Short Term Practicum: Brand Culture Building

Lead Instructor: Peter Bysshe ’93

Course Overview: 

The purpose of this course is to invite students behind the scenes of brand culture consultants in an effort to not only humanize intimidating large corporate cultures, but also to arm students with tools to observe, measure and build, manage or contribute to smaller cultures in which they may find themselves after graduating. In a series of discussions, off-site visits, workshops and reflections, students gain the skills to analyze, strategize, and consult on the brand culture of various companies and organizations, local and global. Consultant teams present and critique their own brand proposal, and that of another team. First offered in 2016.

Hear what Lois Masson ’16 has to say about the 2016 course…

Class Meeting Times: M 1-3, T 9-12, W 8-4*, Th 9-1
*Wednesday site visits of varying lengths

Learning Objectives

  • Learn how to ideate and communicate a specific plan to build, maintain or shift a brand culture in order to better align and prepare a collection of humans that make up an organization to meet the challenges of today’s marketplace
  • Constructively evaluate and critique other students’ observations, insights, methodologies and plans in a way that is consistent with the “micro-culture” of this Short Term group
  • Appreciate that brand-driven cultures are always the product of humans
  • Recognize that a culture’s effect, large or small, negative AND positive, on healthy humans is nearly unavoidable but, often times, understandable
  • Evaluate one’s own role in relation to personal / local brand-driven cultures
  • Trigger or excite an existing fascination with the role that humans have played in developing myriad brand-driven type cultures throughout history
  • Practice methodically observing, measuring and analyzing humans in a variety of brand-driven culture situations

Instructor Bio

Peter Bysshe is happiest when he’s fixing something. Think MacGyver, or an Eagle Scout.  It’s no surprise, then, that for nearly 20 years, he’s also been fixing brands.  At McCann-Erickson, Future Brand and Landor he was promoted through the ranks for fixing media, advertising, identities, packaging and graphic guidelines for Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, ExxonMobil, Verizon, General Motors, Diageo and Kraft Foods, among others.

At The Ito Partnership he went deeper still by fixing hiring practices, training programs, and any attitudes that might resist daring new ventures at Morgan’s Hotel Group.  Peter’s breadth of expertise is fueled, in part, by his BA in Economics from Bates, and his MA in Industrial Design Degree from Pratt – but also by his work coaching triathletes.  In a word, he’s a very fit social scientist with a well-worn set of tools. Other clients also along the way have included: Tiffany & Co., Bacardi, Dupont, Western Digital, fcb, Chevrolet, Crown Royal, Pimms, Carnegie Corporation, Planters, Ritz, Belvita, Gevalia, CapriSun, Crystal Light and Mio.  His athletes aren’t his clients, but he’s fixing that, too.

Current Roles / Projects

Entrepreneur and Personal Brand Coach, bysshetank

Partner, Chief Strategist at Hitchcock Partners