Bridging
Strategy
& Design
Go beyond aesthetics, jargon, and everyday frameworks to uncover the theory & practice of brand strategy with Alex Anderson, Senior Director of Brand Strategy at TRIPTK (a HAVAS Company).
Why take this course?
Build brands with unassailable conviction.
This course outlines a story of conviction: how can brands know themselves with such clarity that they can easily articulate their reason for being, who they serve, and their values as an organization?
Improve your strategic contribution in-house or as part of an agency team.
While each has distinct roles in an agency setting, when aligned strategists and designers can operate more efficiently, support each other as team members, and generate creative ideas easier.
Learn the ‘language of business’ to gain influence with client stakeholders.
Bolstering significant craft skills, designers and strategists can build alignment and enjoy outsized influence with client stakeholders when they can speak to the methodologies and processes associated with narrative strategy.
Help your team to balance internal perception with external reality.
A ‘gut feeling’ isn’t sufficient data upon which to build a brand platform. It’s key for internal teams to check their biases, empathize with target audiences, and gain an understanding of the contextual environment.
What are you
going to learn
in this course?
Introduction to Brand Strategy
We’ll start with an introduction to the idea of branding: what ‘branding’ encompasses and where it originated; how brands’ constant presence influences our decisions; the opportunity in storytelling that brand strategy presents; and why branding or rebranding would be warranted or necessary. The lecture will be accompanied by a history of branding theory and industry perspectives on the role of brand strategy in modern practice.
The ‘Decode’ Process
Often brand design is inspired, but not necessarily informed. Where is the right place to start, and how should we design cultural research? How can designers introduce a culture of research in their organization? In-depth and thorough research, often expensive and deprioritized, can give designers and strategists a unique perspective into the marketplace, the challenges they face, and the opportunities that are emerging. Decoding the contextual environment is the only route to finding a path forward that’s both informed and inspired.
The ‘Recode’ Process
With sufficient insight on the challenges and opportunities facing a brand, we can start to define what it should be: its purpose and reason for being, its core essence or foundational positioning, its personality, and more. This is the work of brand strategy: to help creative teams align on the narrative strategy for the brand. Often agencies and in-house teams have unique perspectives on how to structure this work (there’s not a ‘right way’), so we’ll discuss different models for brand foundations.
The Strategy-Design Mindmeld
With strategy, comes designers who have ignored the strategy. It’s inevitable, and yet with careful planning and inspiring work the narrative strategy can be the catalyst for strategic and beautiful work. How do we bridge the gap? Moreover, early explorations as a design team can inspire copy, and vice versa. How do you create an environment that helps both teams to influence the other?
Taking Care of Business: Governance, Innovation, and Evolution
The brand strategy and visual identity are both finalized. It was a wild and wonderful collaboration. But without thoughtful, single-minded, and consistent implementation of the brand’s values and expression, the core idea (or essence) can be lost. How can brand leaders protect and extend their work, while also making space to be flexible when thousands of people might influence or wield the assets?
The Good, the Bad, and the Award-Winning
Finally, we’ll spend time exploring and critiquing various case studies (including my own). By analyzing examples, we’ll understand how brand theory is applied in real-world scenarios. Responding to an earlier assignment, each student will also present their proposed narrative strategy for a struggling brand to a surprise guest critic.
World-class professionals ready to teach you.
Alex Anderson
Senior Director of Brand Strategy at TRIPTK (a HAVAS Company)
Enroll today for our next class
Tuition
US$ 750
10% discount for former students. If you have completed at least one course with us in the past, you are eligible to receive the discount immediately.
We offer scholarships. If you are a member of an underrepresented or marginalized community, have an annual income of less than $30,000.00, are unemployed, or work for an organization making a social impact, you could be eligible for a scholarship immediately. Enroll now.
Course Duration
7-week course.
6 classes — Thursdays from 7pm to 9pm EST
All classes take place live via Zoom. The links are automatically sent to your email and WhatsApp (optional). The sessions are recorded and will be available to students.
What you can expect attending Bridging Strategy & Design
Remote classes.
Our classes are always remote and live via Zoom so you can get the most out of it and have real connections with your peers and the instructor.
Stay close.
Learn more.
You have direct access to the instructor and your peers with an exclusive channel on Slack, allowing you to exchange experiences and learn from world-class professionals and students worldwide.
A platform
tailored for you.
From the moment you enroll in a class to the moment you get the certificate, we designed a platform that gives you the best experience. Alune is our proprietary platform where you can watch back the Zoom sessions and keep up with your progress anytime, forever.
Learn from
real-life examples.
You can also be eligible for our Talent Program, which puts you in front of top-tier companies ready to hire. After completing the course, you’ll receive a certificate to celebrate the achievement and brag about it on social media.
FAQs
Who is this course for?
Designers who’d like to further their understanding of brand strategy as a discipline. Early- & mid-career strategists who work in an agency setting but haven’t been given a ‘formal’ crash course on the fundamentals of brand strategy. Senior strategists who have always been curious about the processes and methodologies used in different agency or in-house contexts.
How can I communicate with the instructors and peers?
Upon application, you will be added to a private Slack group with instructors and other students. It is a place for questions, exchange of ideas, and inspiration, in addition to official communication and announcements.