Presentation

This course is designed to help you understand the intersection of culture and branding. In today’s fast-moving world, staying relevant means not just tracking trends, but truly engaging with the cultural landscape. You’ll learn how to navigate cultural shifts and analyze trends to create strategic, impactful brand experiences. We’ll explore how brands can build genuine relationships with their audience, ensuring that cultural relevance drives innovation, fosters community, and leads the conversation.

Aimed at

Whether you’re a brand strategist, designer, content creator, or marketing specialist, this course will help you develop strategies that not only keep a brand relevant but position it as a cultural lead.

Students must bring a laptop.

Objectives

The course will teach you how to conduct cultural research and trend analysis to shape brand strategies, ensuring the brand stays relevant in today’s evolving cultural landscape. You’ll learn to connect trends with a brand’s identity to develop strategies and experiences that truly resonate with its audience.

Structure and content

1/ Trend Research

Learn to identify and understand cultural trends and their impact on branding.
Explore how to conduct research and place trends within broader societal and cultural contexts.
Discover where and how to find emerging trends and track their evolution.
Interactive Component: Students will conduct initial trend research, using various platforms to identify cultural trends.

2/ Brand & Cultural Analysis

Analyze how brands are positioned within their cultural context and how they use trends to shape their strategy.
Explore case studies of brands that have successfully aligned their identity with cultural trends to stay relevant.
Interactive Component: Students will analyze a brand’s identity and evaluate how it aligns with cultural trends.

3/ Brand Strategy

Develop strategies, products, content, and experiences that connect the brand with its audience while staying relevant to cultural trends.
Focus on creating meaningful and authentic connections between the brand and its community.
Ensure that cultural relevance drives brand innovation.
Interactive Component: Students will create a trend-based strategy, proposing new products, content, or experiences that help their selected brand stay culturally relevant.

4/ Brand Experience

Understand why a brand’s touchpoints and actions should align with both its identity and its audience’s cultural values and needs.
Explore how brands are creating immersive experiences that build a sense of belonging for their audience.
Interactive Component: Students will present their final strategy, demonstrating how their research and insights help the brand create relevant strategies and experiences that resonate with its audience and community.

5/ Evaluation

Final Submission
References and tools used

Faculty

Laura Pedrol

My journey began after graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, where I spent six years as a trend analyst and strategist at Fashion Snoops, refining my approach to cultural insights and brand strategy. I then spent three years as a Concept Strategist at Urban Outfitters in Philadelphia, exploring trends, youth culture, and creative strategy. Now based in Barcelona, I work as a freelance, helping brands stay relevant and build genuine connections with their audiences by understanding culture.

In addition to my freelance work, I teach at LCI Barcelona and Elisava, sharing my passion for trends, branding, and cultural strategy through courses like Trends, Brands & Culture and Brand Experience.