The Coop Academy is a new #coops4dev? capacity-building initiative consisting of a series of knowledge-sharing webinars for ICA staff members from all offices. It will help them acquire new skills and better promote the cooperative model. 

Lead by Tom Ivey from dotCoop on April 24, the first session was called ‘Cooperative Branding and Identity. Let the world know who we are’. It sought to provide the tools a co-operator needs to harness the cooperative difference, to use the cooperative identity, and to hone their branding into a simple, punchy, and effective message. Participants covered case studies that demonstrate the way that marketing and messaging have been used to create a very powerful awareness of products and global issues. As the world gets more and more online, they explored the ways that cooperatives can create a global awareness of their activities and stand out in the crowded environment of the internet.