Last week, I started getting emails about Change from the VCU Adcenter. They linked to this site, where one video clip would be uploaded each day: industry leaders' thoughts on what change is. It didn't click until the second day that this was all leading up to the launch of their new brand: the VCU Brandcenter. That same day, I was linked to the AdAge article and we (alumni) got an email from the Managing Director, Rick Bokyo. What brought me from mourning to optimism - other than the fact that I trust Rick with the school - was this line:
It’s about creating communication plans that include all touch points, including advertising, of course, but extending to public relations, the retail environment, packaging, websites, content, word-of-mouth messaging, new technologies and much more.
I can't argue with that, not one bit. This is why I chased Naked down with a stick and annoyed them into hiring me (just kidding. I hope.). Everything Communicates, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of believing that.
This weekend, I received a package in the mail. In it, I found two stickers.
Then, out came a card.
The text reads:
BIRTH OF THE EPIDEMIC
From the confines of four brick walls in the heart of Richmond, VA, students have bred a contagious new strain of thought – one that suggests the most effective brand experiences are engineered by fusing the minds of strategic thinkers and creative visionaries. If this letter has fallen into your hands, it is because you area already infected.
So, the VCU Adcenter is now the VCU Brandcenter. The name change, the logo change, the move from a cramped suite in an office building to its own Clive Wilkinson-designed
It was nice to read your comments. The Adcenter was founded to bring change to the industry. The time to be concerned is if it ever stops adapting to this wonderfully changing industry of ours.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment, Kelly. You're right... I guess our industry is like a shark: stop moving and you sink.
ReplyDeleteThis is a comment from Rick Bokyo, Managing Director of the VCU Brandcenter (which he e-mailed to me):
ReplyDeleteJohanna,
Nice to see you post this and also happy to see you accept the reasoning for changing the name.
In the end, neither the name of the school nor it's logo is as important as the association it instills in those who hear its name. It is our goal to have that association be one of an progressive institution at the forefront of helping our industry navigate change.
And that has never changed.
Nice post and comments. I really do enjoy studying in the new building. I believe in the future.
ReplyDeleteI love change (my blog is structured around it). But I think there is a lot of talking and limited doing. Working in the UK this change in the industry has been going on for a few years as it was in australia when I was living there. But big agencies really struggle to change their structures and revenue models to adhere to this. They really need to re-evaluate what they are doing and I dont think any big network has done this well yet. I think that BBH and W&K are giving it a good go. But they are smaller a flexible enough to change
ReplyDeleteOne thing that saves me is the interest from students coming out of universities in this changing world. Simple things like creative TV ideas. But cool mix of high quality and amateur quality videos with other online content and use of social media. Something like the diesel heidies. What makes it even more exciting is that schools like this are also changing.
Now if one big networks came out and showed how they have changed and how they are going to make money from it. they might live up to all the talk
Good post.
ReplyDeleteThe new VCU Brandcenter building was built for board members, not students.
ReplyDeleteThe new Brandcenter building looks nice. It was built for board members, not students. Boyko has learned that's where the real money comes from, not student tuition.
ReplyDelete