Brands are the most potent commercial and cultural force on the planet. Think about McDonald’s, Apple, Manchester United, Tate, Google or even Harry Potter. This free online course will help you get under the skin of such brands, and ask how and why they become so powerful.

The University of East Anglia has teamed up with one the world’s most influential brand consultancies, Wolff Olins, to bring you this course. It’s built on their hugely successful joint MSc in Brand Leadership and shares the same course leader - renowned branding consultant, Robert Jones.

Where could this course take me?

If you’re developing a career in branding - or if you work in a related area, like strategy, marketing or innovation - this course is for you. It will support your professional development, and also provide you with a taste of what taking a Masters in branding or brand management would be like.

What and how will I learn?

You’ll learn directly from practitioners at companies like Virgin and Google, and watch brand experts in action. You’ll get a rich mixture of powerful theory and practical tools. With branding changing so rapidly, you’ll get the very latest insights and methods from the converging worlds of technology, design and brand.

The course ends by setting up the next stage of your journey. We’ll be opening up the many topics in branding that still need research. And you’ll learn how to define your own personal brand, and plan the next steps in your life in branding.

This course will also give you the opportunity to purchase a Statement of Participation.

In addition, an optional formal exam has been set by the team at the University of East Anglia and it is based on the contents of the course. If you pass, you will receive a Statement of Attainment which you can use as evidence of your understanding of the subject for Continuing Professional Development or other purposes.

You will be able to sit the exam at various test centres across the world after the end of the course (dates to be confirmed). The exam duration will be 1 hour 40 minutes and the question types will be similar to those in the end of course test.

Further information about Statements of Attainment can be found in the FAQs on Statements of Attainment.

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When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

Available now

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

Who is the course for?

No academic requirements, but you’ll need to have a deep interest in brands and how they work.

What do people say about this course?

"I started taking notes at the beginning of the course and looking back over them I am amazed at the ground that was covered. I'm hoping to find time to type them up (not a small job) then put them to good use when helping my small and medium-sized business clients build their own brands. Thank you, again."

Karen Leahy

"I've learnt some really strong practical skills, like using the brand butterfly. I've actually started to use it to educate some of my clients, and think more carefully about their respective brands"

Simon English

Who will you learn with?

Robert Jones

Robert is a strategist at Wolff Olins, the brand consultants in London, and a visiting professor at the University of East Anglia, UK.

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Who developed the course?

UEA (University of East Anglia)

The University of East Anglia is an internationally renowned university providing top quality academic, social and cultural facilities to over 15,000 students from over 100 countries around the globe.

Learning on FutureLearn

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