News and events

AnnouncementsApril 18, 2019

Advertising legend Joyce King Thomas to speak at VCU Brandcenter commencement

The VCU Brandcenter is thrilled to announce Joyce King Thomas as its 2019 commencement speaker on May 11th, 2019, in Richmond, Virginia.

Joyce was recently recognized as one of the top 100 Chief Creative Officers—only 8 of those 100 are women and only 4 of those 8 are from the US. Joyce is best known as the creator and writer behind Mastercard’s Priceless campaign, which ran in 100 countries and was spoofed by everyone from Ralph Nader to Bart Simpson.

In the NewsMarch 20, 2019

Adweek: With a new advisory council, VCU Brandcenter charts its future course

Executive Director Vann Graves and the VCU Brandcenter announced a new advisory council designed to address the new order of brands, creativity and marketing.

The Brandcenter's Director’s Council includes several influential leaders in the more traditional agency and brand space—Omnicom, Universal McCann and MetLife are represented—but also tips its hat to technology, media and entrepreneurship. Amber Guild, for example, is the president of T Brand Studios at the New York Times and Howard Jordan, Jr. (a Brandcenter alum and Richmond native) is a story editor and TV writer at Netflix.

Analysis & OpinionMarch 1, 2019

Director Vann Graves & Adweek celebrate 15 classic campaigns by black creatives

“We have these same conversations [around diversity in advertising], and there seems to be no traction, but those conversations are easy to sell,” said VCU Brandcenter executive director and former JWT Atlanta CCO Vann Graves. “Whereas where there are successes, they’re rarely celebrated.”

Graves and other industry pros discuss iconic work like McCann Worldgroup's "Hilltop" for Coca-cola (1971) and others that helped shape our industry - and were co-created by people of color.

In the NewsFebruary 22, 2019

VCU Brandcenter director Vann Graves has a 'reputation as a strong, thoughtful and effective leader'

“A lot of schools will only teach the process of how to make something pretty or how to only execute something, while at the Brandcenter we first step back and ask, ‘what is the concept?’” Graves explained. “How does it solve a business problem, and how do you approach that?"

Learn more about our Executive Director Vann Graves, his advertising career, and his journey back to Richmond to lead the VCU Brandcenter.

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2018-19 school year

Advertising legend Joyce King Thomas to speak at VCU Brandcenter commencement

Adweek: With a new advisory council, VCU Brandcenter charts its future course

Director Vann Graves & Adweek celebrate 15 classic campaigns by black creatives

VCU Brandcenter director Vann Graves has a 'reputation as a strong, thoughtful and effective leader'

Check out the latest news about Brandcenter faculty, students, and alumni.