Debbie Millman – Debbie Millman on Branding for Social Change

Debbie Millman – Debbie Millman on Branding for Social Change

Learn how to build a strong brand aligned with your social mission and purpose.

Brands signal our affiliations. At their best, they tell stories that define, differentiate and humanize organizations and indicate what companies stand for in the world. When executed well, brands can connect us with like-minded people and visions, reflect our values, inspire us to take action, or help us feel part of something bigger than ourselves.

For all these reasons, social enterprises and nonprofit organizations working on tackling the world’s most critical challenges like poverty, climate change, sexual violence, or homelessness need to build strong brands. In our fast-moving and chaotic world, it matters more than ever that social change-makers learn how to cut through the noise and get other people to pay attention to their causes, services, and innovations.

In this self-paced +Acumen course bundle, Debbie Millman, Mike Bainbridge, Brian Collins, Jennifer Kinon and Bobby Martin will teach any social entrepreneur, nonprofit manager, or social change agent to build a compelling brand identity for their cause or initiative that will get others to sit up, pay attention, and feel connected.

What You’ll Gain Access To:

• 10 page workbook with activities that will help starting to build your brand
• Tutorial videos from 5 leading experts and authors and accompanying exercises
• A dynamic forum to share your process with other brand-builders across the social sector
• A Certificate for successful completion of all course requirements
• The ability to revisit any section of the course bundle as needed (the course is self-paced and starts whenever you have the time!)

Class Curriculum

Section 1: Introduction to the Course

• 1. Welcome to the Course (1:19)
• 2. Brands for Social Change (2:23)
• 3. What to Expect in This Course (1:05)
• 4. What is Branding? (2:00)
• 5. How Debbie Got Started in Branding (2:27)
• 6. Exercise: Introduce Yourself
• 7. Resource: Course Map, Workbook and Exercise 1

Pre-Course Survey

Section 2: A Short History of Branding

• 8. The 5 Waves of Branding (1:04)
• 9. Wave 1: Brands as Quality and Consistency (2:13)
• 10. Wave 2: Anthropomorphized Brands (7:26)
• 11. Wave 3: Brands as Prestige (8:53)
• 12. Wave 4: Experience Brands (0:56)
• 13. Wave 5: Limbic Brands (4:01)
• 14. Wave 5: Individuals and Tribes (1:50)
• 15. Social Media Backlash (2:55)
• 16. What the Best Brands Need to Do Now (1:41)

Quiz: The Best Brands Today

• 17. Exercise: Frame Your Brand Challenge

Section 3: Debbie’s 5 Steps for Developing a Brand

• 18. Step 1: Understand the Need for Your Brand (1:47)
• 19. On Strategy (1:19)

Quiz: Strategic Reason for Being

• 20. Step 2: Get Input From Your Potential Audience (1:05)
• 21. On Research (3:21)

Quiz: Research

• 22. Step 3: Position Your Brand in the Marketplace (0:48)
• 23. Develop a Brand Positioning Statement (2:37)

Quiz: Brand Positioning

• 24. Steps 4 and 5: Bring Your Brand to Life and Market (0:40)
• 25. Brands for Social Change (2:16)
• 26. Case Study: The No More Campaign (6:42)
• 27. Framework Applied to No More Campaign (2:17)
• 28. What to Keep in Mind When Developing a Brand (2:05)
• 29. Exercise: Apply the first 3 Steps of Debbie’s Framework to Build a Great Brand

Section 4: Speak the Language of Brands

• 30. Brand Equity (1:15)

Quiz: Brand Equity

• 31. Brand Evolution (3:21)
• 32. Brand Architecture (2:29)
• 33. The Difference Between Branding, Marketing, and PR (3:04)

Quiz: Brand Evolution

Section 5: Mike Bainbridge on Research for Branding

• 34. How Mike got into Brand Strategy (1:21)
• 35. Conducting Qualitative Research (4:57)
• 36. Conducting Quantitative Research (3:01)

Quiz: Conducting Qualitative or Quantitative Research

• 37. Structuring Questions (3:36)
• 38. Doing Diagnostic Research (4:35)
• 39. Doing Projective Research (2:01)

Quiz: Diagnostic vs. Projective Research

• 40. Researching for Social Change (1:55)
• 41. Focus Groups (3:12)
• 42. Moderating Focus Groups (4:03)
• 43. Mapping the Experience Journey (7:09)
• 44. Preparing Research Materials (8:08)
• 46. Discussion Guide Example (1:47)
• 47. Creating Stimulus for Research (3:07)
• 48. Diagnostic Research Example (4:12)
• 49. Projective Research Example (2:45)
• 50. Qualitative Data Analysis (1:10)
• 51. Quantitative Data analysis (3:00)
• 52. The Creative Brief (4:07)
• 53. Identifying Core Values (5:44)
• 54. Discovering Target Customers (8:28)

Quiz: Values and Target Customers

• 55. When Research Goes Wrong (5:54)
• 56. Using Research to Innovate (4:05)
• 57. Research for Social Change (4:09)
• 58. Emotional Connection to Brand (1:25)

Section 6: Brian Collins on Brand Mission and Positioning

• 59. How Brian Started in Branding (3:34)
• 60. Anticipating Needs (4:15)

Quiz: Brand Design

• 61. On Branded Content (5:50)
• 62. On Storytelling (3:36)
• 63. The Three Pillars of Branding (1:55)

Quiz: The Pillars of Branding

• 64. On Archetypes (5:26)
• 65. The Dove Campaign (8:12)
• 66. Branding for Legacy Brands (6:12)
• 67. Branding Climate Protection (5:33)
• 68. Design for Change (6:23)
• 69. Branding for Social Entrepreneurs (4:21)

Section 7: Original Champions of Design on Rebranding and Visual Expression

• 70. The Meaning of Branding for OCD (2:59)
• 71. Branding for Non-Profits and For-Profits (1:18)
• 72. Case Study: The Girl Scouts of the USA (2:31)
• 73. Rebranding (4:54)

Quiz: Rebranding

• 74. Positioning (5:19)
• 75. Building Trust Within the Organization (6:14)

Quiz: Building Trust in a Rebranding Process

• 76. Research (4:25)
• 77. Interviewing Extremes (1:51)
• 78. The Creative Brief (5:36)
• 79. Design (2:38)

Quiz: From Brand Research to Design

• 80. Iteration (4:01)
• 81. Implementation (9:52)
• 82. Brand Launch (4:09)
• 83. Rebranding for a Social Cause (1:23)

Exercise: Apply the first 3 Steps of Debbie’s Framework to Build a Great Brand

Section 8: Branding for Social Change

• 84. Branding for Social Entrepreneurs (2:07)
• 85. Resources on Branding (0:57)
• 86. Closing Words (1:55)

Complete the Post-Course Satisfaction Survey

• 87. Exercise: Reflect on Your View of Branding

BONUS: Free Preview of +Acumen Master Class

• BONUS: Preview Another +Acumen Master Class with Seth Godin (3:41)