IBE800 Digital Communication: Customer Experience and Relationships (Autumn 2026)

The concept and emergence of experience-based economies are changing the ways that businesses interact with customers. The focus changes from who sells the best product to who can create engaging experiences that resonate with customers. Digital Communication (DC) are central to how the business interacts and shapes the customer experience and customer relationship. In this master’s level course, we equip students with advanced knowledge and skills necessary to manage customer relationships, with understanding of the consumer’s decisions making process, and with consideration of customer behavior and factors shaping sustainable consumption. This course will explore current DC technologies applied in public and private sectors. It will explore theories and practices in ways that digital communication through DC technologies can help achieve personalization, customer centricity, omnichannel marketing, and emotional connections. The course is ideal for future digital business managers and digital communication officers.

Key Topics

• How DC technologies are transforming the consumer-product relationship
• Review of current and emerging DC technologies, including developments in social media, Metaverse, AI and robotics
• Identify and develop a Digital Communication Strategy for a mock-organization
• Examine ethical issues in the design of a DC strategy
• Explore ways that digitalization can help achieve sustainability goals
• Review and understand the intersection of sustainability goals and emerging technologies in the context of digital markets
• Exploring the role of DC technologies in Human Work Analytics and design of workplaces, and worker wellbeing
• Present how emerging Virtual and Metaverse technologies are transforming consumer and retail marketing relationships
• Marketing and analytics: explore approaches for managing the consumer-product relationships
• Trust and personalization: explore their role in a DC strategy
• Ethical consideration in DC management
• Explore DC management practices in the public and private sectors, community and stakeholders’ management
• Digitalization as a tool for future sustainable consumption
• Creating value in digital relationships: Case study on the Health Care Sector

Knowledge:

• Has advanced knowledge within the academic field and specialized insight in the fundamental concepts of Digital Communication (DC) in managing customer experience and relationships.
• Has advanced knowledge of theories and frameworks for how in human work and interaction design
• Has advanced knowledge of marketing and analytical approaches to managing the customer-product relationship

Skills:

• Can analyze and deal critically with various sources of information and use them to structure and formulate to develop and implement communication strategies that align with organizational goals.
• Can use relevant methods forresearch work in an independent manner to manage data in customer relationships, including management of big data collected through web analytics, surveys and software
• Can analyze existing theories, methods and interpretations in the field and work with digital tools to identify trends, patterns and insights to manage communication strategies
• Can carry out an independent, limited research or development project under supervision and in accordance with applicable norms for research ethics

General competence:

• Can analyze relevant academic, professional and research the ethical and social implications of business communication and customer relations practices.
• Can analyze relevant academic, professional and research analyze major trends in digital communication for customer engagement
• Can contribute to work businesses in public or private sectors to foster new connections, networked communities and value exchange
• Can communicate about academic issues, analyses and conclusions in the field, both with specialists and the general public
• Can contribute to new thinking and innovation processes

• Digital Lectures (live and recorded)
• Group discussions and case studies
• Practical project: develop a digital communication plan for a mock-organization
• Reading academic papers

• Mandatory coursework: Assignments
• Courseworks given: 2
• Courseworks required: 2
• Grouping: groups up to four students
• Presence:digital attendance by at least one member of the group is required on due dates for discussion of deliverables in lecture
• Comment: The students must submit (1) a written digital communication strategic plan for a mock-organization and (2) deliver a pre-recorded video presentation of that strategic plan.

• Form of assessment: Oral Home Exam
• Duration: 20 minutes
• Proportion: 100%
• Grouping: Individual
• Grading scale: Letter (A - F)
• Support material:
• Comment: