Training
Take your career and yourself to the next level
Just 10% of marketers claim to be well advanced on sustainability compared according to a worldwide study by the WFA – The World Federation of Advertisers.
The lack of sustainability and purpose knowledge on the agency side is concerning, where 57% of agencies stated they did average or below as pinpointed by a report from Act Responsible/Nielsen.
Where to begin?
If you’re still in doubt – get a sample!
Each month we’re doing webinars on several of the topics below, which gives you a 1-hour introduction to the content. Check them out.
What do they cost?
Longer training format
Executive training in sustainable brands & marketing
Everyone is looking to create meaningful marketing growth going forward, and as challenger brands are faster-moving, more agile, and better at connecting with consumers, purpose seems to be taking centre stage. At the same time, consumer expectations are rising and sustainability is moving into the mainstream, becoming synonymous with quality. It’s more difficult to shout “We care” as a brand and be believed – or for that sake to harvest the benefits. Purpose is embraced as the lifebuoy for brands going forward; but at the same time, purpose is challenged as the space overcommunicated and overcrowded. It’s demanding to be in today’s marketing chair or be responsible for an agency’s creative output as sustainability challenges or opportunities can either build or break brands.
Our training focuses on two key areas:
We begin by looking at how to build a purposeful brand in a highly competitive market. You’ll be trying different approaches hands-on, but you can ready yourself for a post-purpose reality. Secondly, we’ll spend a lot of time on the activation part. How to turn your purpose or ESG/SDG ambitions into powerful cut-through creative campaigns that create a real impact. As a group, we’ll be discussing and learning from each other. We’ll be watching lots of campaign and brand examples and you’ll be working on a real case over the duration of the training.
Duration:
6 weeks over a 2 month period
You’ll learn:
Week 1: Introduction: What is purpose & sustainable marketing?
Week 2: How to shape a purpose – 3 different tools/ways
Week 3: Sustainable campaigning
Week 4: Creativity for impact
Week 5: What’s next for purpose? The case for meaningful growth
Week 6: The challenges and opportunities for purpose internally and externally
Course kick-off:
Will be announced, but open for candidates.
Course material:
- Access to our online Purpose Peers hub for conversation and exchange
- Free access to our on-demand masterclass (value 300€)
- Free access to our on-demand library of learning videos and tutorials
- Free access to all live webinars (more than 10 yearly)
- Exclusive discounts to partner conferences across the globe
- Award entry discount to select impact/advertising awards
- Unlimited access to e-learning materials like The Brand Transformation Map
- Discount on 1-on-1 advisory sessions with Thomas
Audience:
Candidates will be accepted based on their qualifications and how they add to the cohort, so we get a diverse group of candidates that can learn from each other. Typically, we aim for executives such as brand managers, vice presidents, creative directors, producers, or similar.
Price:
2999€ (Lower prices available for people in-between jobs or from the non-profit sector)
Certification:
At the end of the training you’ll get a certificate documenting your participation for “Executive training in sustainable brands & marketing”.
Purpose Peers
An exclusive invitation-only learning and experience cohort
Activating purpose or dealing with the brand challenges of implementing sustainability can often feel like the loneliest job in the world, but what if we could grow together? Maybe you ask yourself the questions like: How can purpose still be differentiating in a highly competitive market? How can I get more bang for my buck with my purpose communication? How can I truly get everyone across the organisation to own purpose?
The aim with the Purpose Peers is to create a hand-picked cohort of people, who can learn, inspire, and grow together by contributing with their individual experiences, professional background, or point of view – all this through asking all those questions that truly matter.
This cohort demands as much from you as from us, and you’re expected to participate and contribute and besides showing up for the sessions, you should expect some preparation time for some sessions, as well as being actively engaged in the cohort between sessions. You’ll also be exposed to the latest thinking and methodologies from our community of speakers and experienced professionals, who’ll share their knowledge and insights as well as engage in questions and conversation in select sessions. The cohort is a safe, open-minded, and encouraging community where you should never be afraid to speak-up. Information shared in the cohort stays in the cohort.
Over the course of 10 sessions, you’ll grow personally and professionally, you’ll get to expand your network and learn new methodologies, get the latest purpose thinking and fresh purpose research. If you simply want to lean back and learn, this is not for you. The premise is simple: the more you give, the more you get. We can’t wait to grow together with you.
Audience:
Candidates will be accepted based on their qualifications and how they add to the cohort, so we get a diverse group of candidates who can learn from each other. Typically, we aim for executives such as brand managers, vice presidents, creative directors, producers, sustainability managers, agency CEOs, or similar.
Duration:
10 sessions over one year, but do expect online exchange and conversation through our Purpose Peers Online Hub.
Course kick-off:
Will be announced, but open for candidates.
Sessions:
60-minute sessions often split between case presentation from members of the cohort, an inspiration session from e.g. an external speaker and obviously lots of dialogue. Each session is followed by an extra 30-minute discussion forum, which is optional.
Price:
2999€ for a year
You’ll learn:
- How to shape and activate purpose
- Best practise and latest research
- How to tackle purpose with confidence
- Gain insights from other professional experiences
- How to turn purpose into authentic marketing that matters
Course material:
- Access to our online Purpose Peers hub for conversation and exchange
- Free access to our on-demand masterclass (value 300€)
- Free access to our on-demand library of learning videos and tutorials
- Free access to all live webinars (more than 10 yearly)
- Exclusive discounts to partner conferences across the globe
- Award entry discount to select impact/advertising awards
- Unlimited access to e-learning materials like The Brand Transformation Map
- Discount on 1-on-1 advisory sessions with Thomas
Certification:
At the end of the training you’ll get a certificate documenting your participation at the “Purpose Peers”-program.
Apply Now
Workshop or Masterclass
How to:
Goodvertising: Creativity for Good
In the last decade, Thomas Kolster has been at the forefront of the advertising as a force for good movement (we call it Goodvertising) and he’s judged everything from impact and sustainability competitions, to the global advertising award shows such as Cannes Lions and D&AD. Now, you can learn the insights and the hacks that not only bring you to the award podium, but make the world a better place. Thomas will show you how to move your campaigns from just saying, to really enabling change – keeping you up-to-date with the latest developments in the do-good space and readying yourself for creating effective breakthrough creative work that leaves a real impact! We’ll discuss work, dissect work – and you’ll become a better impact maker! Add to that, Thomas will give you a few tricks up your sleeve on how to sell your next great campaign.
Duration:
From 90 minutes to 2-day programs
Audience:
The workshop is for everyone working with advertising and communication on brand, agency or production side. Typically targeted towards campaign creators, creatives, production or directors, but also for people working with the cross-section of sustainability, advertising and communication.
You’ll learn:
- The necessary hacks to create real impact and to win real Top Awards
- The evolution of goodvertising campaigns – and how to sell great work
- How to create effective yet impactful work
Craft brands inspiring people to act
Most companies today are firmly on the social and environmental issues bandwagon like bees around a honey pot, from oceans plastic to diversity. People are increasingly distrustful towards these efforts viewed as cheap marketing stunts meant to wow people into buying more. Thomas Kolster, a.k.a. Mr. Goodvertising, shows how to build an authentic, people-first brand. It’s not about making people believe in your brand’s purpose, but rather making them believe in themselves and their ability to bring about change. The workshop will provide you with the Arrow-model to create a real brand transformation, as well as tools to create relevance and avoid purpose-washing. These tried and tested methodologies are all you need to unlock behaviour change at scale and sustainable growth that benefits all.
Audience:
The workshop is for everyone working with branding, positioning, purpose and sustainability and curious about how to create authentic, long-lasting brands that inspire people to act.
Course material:
Our workshop PDF on Transformative Brands and our workshop sheet The Arrow
Duration:
From 90 minutes to 2-day programs
You’ll learn:
- How to avoid purpose-washing and shape your organisation’s true relevance
- How to play a more meaningful and authentic role in people’s lives
- How to create behaviour change at scale and ultimately unlock sales
Sustainable Marketing
Sustainability has come out of the tree-hugging, do-good closet. The possibilities for brands and businesses (as well as people and planet) are fuelling a creative renaissance to make things better rather than a beauty contest based on incremental or advertised made-up differences.
Learn how to expand your creative canvas and put into play environmental, health, social and other tangible, world-bettering factors that can be an earthquake under well established, but oblivious brands. Through global examples, Thomas will show how brands are turning challenges into success stories where profit goes hand in hand with people and planet, but you’ll also get the clever hacks that help you create effective, yet impactful campaigns. Understand what it takes to do successful sustainability communication today, or prepare your epitaph – because if you aren’t moving with us, you’re dead in the water.
Audience:
The workshop is for everyone working in the cross-section of sustainability and marketing from brand, agency, non-profit or consultancy side. There will be a strong focus on communication and campaigns.
Duration:
From 90 minutes to 2-day programs
You’ll learn:
- Why sustainability matters and the megatrends driving the change
- How to create effective, yet impactful sustainability campaigns
- Understanding and unlocking the three-steps from saying, doing to enabling
Find your sustainability story
Advertising is only the tip of the iceberg, the majority underneath water level is moving to the forefront; does the company pay its employees fairly? Where are the products made? What’s the real story behind the ingredients? This challenges the way brands have to tell their stories and puts extra pressure on communication professionals to get the balance right. In this session, you’ll discover how to better find and communicate your sustainability story and be exposed to best practice cases and campaigns from across the world. You’ll learn new tools and methodologies, which can change the way you work, find insights and inspire those around you.
Duration:
From 90 minutes to 3-hours
Audience: This session is for everyone that work with communication and advertising from brands, agencies to non-profits. Typically, it’s also relevant for communication professionals
Craft movements
“Campaign” and “targeting” illustrates the militaristic command-and-control language of traditional marketing that still dominates most of the media landscape. It clashes with a bottom-up, pluralistic and open media space where people embrace the opportunities of an Internet for them and by them, from citizen journalism to off-the-shelf e-commerce platforms, and the Average Joe with something to sell.
This way of thinking we call “platforms” and they are re-writing the relationship between brand and people and turning people into their own creator of content. No mass-market content here! The brand is empowering an army of the willing to join on a shared mission! It’s like a Wikipedia of campaigns, where everyone with a passion gets to create the content.
These brands communicate differently, moving away from the “We promote” to enabling the individual; “You promote”. Thomas Kolster began to observe certain patterns and realised this was not a campaign, but something that, in its own right deserved a name: a transformative platform. It’s structured much like a game, just waiting for people to come and play again and again. In this workshop, you’ll learn everything you need to know when putting people behind the steering wheel of your next campaign.
Audience:
The workshop is for everyone working in the cross-section of sustainability, social and marketing from brand, agency, non-profit or consultancy side. There will be a strong focus on campaigns and movement building.
Course material:
Our workshop PDF on Transformative Platforms and our workshop sheet The Wheel
Duration:
From 90 minutes to 1-day
You’ll learn:
How to shape movements that inspire people
- The eight attributes of a platform that puts people first
- Explore a new way of crafting campaigns
Unlock SDG’s across marketing
The Sustainable Development Goals are a shared language and methodology, which can bring focus to your campaign activities – and your impact efforts. Thomas Kolster has judged the Cannes Lions Sustainable Development Goals Lions and other global awards focused on the SDGs and will share best practice – and clever hacks. Global examples and thought-leader cases will show you how to better activate the SDGs across touch points and across the marketing mix. There will also be time to explore and discuss how to best implement and communicate SDGs in a company to engage and drive innovation.
Duration:
From 90 minutes to 1-day
Audience:
Everyone responsible for implementing, activating or communicating sustainable development goals in a company. Maybe you’re a corporate communication professional, an advertising creative, or a sustainability professional?
You’ll learn:
- How to strengthen your SDG communication
- How to activate SDGs across the marketing mix
- Learn best practice and get advice on implementing SDGs in a company
Lead in a post-purpose market
Brands and leaders don’t hold any power, they don’t exist simply because of a burning why, but because they matter to someone. We as people give them power, we give them meaning by our participation. Brands, like leaders (dictators and authoritarian leaders exempt), rely on that interrelationship and when brands, like leaders, forget who they are there for, they lose relevance. Most brands didn’t become irrelevant because they forgot their why, but because they forgot who they were there for. You have to ask different questions if you as a brand want to enable people’s personal transformation and move them from intention to action. Life is one long continuous journey towards realising ourselves, and as a brand, one valuable contribution is to show people the way. In the workshop you’ll be introduced to a number of tools that’ll help you build a more meaningful brand that drives people towards realising their ambitions and dreams.
Duration:
From 90 minutes to 2-days
Audience:
Anyone involved in brand building from brand to agency side. The workshop can also be valuable for any leader or for people in the start-up space curious about how to get their story right.
Course material:
Our workshop PDF on Transformative Brands and our workshop sheet The Arrow
You’ll learn:
- How to build meaningful brands that matter in people’s lives
- A new tool, The Arrow, to sharpen your focus across the marketing mix
- A new mindset focused on real transformation, not just cheap talk
Do change behaviors for good
From extensive research, based on more than a 1000 global initiatives, we’ve built a behaviour change workshop and tool kit. How do we succeed in changing behaviours in a more sustainable direction?
The outcome is a toolkit and a workshop where we have identified 13 levers for behaviour change: high status, normal, showcase, prime, surprise, edit, default, reinvent, ask, reward, time, message and fun.
In the workshop we’ll give you the insights or tools for your brand or agency to look at behaviour change in new ways and educate your colleagues to use the tool to push for more effective communication. Plus, you’ll see and discuss some of the most exciting examples from across the globe. The workshop is truly hands-on and will take you through a real-life case, but can also be tailored to focus on one specific challenge you’re facing.
Duration:
From 90 minutes to 1-day
Audience:
Anyone involved in changing behaviors from within the marketing department, the sustainability team – or from agency or non-profit side.
Course material:
Our workshop tool on behaviour change with 13 levers
You’ll learn:
- How to apply 13 different behaviour change tactics
- Improving your creativity and impact when doing behaviour change
- Understanding how to co-create and find the right insights
Online
Purpose Masterclass
Across 13 video courses, followed by hands-on assignments, you’ll be equipped to shape a successful meaningful brand and the marketing that’s bringing it alive. Estimated completion time 3-4 hours.
Price:
From 6€ per month
Cannes Lions Goodvertising Course
Together with Cannes Lions and 42courses.com we have created a hands-on online Goodvertising course. If you’re a marketer, advertiser, or business owner, the Goodvertising course will show you how to do the right AND sustainable thing for your brand, your customers, your bottom line, and the planet too.
