Creativity.  Culture. Commerce.

Three simple words stand at the heart of VCU Brandcenter in Richmond, Virginia.  For the second year in a row, I had the amazing honor to spend 3 days at the VCU Brandcenter last week as a guest for their Board of Directors meeting.  It was a chance to interact and learn from true luminaries in the marketing industry including board members such as:

• Joseph McCarthy, CEO – Publicis
• Mike Hughes, President / Creative Director -  The Martin Agency
• Jon Kamen, CEO / Founder – @Radical Media
• Rick Webb, Co-founder – Barbarian Group

Needless to say, I was a bit awed by the talent that surrounded me the past few days.  I have to give special thanks to board member Elizabeth Talerman for first inviting me to learn more about the Brandcenter.

But I also need to thank the staff and students of VCU Brandcenter on behalf of the entire marketing industry.  That may seem odd, but hear me out.  We all know that the marketing industry is undergoing tremendous change.  But despite this fact, our industry has, for the most part, yet to fully embrace the change with meaningful, fundamental shifts in how we structure our business.  On many brands, you still see a divide between strategy and execution.  And on others, you see the marketing budget split so many times between different agencies that is nearly impossible to get a campaign that feels “holistic.”

We owe thanks to the VCU Brandcenter because they are attempting to “radically transform the business of advertising and branding by training the next generation of leaders to make the business smarter, less conventional and more responsible.”  Under one roof, you have 200 students that are learning about Art Direction, Copy Writing, Communications Strategy, Brand Management and Creative Technology.  What this means is that these students are learning the art of collaboration and how to use that collaboration to cross the divides that still exist in our industry.  Many of these students will end up working for agencies.  Others will end up working for brands.  And some may even end up in the world of start-ups.  But no matter where they end up, they will bring a new sense for how to work together.

If the work that I saw during my time at the Brandcenter is any indication, this approach is going to have a dramatic impact on the marketing industry.  If your company wants to help lead the charge, there are going to be 100 amazing students graduating from the Brandcenter in May.   You might want to book a plane ticket to Richmond to see if you can convince a few of them to join your team.