Dear Prospective Student,

Thank you for your interest in VCU Brandcenters two-year Masters Program.

The mission of the Brandcenter remains to help the industry navigate change and raise the standards of
performance on the creative, planning, technology, management, and client sides of the business. Our
program is a focus on creativity, culture, cooperation, and commerce. We want to create future advertising
and business leaders. To that end, we push our students to work in teams with those in all five tracks (Art
Direction, Copywriting, Communications Strategy, Creative Brand Management, and Creative Technology)
under the guidance of faculty who act as creative directors, planning directors, digital directors and
account/marketing managers. Our teaching method brings about art directors, copywriters and technologists
who can think strategically across all media, and creative brand management and communications strategy
students who fully understand the creative process.

You are about to embark on an intense, yet hopefully fun, application. The assignments have been carefully
considered and are reflective of the type of work we assign here at the VCU Brandcenter. We want to know
your story and we want to see how you think.

Enjoy the process. Dont be afraid to take risks. And have fun.







Best regards,

Helayne Spivak
Director















DETAILS ABOUT APPLICATION MATERIALS
1. Complete an online application to VCU. Links can be found on VCUs Graduate School site for U.S. citizens
or on the Office of Global Educations website for International Applicants. You will pay a $65 VCU
application fee when you submit these forms. (In the Statement of Purpose/Personal Statement fields of
the online applications, you can enter "Please see Brandcenter application." You do not need to write an essay
for these sections.)

2. Official undergraduate college transcripts verifying a bachelors degree from an accredited college or
university or its equivalent including a grade point average indicating your ability to pursue graduate work.
We need transcripts from EVERY College you have attended. Even if courses are listed as transfer classes on
another transcript, and even if you only took one class, we must have a transcript from each institution.
Please have your official transcripts sent to:
(U.S. citizens)
The Graduate School
VCU
Blair House
408 W. Franklin St.
P.O. Box 843051
Richmond, VA 23284-3051

(International applicants)
Global Education Office
VCU
817 West Franklin Street
P.O. Box 843043
Richmond, VA 23284-3043
USA


3. Official GRE or GMAT score (required ONLY for the Communications Strategy + Creative Brand
Management tracks). VCUs Institution Code, for reporting purposes, is 5570 for the GRE and LP8 for the
GMAT. We are looking for a GRE score of around 1100 (former GRE scoring) or 300 (current GRE scoring) and
GMAT around 540.

4. Three letters of recommendation from people qualified to give information concerning your probable
success in graduate school. Wed like to see at least one letter from a current or former employer and one
from a professor, if possible. Some guidelines for your recommenders: Are you an engaged and proactive
student and team member? Do you take criticism well and still bounce back?
The Reference form on VCUs site is not required.
Hard copy recommendation letters can be mailed directly to the Brandcenter by the
recommender or sealed and included with your application. Or you can have the recommender
email his or her recommendation to Hawley Smyth at smythh@vcu.edu.

5. SECTION ONE: SCREENING PROFILE. The Brand You is an exercise that gives us background information
about you and demonstrates your creative and critical thinking abilities. Send to the Brandcenter.

6. SECTION TWO: ASSIGNMENTS. Complete the assignments for the track to which you are applying. You
may only apply for one track. Send to the Brandcenter.

7. SECTION THREE: PERSONAL INTERVIEW. Either visit the Brandcenter to interview in person or follow the
guidelines for submitting a videotaped interview.

Mail Screening Profile & Assignments to:
Hawley Smyth, Admissions Coordinator
VCU Brandcenter
103 S. Jefferson Street
P.O. Box 843077
Richmond, VA 23284


Additional Pieces for International Students:
1. Financial Statement form. This is a statement of support and availability of funding.

2. All applicants who have not graduated from an undergraduate program in an English-speaking country
must take TOEFL or IELTS and arrange for the testing agency to send the official results to VCU. VCUs
Institution Code, for reporting purposes, is 5570.
The minimum TOEFL score for Brandcenter admission is 600 (paper-based), 250 (computer-based) or 100
(Internet-based). The minimum acceptable IELTS score is 6.5. We will not consider applications from
people who score lower than the minimum required TOEFL/IELTS scores.



FALL 2014 APPLICATION
Format and submit your work on letter/A4 (8.5 x 11 inch) paper.
Ensure that submissions are in a form suitable for filing.


SECTION ONE: YOUR STORY SO FAR (Screening profile/ All applicants)
1. In two considered and condensed paragraphs, tell us who are you are and what you are good at.
2. Places youve lived and how theyve influenced you.
3. What led you to the Brandcenter?
4. Do you personally know anyone who is connected with the Brandcenter?
5. What one book have you read that you hope everyone else will read? Why?
6. Tell us about a personal failure. Describe what happened and what you did about it. Distill the story into
one paragraph.
7. In a 140-character-long tweet declare what your parents have done that makes you love them.
8. In one short paragraph convince the person reading your applicationa professor in the track you are
applying tothat you have spent a respectful amount of time looking up what kind of work people in the
track do when they graduate.


