Training design, facilitation, and teaching
Brand strategy workshops.
Developing a new or updated strategy for your brand often involves one or more workshops, depending on the scope of the project. The process a business or marketing team goes through in order to analyse, research, understand, define objectives, discuss, and agree on critical choices is key to having an effective strategy for the future growth of the brand and business.
Training design and facilitation.
Both marketing professionals and those from fields can benefit from training in aspects of communications, from writing best practices, to digital media, technology, social media, customer relationship management, global/local cultural trends, consumer insights, and more.
I offer both standalone and modular training programs. From an inspirational single talk or workshop, to a program over multiple sessions. The learning goals can vary from global marketing strategies, to specifically using large language model prompts to make the most of generative artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini.
Immersive training experiences.
Immersive training experiences are an innovative way to set working professionals in tailored mock situations which take into account a wide variety of potential outcomes and consequences. One intention is to envision future situations and for participants to practice effective decision making.
These training exercises tend to be highly customised to specific client situations and teams. I leverage my experience in tabletop game design to tailor these experiences, in some ways similar to the way professional wargames tend to be designed and facilitated.
Teaching and lecturing.
I had the opportunity to grow in my career thanks to other brand strategy professionals, who were generous with their time and advice over the years. I contribute in turn via different initiatives, like the 30 Minute University of Planning. I’m always open for a chat – please feel free to reach out.
I also share my experience in formal academic settings. I coach students and have taught the following courses at ISCOM Paris and The American University of Paris:
- Bachelors (Undergraduate) level: Branding Foundations, Digital Brand Environment.
- Masters (Graduate) level: Strategic Planning and Consumer Insights, Global Brands and Brand Culture, Brands and Belief, International PR Communications, Best-of Digital Activations.
Training and teaching highlights
ISCOM International Days
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ISCOM Paris is an international communications and advertising school. Every year, International Days is an event for students featuring conferences and training workshops with a variety of topics related to global communications.
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This conference style online session for students draws inspiration from the classification of play types theorized by French sociologist in his book Man, Play, and Games. Using these concepts, I illustrated how brands leverage play in known advertising communications case studies.
Highlights:
Setting Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as a context for the conference.
Introducing the four types of play classified by Sociologist Roger Caillois
Commenting on award-winning creative communications case studies to illustrate the principles discussed.
Absolutely French
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Absolutely French is a cultural integration and language school for expat professionals. They also work with French human resource departments in need of international expertise. They offer and organize training activities for their members.
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As part of their ongoing offer, I worked with the team at Absolutely French to design an inspiring immersive workshop, exploring French iconic pop culture references and brand communications
Highlights:
Principles of brand communications.
Understanding of French pop culture and advertising.
Relationships between brands and culture.
The American University of Paris
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Based on the work and research of Pr. Waddick Doyle, this course examines the evolution of critical advertising and brand analysis with a particular emphasis on learning how people come to identify with and believe in brands.
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The course includes an analysis of how brands work as systems for producing differences between themselves by creating associations with imaginary worlds. Students learn tools of semiotic and linguistic analysis in analyzing brands and how they relate to each other.
Highlights:
Introduction to semiotic brand analysis.
Critical perspectives on branding and media.
Brand communications audit.
Thoughts and musings about training and teaching
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I write and publish two different editions: One is in English, l’autre est en français.
You can browse past editions in English here, et en français, ici.
