Moodle is the world’s most popular learning management system. It began as an open-source project in 1999 and is now a Certified B Corporation. Today it supports hundreds of millions of learners across schools, universities, businesses, and governments around the world.
project overview
Moodle has spent more than 25 years building something millions of people rely on. As it grew from an open-source project into a company serving universities, businesses, and governments, the way it described itself didn’t always keep pace. Its language spoke fluently to developers but less clearly to the people who sign off budgets. Buyers struggled to tell free, open-source Moodle apart from the paid solutions built around it.
Moodle asked us to turn its strategy into a brand story the whole world could understand. We audited the brand, listened to Moodle’s teams and partners around the world, and rebuilt its messaging from the mission up. We then used that foundation to name Moodle’s events and solutions. Finally, we created a naming system to keep every future launch consistent.
Our Collaboration
MESSAGING & POSITIONING
We started by listening. Through interviews, workshops, and partner sessions, we heard from Moodle’s teams around the globe and from the Certified Partners who sell Moodle in their own markets.
The research surfaced one big idea: “Moodle” meant different things to different people. To some, it was free software built by a global community. To others, it was a company offering hosted, supported solutions. We gave each part of Moodle its own clear name and role. Now the open-source project, the company, its partners, and its products can each be described without confusion.
From there, we refined Moodle’s mission and values with its people team. We translated the options into 50 of the world’s most-spoken languages to make sure the words held their meaning everywhere. The final framework gives Moodle an origin story, an elevator pitch, and value propositions for higher education, corporate, and government buyers, all backed by a style guide. Moodle’s teams and partners now share one language.
BRAND NAMING
Moodle’s event and product names had built up over the years and no longer told one consistent story. The new names had to make sense to the people selling under them, so before naming anything, we met with Moodle’s product, solutions, and sales teams.
We explored themes rooted in the new messaging and worked through several rounds of shortlists with Moodle’s team. Every finalist was checked for domain availability, trademark conflicts, and meaning across languages.
For Moodle’s global event, we landed on Moodle MIX, short for Moodle Ideas Exchange. It’s easy to remember, and “mix” captures what the event is about: people, ideas, and tools coming together.
For Moodle’s solution tiers, we built a five-step ladder of action words: Begin, Explore, Discover, Excel, and Elevate. Each step shows buyers where they are and where they can grow, from first rollout to enterprise scale.
A naming conventions guide sets clear rules for extending the ladder, adding sub-tiers, and testing new names before launch, so every future product fits the system from day one.
Result
Moodle came to us with a powerful strategy and a brand that spoke mainly to insiders. Our job was to turn that strategy into words anyone could understand, and names that could carry Moodle forward.
Today, Moodle has a mission and values shaped by its own people. Its messaging framework works for universities, businesses, and governments alike, and its naming system is ready for every event, product and solution still to come. Whatever Moodle launches next, it already knows how to name it and how to talk about it.
“They asked all the right questions, they challenged us in all the right ways, and overall the output, the quality of the output, was extremely high consistently across the board.
So very, very pleased with them. Would recommend them to anyone looking to do a similar project.”
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