Abstract:

Objective:
This paper presents the results of testing « BrandY », a game-based teaching module developed under the Erasmus + funded program aiming to improve marketing students' skills and employability. Live field tests in various locations between 2021 and 2023 have assessed its impact (Emad et al; 2023).

Literature review:
As educators, our goal is to prepare students for future employment. Among the 19.8 million tertiary education students in the EU in 2017, 22.2 percent focused on business, administration, or law, totaling 4.4 million. 92 percent of corporate recruiters plan to hire freshly graduated MBAs this year, expecting increased demand for business school talent (Hazenbusch & al, 2022). However, there is a substantial gap between graduates' skills and employers' expectations (Gawrycka & al, 2020). 49 percent of recruiters cited "limited functional work experience" as a concern (Hazenbusch & al, 2022). This disparity extends to fields like marketing, leading to discrepancies in essential skills (Finch, & al, 2013). Experts advocate shifting focus from knowledge to skill development (Rohm & al, 2019).
In recent years, an analysis of Journal of Marketing Education articles from 1979 to 2019 (Donthu et al, 2021) shows a high interest, by marketing educators, in "experiential learning," ranking second only to "self-regulated learning." Simulations and serious games, serve an educational purpose, and studies have shown that there are several benefits of using gamified learning, such as improved student-engagement, motivation, confidence, attitude, perceived learning, and performance (Subhash & Cudney, 2018) as well as a positive correlation between games/simulations and learning outcomes (DeSmale & al, 2015). Marketing educators show keen interest in using games, attributing them to increased motivation, collaboration, and learning facilitation (Pejić Bach & al, 2020). Students also perceive simulations as the most effective teaching method (Farashahi & al, 2018).

Methodology:
This presentation will focus more specifically on the most recent test, which will be European countries (France, Belgium, Poland and Spain). Participating students will be asked to complete a before / after questionnaire on their learnings in terms of marketing and intercultural skills, as well as a questionnaire capturing their engagement (Handlesman & al, 2005) and learning style (Kolb, 1985; Honey & Mumford, 1989). Additionally, it will provide the participating students’ perspective on the difference between learning about marketing through BrandY versus through more traditional methods.

Expected results:
The cultural skills and learning styles dimensions will be formally introduced for the first time in Bruges, however, previous tests have shown that to the question on whether respondents would recommend BrandY to friends, on a scale from 1 (not at all) to 5 (of course) the mean was 4. Asked what they particularly liked, respondents mostly mentioned « and unforgettable experience », « intensiveness », « developing skills », « working in teams » and the « international » aspect.

Additional elements:
During this session, we will also offer attendees unrestricted access to the online platform, [www.brandygame.eu], for testing during the conference. It includes an e-book, handbooks and the online game. We also invite volunteers to broaden the application of BrandY across more universities, cultures, and countries.

Keywords:

Branding, serious game, marketing, intercultural, engagement, Learning Styles.