Ready to transform your creative career?
Pursue a master’s degree at the Brandcenter
Discover a world of boundless opportunities and become part of a diverse group committed to transforming the advertising and branding industry while staying true to their unique selves.
At the Brandcenter, we embrace bold creativity and insatiable curiosity. With over 25 years of expertise, we offer a transformative and immersive journey unlike any other. Our comprehensive two-year, full-time master’s program with concentrations in Art Direction, Copywriting, Creative Brand Management, Experience Design, and Strategy ensures that you will become a master in your chosen field.
Ready to make your impact? Together, we can craft the bold ideas that bring new ventures to life.
M.S. in Business/Branding
Harness Your Creative Potential
The Brandcenter is your gateway to a world of innovation and limitless possibilities. As part of our dynamic community, you'll collaborate with talented individuals driven by a shared purpose: to face the future and to shape it.
Choose from one of five concentration areas that represents an important industry discipline. You’ll master your craft in your chosen concentration and work collaboratively with your classmates across concentrations. At the Brandcenter, no one is only creative or strategic, everyone is both. This makes the ideas bigger and smarter and the work better. Approximately 70% of the work you’ll do is collaborative, leading to creatives who think strategically, and account managers and strategists who fully understand the creative process.
At a Glance
- Full-Time, in person
- 14 total courses
- Total transformation in 60 weeks
Five Concentrations
- Art Direction
- Copywriting
- Creative Brand Management
- Experience Design
- Strategy
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Art Direction
Often working alongside copywriters, they come up with concepts and ideas to solve creative challenges and then bring their vision to life through their eye for design and visual storytelling.
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Copywriting
Often working alongside art directors, copywriters come up with concepts and ideas to solve creative challenges with their storytelling ability. In addition, copywriters conceive of big ideas and experiences that create buzz for brands.
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Creative Brand Management
Representing the voice of the client, they build and nurture relationships with their client-side counterparts and understand the account or business on the macro and micro levels.
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Experience Design
Thriving in the unique space where design, human behavior, and technology meet, they study the user’s experience to ensure it’s optimized at every touchpoint and represents the brand in the best possible way.
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Strategy
Representing the voice of the consumer, strategists use research to understand people: what matters to them, what motivates their decisions, and what drives the cultures around them.
The Brandcenter has challenged me in the best ways. I have pushed myself as a creative to do things I always thought about but never did. The collaborative process at The Brandcenter has given me the opportunity to get to know, work alongside, and learn from so many new people across the different concentrations. It’s my favorite part.
— Eleni Alafoginis (Art Direction, 2023)
You Choose Us.
Then Employers Choose You.
- Browse Student Portfolios Our real-world approach to advertising and branding combines the best aspects of portfolio schools with cutting-edge academic programs. Operating like an agency or creative studio, we provide unmatched opportunities for hands-on experience and career preparation.
- Meet Our Faculty Master your craft under the mentorship of professors with extensive industry experience. Our full-time faculty all continue to operate as practitioners in the industry, and our adjunct professors spend all day building and leading world-class brands, such as Google, Capital One, and Campbells.
- Learn About Alumni Outcomes Brandcenter alumni work on behalf of the world’s most renowned brands, at some of the most creative and innovative companies in the world, and at the world’s leading advertising, design, and innovation agencies and consultancies.
Where Our Alumni Unleash Their Talents
Your Future is a Smart Investment
Agencies and companies love to hire Brandcenter grads! Why? Because our grads are known for being excellent collaborators, big thinkers, strategic risk-takers, great problem-solvers, and sharp presenters. Not only do they hit the ground running in their jobs, but they also tend to move up quickly.
In addition to an outstanding return on investment, the Brandcenter offers scholarships and financial aid to help ease the cost of attendance.
Explore tuition and aid information$3,800
Average Scholarship Awarded for the 2023-2024 School Year
You can also apply for graduate assistantships and other part-time job opportunities to help fund your education and make connections in the VCU community.
Unparalleled Excellence
As a Brandcenter student, you'll become a part of an exceptional network of alumni working at the most innovative companies across the globe. Our graduates emerge as trailblazing leaders, adept at crafting compelling ideas and molding the future landscape. Experience the thrill of unrestrained creativity at the Brandcenter while honing the essential skills for your professional growth.
Discover why students thrive at the BrandcenterFind Your Place at the Brandcenter
From the moment you join the Brandcenter, you’ll be part of a group of smart, creative, talented, and deeply committed people from diverse backgrounds. Plus, the Brandcenter’s location in Richmond, Virginia, puts us at the center of a vibrant community of 1.2 million people that is a top destination for creative thinkers, entrepreneurs, foodies, artists, and more. Richmond is a great place to work, with the highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies of any urban area in Virginia. Our students have found employment at well-known companies, such as CarMax, CoStar, Capital One, and more.
Discover RichmondWant to learn more?
Get started on your path to success with the Brandcenter.