Spring 2026 Alumni Newsletter
Happy spring from VCU Brandcenter! Check out our newsletter for the latest news, alum spotlights, student work and more.
SUPER BOWL 2026
Another standout year for Brandcenter alumni! We’ve counted 32 alumni who contributed to campaigns around the big game, making it the third consecutive year that over 30 Brandcenter grads have helped bring top brands to life in front of millions of viewers. Like last year, almost 30% of the alums graduated in the past five years.
Congrats to all of our alumni who worked on campaigns for this year’s Super Bowl!
The morning after Super Bowl Sunday, an ESPN x Disney spot announced that the big game will air on their network next year. Congrats to Brendan Howard (Copywriting, 2018), Andrew Kong (Copywriting, 2013), Chris Kim (Art Direction, 2013), Molly Jamison (Art Direction, 2011), Charles Hodges (Copywriting, 2009), Andy Grayson (Strategy, 2003), Martin Madriaga (Strategy, 2018), Justin Zollar (Creative Brand Management, 2023), Joseph Carr (Strategy, 2015), Zack Stergar (Strategy, 2013) and team at Arts & Letters Creative Co.
See the full list of spots on our site
More Super Bowl coverage from VCU News:
VCU Brandcenter grads again play a high-profile role in the Super Bowl spectacle
VCU News spoke to alums Jodi Shelley (Strategy, 2000), Lindsey Evans (Art Direction, 2023), Zach Brown (Creative Brand Management, 2019), Meranne Behrends (Strategy, 2007), Luke Behrends (Copywriting, 2007), Elizabeth Daniel (Copywriting, 2015) and Sam Dolphin (Copywriting, 2011). Read on VCU News.
Brandcenter duo relish their sprint to a Super Bowl minute
Recent grads and creatives at Mother, Alex Ward (Art Direction, 2025) and Boyan Zlatarski (Copywriting, 2025), pitched the reflections idea for the Oakley x Meta spot and worked on the ad from brief to production. Read on VCU News.
WINTER OLYMPICS
Delta Air Lines
Jessica Sugerman (Art Direction, 2017) and her team at Wieden + Kennedy New York created three spots for Olympic sponsor Delta Air Lines. The spots highlight the journey from training to competition for Olympic and Paralympic Athletes. Read more on LBBO.
Michelob ULTRA
Recent grads Mia Kasper (Art Direction, 2025), Kedi Hickman (Copywriting, 2025) and their team at Wieden + Kennedy New York celebrated the Olympics by creating an immersive event around the Miracle on Ice game from 1980. Read about “Run Back the Miracle” on Campaign.
Hershey’s: The Real Gold
To launch Hershey’s newest campaign “It’s your Happy Place,” Emilee Lampert (Creative Brand Management, 2021), Nika Rahini (Creative Brand Management, 2023), Sarah Newman (Strategy, 2024), Jerry Hoak (Art Direction, 2005) and their team at MARTIN* made us all cry by surprising USA Team Olympic and Paralympic athletes with heartfelt messages from their family ahead of the games. Watch “The Real Gold” on YouTube.
Honda
Luke Strother (Copywriting, 2024) and his team at RPA took over the NYC Times Square animated billboard for Honda. Check out the animation on our YouTube channel.
WHAT’S UP AT BRANDCENTER
Registration for this spring is now open! Join us in Richmond, VA, April 22-24, 2026. Represent your agency or company and be the first to recruit Brandcenter grads. Event details here.
Register for Recruiter Session 2026.
Be the first to meet and hire the Brandcenter Class of 2026.
Recruit Virtually.
Can't travel to Richmond this spring? No problem.
The results are in! Huge thank you to Stacy Thomas (Strategy, 2001) and Allison Schneider (Strategy, 2021) from Good Run Research & Recreation for helping to field and analyze the survey, and to Diana Tung Ojibway (Art Direction, 2002) for the beautiful infographics and overall design. See the complete survey results here.
Lab Notes
Micah Berry, Associate Director of Technical Training, has started this creative tech newsletter for the Brandcenter community. The goal is to save you time, sharpen your taste, and give you practical tips + tricks. See the first issue on our site.
BCX Course: Creativity in the Age of AI
Micah is also teaching a 6-week crash course in the tools, mindsets, and workflows shaping the future of our industry as part of Brandcenter Extension Programming (BCX). The course is being taught in collaboration with the VCU da Vinci Center. Runs May 26 – July 2 and the fee is $995. Register here.
- Nick Kaplan (Copywriting, 2008), Founder and CCO / Another Thing
- Jerry Hoak (Art Direction, 2005), CCO / MARTIN*
- Grant Skalak, Director / Studio.One
- Sara Singh (Creative Brand Management, 2018), Head of Creative Strategy / Taco Bell
- Evan Chiplock (Copywriting, 2018), Creative Director / TWBA/Chiat/Day
ALUM NEWS & SPOTLIGHTS
Ad Age’s Creatives to Watch in 2026
Madeline Honig (Art Direction, 2022), Alex Ward (Art Direction, 2025) and Boyan Zlatarski (Copywriting, 2025) made the list! See what they told Ad Age about recent campaigns and work they admire.
Crocs: Let Your Human Out
Hope Jordan (Art Direction, 2010) acted as Creative Director on the brand’s short film “Let your human out” with creative agency Flower Shop. Check out our Q+A with Hope.
Google x Netflix: Just Ask Google
Fun new work from Michelle Greeley (Art Direction, 2021) and the team at 72andSunny featuring cast members of Bridgerton. See one of the spots on YouTube.
Bridgerton x T:Mobile
More Bridgerton! Andrew Vessels (Strategy, 2017) and the team at Monks had fun putting this one together (and got to binge the series as research). See the spot here.
STUDENT WORK
BC SPRINT 2026
Student teams had a ton of fun this year working on briefs for Chewy and Tombras as part of our annual creative and strategic sprint. Students were briefed on a Friday, hit the ground running and presented to the clients one week later. Big thanks to our judges (including some alums!)
Tombras Judges: Mike Cox (Strategy, 2005) / Group Strategy Director, Lori Hicks / Group Strategy Director, Sam Mindich / Creative Director, and Rodrigo Nakaza / Creative Director
Chewy Judges: Lane Karczewski (Copywriting, 2011) / Principal Creative Director, and Warner McClure (Art Direction, 2011) / Creative Director
See winning teams on Instagram.
Google Creative Lab
In November, Google Creative Lab leaders, alum Tristan Smith (Copywriting, 2009) and Executive Producer Emily Moore, joined students for a hands-on session exploring emerging AI tools in real creative workflows. Read more and see standout work.
Culture Lab
From Super Bowl to Punch the Monkey, our strategy students are talking brands and culture and experimenting with social content. Come cheer them on! Follow us on Instagram for the latest.
If you are an alum with new work or news to share, please reach out to Associate Director Ashley Sommardahl at [email protected].