VCU Brandcenter

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 palace building. It's definitely been talked about. a lot. Maybe that's why I wasn't going to write about it. Most probably though: as I mentioned, I was in mourning. I saw the VCU Adcenter logo and its star get literally erased in one of those Change videos and almost cried. But you know what? I have to get over it. After getting through my initial bratty knee-jerk reaction, I am starting to be optimistic about this VCU Brandcenter. I was telling Mike about this and he said "Well, people are always resistant to change. Before, we were a bunch of ad kids, trying to be creative and professional. [Rick]'s trying to make us more legitimate." I'm always going to miss "the old days." But he's right.