Press Office

Auckland, 11 May 2009 – MasterCard Worldwide in collaboration with the ESSEC Business School is offering the MasterCard-ESSEC Luxury Brand Management Executive Programme for the third year running. This year, MasterCard is offering 15 scholarships to the programme.

The intensive four day programme is designed to equip professionals in the luxury retail and services industry with an understanding of current branding, management and consumer trends. A key focus of the programme this year will be the changes in prestige consumption patterns given a slowdown in market growth, and how the luxury industry can deal with this challenge.

"The MasterCard-ESSEC Luxury Brand Management Executive Programme provided me with invaluable luxury brand management training. The intensive course provided me with great insights into branding, management and consumer trends that I am able to apply in my career. Anyone working in the luxury market in New Zealand should apply because the benefits of such training are immense," says the programme's only ever New Zealand recipient, Bangkok-based Andrew Loader, VP Marketing & Communication APAC, Sofitel Luxury Hotels.

The Chinese luxury market is another focus area of the programme, with a whole day dedicated to the study of its enormous growth potential. This will incorporate an analysis of the luxury consumer market, the geographic distribution of China's affluent consumers and the different regional characteristics.

Due to New Zealand's unique free trade agreement with China, Kiwis will have fewer barriers when trading with China, but because of the complexities associated in dealing with a new culture in a completely different language, individuals need the sort of mentoring and information that the MasterCard-ESSEC Luxury Brand Management Executive Programme offers.

"Marketing in China is very challenging because it is such a big country, with different provinces. Each store location has unique characteristics which have to be managed in way that is appropriate to the locality," said one of last year's recipients, Sophia Wu, General Manager of fashion house, Chloe, in China.

The MasterCard-ESSEC Luxury Brand Management Executive Programme comprises scholarships for the intensive course run by the prestigious ESSEC Business School - the only institute in the world that runs a luxury brand management MBA programme. Through the MasterCard-ESSEC Luxury Brand Management Executive Programme, selected modules of this curriculum have been made available to students in the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa.

"The luxury industry has rapidly expanded through the Asia/Pacific over the past decade with the opening of new stores, reaching large populations of new consumers in markets such as China. Given the slowdown in luxury goods consumption, the new challenge is to keep the aspirational aspects of the brand and products alive while allowing more and more accessibility," said Michel Phan, Assistant Professor of Marketing and LVMH Chaired Professor at ESSEC Business School in Paris.

"The course will give participants an understanding of current luxury consumption trends and allow them to integrate this into an efficient emotional branding strategy."

This year's scholarship recipients will attend the programme from 25-28 September in Singapore. They will receive an intensive and hands-on learning experience over four days of lectures and training. The programme will be conducted in English.

Admission to the MasterCard-ESSEC Luxury Brand Management Programme is based on a rigorous selection process. Professionals currently employed in the luxury industry in Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa are invited to apply. All applications will be reviewed by a MasterCard-ESSEC academic panel, which will determine a select group of 15 scholars. Course graduates will be awarded internationally-recognized certificates by ESSEC Business School.

The deadline for application is June 30. Those interested in more information on the scholarships and course components can log onto www.essec.edu/mastercard-essec/

MasterCard Worldwide advances global commerce by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, businesses, cardholders and merchants worldwide. As a franchisor, processor and advisor, MasterCard develops and markets payment solutions, processes approximately 21 billion transactions each year, and provides industry-leading analysis and consulting services to financial-institution customers and merchants. Powered by the MasterCard Worldwide Network and through its family of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro® and Cirrus®, MasterCard serves consumers and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information go to www.mastercard.com.