Top 15 Courses To Learn Brand Strategy in 2024
This is the ultimate list of online brand strategy courses for creatives who want to become strategists or CEO’s who want to build a brand the strategic way.
If you’re a designer, go beyond making it look pretty — learn how to develop brand strategy from the ground up with my list of top strategy courses.
If you’re a consultant who is onboarding a new client and you don’t take the time to understand the business behind it, the target audience, the appropriate tone of voice and messaging, then you’re just doing disservice to your client.
Similarly if you’re an entrepreneur who dismiss brand strategy and jumps straight into logo & brand identity design, then will most likely end up confused, not even mentioning potential business failure.
What is the goal of brand strategy?
The goal of brand strategy is to focus all your visual, verbal and conceptual thinking on design solutions that will help you client achieve your business and marketing objectives.
That’s why you need to get clarity on key aspects of branding in order to be able to make decisions that are “on brand”.
Here’s my list of the top 15 best courses to learn brand strategy online (developed by top brand strategists).
PS. Also check out my list of other resources on brand strategy (books, podcasts, blogs etc.)
What is brand strategy
Brand strategy is basically bridging the gap between the business and design
Brand strategy is the foundation for building a strong brand.
Your goal as a brand strategist is to go above and beyond just making your brand look pretty — you need to make it work.
Developing brand strategy will help you learn as much about the business as possible, so that you can propose the best possible creative solutions.
But if you don’t go into your project with some sort of a strategy, you will most likely get a lot of push back from your client.
And you and your clients will be very subjective, saying something like: “I don’t like blue” — then it becomes a very difficult conversation.
So when you don’t do the strategy it becomes very subjective and more of an art critique.
That’s why business solutions that have both rationale and creative parts at their core are essential to differentiating you and your work from the pack.
So without further ado — let’s look at some of the best brand strategy courses available online.
1. Brand Strategy Kit by Arek Dvonerchuck
I humbly feature my own brand strategy course as the first best branding course on my list.
This course teaches you the best techniques I have learned in the past 20 years of branding.
My Brand Strategy Kit offers a comprehensive guide to mastering brand strategy and advancing your career with practical tools I use daily with my clients at Ebaqdesign.
Brand Strategy Kit by Arek Dvonerchuck
Cost: $199 | Length: 2 hours 45 min | By: Arek Dvonerchuck
This kit includes an 89-page guidebook, 13 video tutorials, and fillable worksheets that you can customize for your agency.
It has step-by-step guidance for both in-person and remote workshops, along with a facilitator’s script and presentation templates.
You also get access to a Book of Prompts for AI chatbots like ChatGPT, that can help you with your branding.
I highly recommend this course for logo designers, studio owners, freelancers, brand strategists, creative directors, entrepreneurs, marketers, web designers, and students.
Check out this video tutorial on youtube, which is a preview of me running one of the branding exercises.
If you’re looking for a brand strategy course with expert knowledge, the Brand Strategy Kit is the perfect choice for you.
2. WHY Discovery Course by Simon Sinek
Simon Sinek is the author of the bestselling book Start With Why and the more practical version Find Your Why — a written version of his online course.
A practical guide for discovering purpose for you and your team.
This course is designed to help you find words to express what truly inspires you.
WHY Discovery Course by Simon Sinek
Cost: $250 | Length: 2 hours minimum | By Simon Sinek
Simon’s course is based on the concept of Golden Circle which he explains is grounded in the biology of human decision making.
This easy-to-follow guide starts with discovering your personal WHY, and then expands to articulating your organization’s WHY.
So whether you’re a CEO or a team, these simple steps will lead you on a path to a more fulfilling life and long-term success for you and your brand.
Over 16,000 people have become students of this course.
This online course costs only $250 and contains short and actionable videos together with worksheets to help you implement what you learn right away.
I strongly recommend this course for all CEO’s and teams who either start a new business/brand or go through a rebrand process.
PS. I based the Brand Purpose exercise of my Strategy Guide on the Simon’s concept of Golden Circle.
3. StoryBrand by Donald Miller
Donald Miller is a New York Times bestselling author and CEO of StoryBrand and he has helped over 10,000 businesses clarify their message.
An online course to help you create a clear message that works.
In this course, he’ll help you clarify your company’s message so customers pay attention and respond.
Cost: $275 | Length: 28 Videos, 20 hours | By Donald Miller
Donald’s course is based on his proprietary storytelling framework described in more detail in his books StoryBrand and the most recent Marketing Made Simple.
His 7-step messaging framework goes like this:
“A character who wants something encounters a problem before they can get it. At the peak of their despair, a guide steps into their lives gives them a plan, and calls them to action. That action helps them avoid failure and ends in a success.”
