The Transformative #MeToo Movement Named “Brand Of The Year” By SVA Masters In Branding

#MeToo sign (Photo by GGAADD on Flickr via Creative Commons)

Over the course of 2018, the #MeToo Movement catalyzed change to dismantle shame surrounding sexual assault as survivors came forward to tell their stories. 

Perpetrators were held accountable and we witnessed the removals and resignations of everyone from high-powered executives to political figures and Hollywood producers. 

The collective force of #MeToo has forever transformed the cultural landscape of sexual violence against women.

Substantial change. Real results. Tangible impact. These are the notable markers of Brand of the Year, launched in 2017 by the The Masters in Branding program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Chosen by the program's esteemed faculty who take a sweeping look at commerce and culture, Brand of the Year disrupts industry competitions that often require a complicated entry form and fees to complete. It requires no reach or effort by any brand to be considered.

The inaugural Brand of the Year in 2017 was the pink, cat-eared "pussyhat" that became the icon of the Women's March. It signified the potential of branding to reach beyond the commercial and be democratized—truly by the people for the people. 

In the same spirit, #MeToo, which began as a grassroots movement, has now circled the globe to unite people behind one cry and cause. This is the highest calling of branding: to bring people together for the benefit of humanity.

The power of branding to transform, catalyze, and inform change is illustrated by both the inaugural Brand of the Year, the "pussyhat," and this year's #MeToo movement. This cultural swell has been building in strength as people rally around the call to implement systemic change that will have a positive, lasting impact on our world. The possibility of a brand to make change has never been so tangible as we look into the future.

⏩ On Friday, December 7, 2018, at Brandstand at SVA Theatre in New York City, the #MeToo movement will be announced as the second annual Brand of the Year. 

#MeToo

About The #MeToo Movement:

Founded by Tarana Burke in 2006 to help survivors of sexual violence, particularly Black women and girls, and other young women of color from low wealth communities, find pathways to healing, the goal of #MeToo is "to reframe and expand the global conversation around sexual violence to speak to the needs of a broader spectrum of survivors. Young people, queer, trans, and disabled folks, Black women and girls, and all communities of color. We want perpetrators to be held accountable and we want strategies implemented to sustain long term, systemic change."

About Debbie Millman:
Named "one of the most creative people working in business" by Fast Company, Debbie Millman is an author, educator, brand strategist, and host of the podcast, Design Matters. 

For 20 years, she was President of the design division at Sterling Brands, where she worked with over 200 of the world's largest brands. 

In 2009, she cofounded the world's first graduate program in branding at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. 

About The SVA Masters in Branding Program:
The Master of Professional Studies in Branding, the first of its kind, is a one-year graduate degree program that examines the relationship between design and strategy, and the power of design thinking as a way to combine creative skills with the problem-solving and decision-making processes of design and business.

SOURCE: School of Visual Arts

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• PORTER Magazine's Fourth Annual Incredible Women List Celebrates The Women Who Have Empowered And Inspired Us This Year
• Women's Rights Organisations Speak Out in Defence of Sexual Assault Survivors
• #MeToo Campaign Not Slowing Down Anytime Soon, But Now What?
• Men's Liberation: What Today's #MeToo Sceptics Can Learn From Their 1970s Brothers