Branding basics and big ideas: Insights from future creatives

Written by Lauren Hinton from Studio 3.5

Last week, we had the pleasure of running a brand strategy workshop with students from City of Birmingham School, organised by the team at Ductu as part of their SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) programme.

The group, having heard of the power of branding before, stepped up to another level beyond a simple logo – and that’s where things got interesting.

Turns out, they didn’t need a marketing textbook to get it.

Because brand is something you feel. And this group? They felt it straight away.

What does branding actually mean?

We kicked off by exploring the basics. What makes a brand more than just a logo? Why do some brands stick with us while others fade into the background?

To make it real (and fun), we ran a few hands-on activities:

• A match-up game pairing logos with personality traits
• A look at “no logo” ads to see if they could still identify the brand (spoiler: they could)
• A discussion on their favourite brands, and why they liked them (which had more to do with how those brands made them feel than anything they were actually selling)
• We even had a heated debate about Coca-Cola vs Pepsi between the teacher and students. None of them sighting the taste as their reason - proof that branding really is about perception, not product.

From “Sort of know” to “Totally nailed it”

In just two hours, they went from loose ideas to building their own brands - complete with names, taglines, values and even merch concepts.

Highlights included:

• Moula Minded – a money app for teens
• Essa Active – activewear with discipline: No days off
• Power Surge – an energy drink that doesn’t hold back

These weren’t just fun ideas. They had purpose. They told a story. And they were completely theirs.

What we took away

At Studio 3.5, we spend our time helping brands define who they are and how to show up in the world. It’s strategic, thoughtful work - but when it lands, it feels instinctive.

And that’s exactly what this group showed us.

The next generation of brand thinkers don’t need long presentations or jargon to get it. They need space to explore, the tools to shape their ideas - and a bit of encouragement along the way.

Huge thanks to the Ductu team for organising the session. Safe to say, we left as inspired as we hope the students did.