Although this is not a typical brand strategy course but a messaging framework, it’s worth mentioning because messaging is a big part of developing a sound brand strategy.
You will learn how to use words to tell a compelling brand story and position your brand as a guide and solution to your customer’s problems and pain points.
In this course, you’ll get access to a free online tool (worksheets) that guides you through the implementation process step-by-step.
I highly recommend this course for anyone working on website copy, email sequences and sales letters.
PS. I based my Storytelling Guide on the Donald’s StoryBrand framework.
4. Designing Strategy by IDEO U
IDEO is an award-winning global design company that created IDEO U (University) to teach the methods and mindsets they have been practicing for decades.
A human-centered, design thinking approach to help organizations innovate and grow.
In this course, you’ll learn a process that will help you create and take action on a strategy for your business, team, or organization.
Cost: $799 | Length: 4 hours / week, 5 weeks | By IDEO U
The lessons in the IDEO’s brand strategy course are designed to challenge assumptions and provoke new ways of working.
You’ll learn from esteemed practitioners who apply these methods every day in their own work.
By combining rigor and creativity, you can both analyze the world as it is and imagine how it could be better.
You’ll follow repeatable steps that are both human-centered and business-focused.
The course is mainly addressed to business owners to help them with choosing what to do and what not to do.
However, also as a creative you can benefit from this course — it will teach you the process IDEO goes through with their clients, so you can use it in your creative practice.
5. The Brand Strategy Sprint by Scott Galloway
Scott Galloway is an entrepreneur, author, and renowned NYU Professor of Marketing who is known for his course called “The Brand Strategy Sprint”.
An intensive learning experience to help you understand the strategies that drive a brand’s value.
In this course you will learn everything from how to improve a firm’s value proposition to how to outmaneuver the competition.
Strategy Sprint by Scott Galloway
Cost: $83 per month | Length: 2 weeks | By Scott Galloway.
The Brand Strategy Sprint is a two week intensive workshop done completely online.
You learn frameworks and step-by-step techniques to put this knowledge into practice.
The course focuses around 8 winning strategies of the most innovative and valuable firms in the world (case studies).
Most importantly you will learn by doing, with discussion groups, active Slack discussions, prompts, and opportunities to collaborate with peers.
What makes it different from other courses listed above is that this one (similarly to Donald’s $995 option) is an interactive learning experience.
The classes are designed for mid-to-senior level professionals working full-time, whether it be CEO’s and leaders, or creative professionals.
What’s unique — you’ll also get access to private Slack community with 200+ fellow professionals and community of 1000+ from companies like Walmart, Allstate, Bain, Everlane, Macy’s, Google, Vanguard, and more.
6. Brand Strategy Class by Mark Pollard
Mark Pollard is the CEO at Mighty Jungle and an author of this beginner level course on Skillshare.
A beginners course to building brands the strategic way.
In this short (and cheap) course you will learn the absolute basics of how to create a brand that can stand the test of time.
Brand Strategy Class by Mark Pollard
Cost: $32/m | Length: 1.5hours | By: Mark Pollard
This brand strategy course is probably the most basic and definitely the cheapest option from my list.
Mark breaks down every brand into three categories:
- Product-centric
- Customer-centric
- Vision-centric
Next he presents you with frameworks to understand how brands can develop and thrive within each category.
You’ll be able to download a worksheet to follow along and learn how to develop a single-page brand strategy.
Whether you’re a creative who wants to level up, or a business owner / entrepreneur this class will help you understand the fundamentals of brand building.
7. Introduction To Brand Strategy by Alejandro Pascalis
Alejandro Pascalis is a well-known brand strategist with over 10 years of experience and “Introduction to Brand Strategy” is his best-selling course.
A course that equips you with the tools to create comprehensive branding strategies.
This is a great brand strategy course for graphic designers, entrepreneurs, and anyone keen on mastering brand strategy, even if you don’t have any previous experience.
Introduction To Brand Strategy by Alejandro Pascalis
Cost: $59.99 | Length: 2 hours 45 min | By: Alejandro Pascalis
It highlights the importance of understanding brand perception, user experience, and key brand elements like symbols and names.
Pascalis focuses on users and brands, showing how strategic solutions benefit both.
You’ll also gain hands-on experience through practical exercises like creating a brand name, designing a logo, and defining brand identity contact points in it.
By the end of this program, you will be proficient in crafting well-thought-out value propositions.
Overall, Introduction to Brand Strategy is a great course for you if you want to create effective branding strategies that add significant value to your clients.
