Strategists use their power of curiosity about people, culture, and brands to drive strategy for advertising and brand communications.
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 insights discovered along the way illuminate the best way forward and inspire their creative partners in developing powerful creative ideas.
If you want to be a Strategist or Account Planner at ad agencies, in-house creative studios for brands, consultancies, content studios, or tech startups, the Strategy concentration is for you.
You might be a Strategist:
If this sounds like you:
You often find yourself falling through interesting rabbit holes on the Internet
You like to use both sides of your brain—creative and analytical—to solve problems
You have good intuition about the people around you and why they behave like they do; you are interested in people in general—be it psychology, sociology, history, or even why some songs have become popular while others haven’t
You love having deep conversations with people about anything, and people feel comfortable opening up to you
You’re always looking for a better way to do things—from the best spot to wait for the subway to the non-obvious, but ideal parking area at the airport
If a day in the life of a strategist sounds fun:
Conducting primary research (qualitative and quantitative), secondary/syndicated research; category and competitive reviews
Developing brand positioning, brand strategy, comms plans, creative briefs, user personas, as well as platform, product, and service design strategy
Understanding the culture of, and how people are using, new media and tech platforms, and how brands can participate
Building and connecting campaigns into ecosystems across media and tech platforms
Being the best partners in the building—working with traditional creatives, account and brand managers, and experience designers
Brand Experiences Live-Client Project / 2023: Kennedy Thompson (Strategy), Lindsey Evans (Art Direction), Grace Hudson (Art Direction), Leo Cvitanovich (Copywriting), Victoria Nguyen (Account Management), Patrick Nguyen (Experience Design)
The Ask: Get Gen Z to see Upwork as a place for real opportunities
The Insight: Gen Z draws a thin line between their work and their passion
The Opportunity: Show Gen Z that Upwork doesn’t have the gatekeepers of the corporate world. With Upwork, you build your career, your way.
Strategy: Your Career, Unscripted
Campaign Idea: Free Your Work
Master’s in Strategy at the Brandcenter
Studying Strategy at the Brandcenter prepares you to hit the ground running as a Strategist or Account Planner at ad agencies, in-house creative studios for brands, consultancies, content studios, or tech startups.
Request More Information
Loading…
Alumni Job Placement & Careers
Strategy alumni work at top agencies, consultancies, brands and more.
Average Strategy alumni salaries
Our Alumni Salary Survey, fielded every two years, captures our graduates’ average starting salaries, career trajectories, and more. Read the full survey.
Junior – $65,000
Mid – $90,800
Senior – $126,200
Director – $210, 000
Executive – $236,450
Strategy careers & positions
While titles can differ at individual agencies and companies, we’ve gathered the top job titles for Creative Brand Management alum to give an idea of potential career trajectory. Read the full Alumni Salary Survey.
Junior – Junior Strategist, Account Planner
Mid – Strategist
Senior – Senior Strategist
Director – Strategy Director, Group Strategy Director, Strategic Advertising Director
Executive – Chief Strategy Officer
“Brandcenter not only provided me with the foundational knowledge I needed for a new career path, it also prepared me with the soft skills needed in the world of advertising like presentation skills, working in cross-functional teams, navigating competing deadlines, and working with live clients.”
Alyson Gaiser(Strategy, 2019)Senior Strategy Director / AKQA
Graduate Program Curriculum
At the Brandcenter, you will not only perfect your craft in Strategy, but you will also work collaboratively with your classmates across concentrations.
Here’s what you’ll do on all-concentration team projects as a Strategist, as well as what your teammates will do:
What each concentration does on all-concentration team projects
STRATEGISTS
Focus on consumers + culture
Lead research efforts (develop a research plan, conduct field research, and analyze results)
Turn research data into insights; develop strategic direction and work with creative partners to create concepts/work inspired by strategic direction
CREATIVE BRAND MANAGERS
Focus on a client’s business, category, and competitors
Lead internal, cross-functional teams
Ensure creative work meets business objectives; evaluate ROI when possible
ART DIRECTORS + COPYWRITERS
Using business insights from creative brand managers and consumer/cultural insights from strategists, develop creative ideas to solve business challenges, engage consumers, and bring brands to life
While copywriters generally focus on writing and art directors generally focus on visual design, most CW/AD teams collaborate on all creative aspects
EXPERIENCE DESIGNERS
Develop and design digital products and/or physical experiences where brands and people interact
Focus on the user experience for the product or experience they’re designing
Provide guidance and ideas regarding new/emerging technologies
Here’s what your sixty weeks at the Brandcenter will look like:
Summer Between Your First and Second Years / Internship
A summer internship is not required, but we’ll give you the tools to help you land a great one at agencies and companies doing some of the industry’s best work.
Semester 3 (Fall) / Weeks 31-45
Brand Experiences (All concentrations)
Creative Fusion (Art Directors, Copywriters, and Strategists)
Cultural Impact: Advanced Account Planning
Semester 4 (Spring) / Weeks 46-60
Innovation (all concentrations)
Creating Gravitational Pull
Advanced Portfolio for Strategists
Strategy Prerequisites
All applicants must have a bachelor’s degree.
While there are no other specific prerequisites for Strategy applicants, we look for these essential abilities:
Think out of the box and also bring the ideas down to earth
Demonstrate the ability to see how seemingly unrelated ideas might come together
Tell an engaging story and present it in a compelling way
Make hard choices for the good of a project
Communicate clearly and concisely through writing
Passion for current events, culture shifts, and trends
Drive to be “in the know” and enjoy sharing your favorite finds
Defying the norm for the category, Arm & Hammer’s scratch-and-sniff will smell like nothing.2022: Abby Fine (Strategy), Molly Barnett (Account Management), Corey Hambly (Copywriting), Zey Masunu (Art Direction), Ryan Shih (Experience Design)
Background: The deodorant category, focusing mostly on scent and performance, has two main messages: “Smell like a man, man.” and “Don’t sweat it, handle it.” These messages don’t resonate with everyone—particularly the people who don’t believe that your deodorant/scent has anything to do with what kind of man you are; it just needs to work and keep you from smelling like BO. Arm & Hammer (and its secret weapon, baking soda) is known for and has a proven track record of neutralizing smell.
Strategy: The next worst thing to smelling like BO is to smell like a try-hard. The best smell is not smelling at all.
Idea: Smell boring
Tuition & Financial Aid
Tuition & Fees
Tuition and fees for the 2025-26 school year (one year of the two-year program):
In-State: $26,960
Out-of-State: $27,650
Tuition and fees are subject to change. We’ll update tuition and fees for the upcoming year when it’s available. Visit VCU Student Financial Services for tuition and fee details.
Parking, room and board, and meal plans are not included in tuition.
Early Applicant Awards
enter students who complete their full application by the Early Deadline (January 15, 2026) and who are admitted within this first round, willreceive:
a guaranteed one-time $2,500 award upon admission
and will automatically be considered for:
a $10,000 award
a full-tuition award for the 2026-27 academic year
No additional paperwork or application materials are required.
Early Applicant Awards are one-time payments that will be allocated towards tuition for the 2026-27 academic year. Early Applicant Award recipients remain eligible to apply for Brandcenter Annual Scholarships.
Applicants who apply by the regular deadline of March 17, 2025 are eligible to apply for Brandcenter Annual Scholarships.
Business-, people-, and leadership-savvy, Creative Brand Managers lead client and agency teams to accomplish business objectives through creative solutions.
Experience Designers use the principles of human-centered design to develop digital products and physical experiences for brands. Please note, we are no longer accepting applications for XD.
