Jan Glanzmann

Graduation
April 2018

Study Programme
Brand Management B.A.

Title of Thesis
Success factors of brand cooperations – A practice-oriented model for the successful development and implementation of cooperations.

Hi Jan, what have you been doing since graduating?
After graduating in spring 2018, I joined the global brand consultancy Interbrand directly as a Junior Strategy Consultant. I had already completed a six-month internship there during my Bachelor’s thesis at BU. So the subsequent entry was consistent, but also welcome for me. After about another year at Interbrand with many exciting projects of various kinds, I decided in the summer of 2019 to complete a Master’s degree at Lund University in Sweden – an ambition that I already had before joining Interbrand and which was fortunately also made possible and even supported. During this one-year programme, I was able to gain further knowledge in the field of Marketing & Brand Management and, most importantly, gain further international experience and learn about many new cultures and perspectives on our global life and brands as part of it. After graduating from Lund University, I returned to Interbrand in the summer of 2020 as a Strategy Consultant. In July 2021, I was promoted to Senior Consultant, leading one of Interbrand’s largest current clients.

How did you join Interbrand?
Partly due to the past of one of the professors at Brand University, I came into contact with the name Interbrand in the first semesters of my studies. Through the often cited Best Global Brands Ranking by Interbrand, multiple mentions in several books on branding as well as a closer contact with the work of Interbrand in the context of a previous internship, my interest was finally fully awakened and my application for an internship was only a formality.

What are your responsibilities there?
My work in my current role as a Senior Consultant is divided into three parts: (1) Providing strategic advice to clients on numerous and varied topics – from analysing brands to positioning brands to developing names or designs for brands. (2) The management and support of our clients – from individual departments to the C-level of some companies. (3) The internal project and team management, which is equally varied from monitoring budgets to the personal development of individual team members. I also have the opportunity to collaborate with many others in Interbrand’s global offices on the Interbrand-specific view and understanding of brands.

What is the best thing about your job?
The combination of working with some of the most recognised and valuable brands in the world and the diversity of projects you get to work on. No day as a consultant is like another day – there is always a lot to discover, to learn and often a surprise or two.

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think back to BU?
The family-like atmosphere that prevails on the entire campus, but especially among the students. Even a few years after graduation, you are still in contact with many of your fellow students as well as lecturers and professors, and at the same time it is always a pleasure to meet other Brand University colleagues later in your professional life.

Why did you choose BU?
For me, the overall package was crucial in choosing the right university right from the start. This concerned both hard factors such as relevant educational content or professors with practical experience as well as softer factors such as the familiar atmosphere already mentioned, but also the location in a city where I would like to spend my life. Brand University was one of the top choices right from the start.

Which experience has stayed in your memory in particular?
For me, it is clearly the practical approach – and not only in terms of practical projects or the practical experience of professors. All the content that determined everyday learning at Brand University is relevant and applicable in practice – a clear contrast to the experience I gained during my Master’s degree at a traditional university, where the content is much more philosophical and scientific and requires a certain amount of prior knowledge and practical experience in order to understand its significance for practice. In addition, the learning formats at Brand University are also strongly related to practice – from the numerous presentations that have to be completed as part of the programme to the countless practical examples that professors repeatedly include in their lessons. For me, the entry into the profession was therefore not a frustrating, but a very ”smooth” experience.

What advice do you have for students to make the leap into a career right after graduation?
From my point of view, besides contacts (which can always help, but are not the only solution), three things are crucial: building up a clear personal profile in the wide-ranging field of brand management and communication, gathering suitable practical experience outside of your studies, and staying interested in everything to do with brands – whether by visiting exhibitions like the Red Dot Awards or reading relevant newsletters/blogs.

What are your plans for the future?
In the long term, I would like to take on holistic responsibility for a brand that I have a personal passion for – from internal strategy development to external marketing execution. In addition, I would like to contribute to the progress of the brand discipline in terms of content – for example as part of a teaching assignment at a university or college. In the short term, I am mainly focused on taking the right steps and gaining experience to achieve my long-term goals.

Hamburg is…
… a real home for me. Even though I haven’t lived in the city for four years, I still have many good friends here and visit almost every month.