the Academy of Marketing, Special Interest Group in Branding, Cambridge, September.
Asmussen, B., Farquhar, J. and Harridge-March, S. (2009) 'Brands as Hyper-organic Entities – Introducing a Gestalt Sociological Metaphor to Brand Definition Discourse'. Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science, Baltimore, USA, May, pp. ,
Asmussen, B., Farquhar, J. and Harridge-March, S. (2009) 'Brands as Hyper-organic Beings – a New Metaphor for Service Branding'. Paper presented at the 4th Annual International Conference on Services Management, Oxford Brookes, May.

Professional information

Memberships of professional bodies

Branded Content Marketing Association
Branded Content Research Network
Institute of Branded Content
The Drum Judges' Club