Update 2021: This article was written before our rebrand from The Brandling to Brand The Change.

Recognizing and understanding brand thinking can be incredibly beneficial to anyone on a mission to create change, whether it is in disruptive tech, philanthropy, or overthrowing capitalism. THNK's Accelerator Festival is the bi-annual event where change makers from across the globe meet to exchange skills and knowledge, and the perfect place to show what brand thinking can do.

With a group of 20 participants, we analysed the 'brands' of Bill Gates and Occupy in a two hour session, using The Brandling's Brand Strategy Canvas. We distilled, analysed and dissected both entities, and came up with the essential building blocks of their system. We mapped out everything from their internal driving forces to external appearance and experiences. Some outtakes:

Don't let the non-believers out of your sight!
Occupy; if you only preach to the choir, you cannot grow. Occupy has the best chance of attaining their mission when they reach critical mass, instead of being a marginalised movement with only disenfranchised tribe members.

Make friends and influence them!
Bill Gates pushes the norm for the socially averse amongst the 1%, creating a moral bar of social responsibility. 

Deliver on your brand promise! 
Occupy commits to deliver a redistribution of wealth; if this promise is not delivered, they will lose momentum and the trust of their tribe.

Don’t undermine your mission!
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's mission is to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. None of their other activities should interfere with this commitment, or undermine their promise. If other commercial activities clearly oppose this mission the legacy created with the foundation will melt away.
 

To be continued

Next month, The Brandling will be in Tunis, and we will be analyzing Apple and The Arab Spring!