SECTION TWO: ASSIGNMENTS (Complete ONLY the assignments for your chosen track)

Art Direction
1. Find what you consider to be an ugly ad and re-concept and art direct it. Submit the original ad, your
revised ad, and an explanation of the faults of the original ad and why your version is better.
2. Submit 5 non-returnable ad samples (can include non-traditional and traditional media) that show your
creative ability, conceptual thinking, design sense and dedication to your craft. Samples must be
submitted in the form of printouts (8.5 X 11 max). Samples should be 1 or 2 campaigns or single
ads. The ads should not be an extension of an existing campaign (for example, dont give us your twist
on the Old Spice campaign, instead, submit your original concept). Be sure the products you pick have a
very clear benefit for the consumer, and then convey the message as clearly and provocatively as
possible. Applicants for the art direction track are accepted largely on the basis of the ads submitted for
review.
3. Develop a campaign either Kiwi Shoe Polish or Spam. Please include three ads and two additional pieces
that are an extension of your campaign (i.e. billboard, etc.). Become familiar with the company and
products; spend some time on their websites in order to ensure your message will be relevant,
motivating, and creative.

Copywriting
1. There are no right answers. Please answer each question with one short, complete sentence that doesnt
repeat the question. What wed like to see isnt how much you can write but how well. Dont embellish.
See if you can say much with few words.
a) Are you organized or unorganized?
b) Do you give orders or take them?
c) Is a computer a friend?
2. Write 3 stories. Each less than 100 words.
a) In the first something good happens to a dog.
b) In the second a punter on a high school football team does something wrong.
c) In the third write a first-person account of some sort of love.
3. Write titles to these country songs:
a) Someone steals a truck
b) Youre drunk & lost
c) An angel has appeared to you in a dream
4. Write 500 words about what makes a great sandwich.
5. Find a bad ad. In one sentence tell us what makes it bad. Redo it. Submit both ads and the sentence.
6. Wander the aisles of a supermarket. Find 5 products you think are underappreciated. Surreptitiously
take a photo of the product on the shelf. Using one sentence for each, tell us what is underappreciated
about them.
7. Submit 10 non-returnable ads that show your writing ability, conceptual thinking, creativity and
dedication to your craft. Samples should be PRINT campaigns or single PRINT ads. The ads should not
be an extension of an existing campaign (for example, dont give us your twist on the Apple campaign,
instead, submit your original concept). A little perspective: These samples of your work count for more
than your answers to other questions because they represent your ability to put writing and thinking
together in the format of advertising. While your responses to other questions can give us a feel for how
you think, the ad samples you send give us a feel for where you are in the process of making the actual
thing.
8. Give an example of great communication youve seen on the web. And, in one sentence, tell what made
the communication worthy of being called great.



Communications Strategy (Please include a resume)
1. Interview at least ten people about the jeans they are wearing. Ask them any questions you would like
about their jeans. Then, write three insightful conclusions from these interviews and what the
implications might be for advertising and marketing. Please provide your interview questions along with
an explanation of your plan going into these interviews.
2. Select and include an advertisement that you are indifferent about. It should be for a product or service
that you could potentially buy or use. Explain how you would move this communication from
indifference to connection.
3. During 2012, Oreo had a very successful PR and Communication effort called The Daily Twist. Please
provide your thoughts on the ways in which the campaign made sense coming from a brand like Oreo.
One paragraph, please.
4. You are the head of strategy at an agency that has been asked to pitch Vitamin Water. Describe 3
hypotheses you would have your team explore to insure Vitamin Water gains a bigger share of the
enhanced water beverage segment.
5. Please visit http://culturalstandpoints.wordpress.com/ and review the articles posted by graduates from
2012 and 2013. Select one and explain why: 1) you agree with it or 2) you agree and would add the
following proof points or 3) you disagree completely and why.
6. Please explain the role your track plays in branding and advertising and why you believe you will be
successful in this track and in this career. One concise paragraph, please.


Creative Brand Management (Please include a resume)
1. As the worlds largest retailer, Walmart affects millions around the globe. Identify the different user and
influencer groups touched by the brand and speak to the kinds of marketing efforts that may be
appropriate in connecting the brand with them. You may answer with a concise narrative or with an
original info graphic of your creation.
2. Identify 10 advantages companies gain by building a strong brand.
3. Research one of the following brands from yesterday and then develop a plan to re-vitalize and re-
launch it:
a) Spam
b) Sanka
c) Sea & Ski
d) Meister Brau
4. Keep a journal for three days centered on the way different media interact with and influence your life.
5. Please explain the role your track plays in branding and advertising and why you believe you will be
successful in this track and in this career.


Creative Technology
1. Think of a product that you use everyday that you wish worked better. Describe how you would make it
better and show an example. (Illustration, model, video, etc.)
2. What are three of the most important media technologies that have been introduced in the last several
years? Why? Are they missing anything? What?
3. Rate your skills. List general as well as specifics and rate your skill on a scale of 1-10. i.e. Web
development [HTML 5 (5), JavaScript (6), CSS3 (9)], Design [Photoshop (3), Illustrator (9), InDesign (6)],
Film maker [final cut pro (7), after effects (3)] Also, list any other skills such as fabrication work,
architectural drawing skills, woodworking, etc.
4. Please tell us about the 3 creative people (writers, artists, photographers, directors, cinematographers,
playwrights, actors, architects, technologists, etc.) who inspired you most and why.
5. Include 3 additional samples of your executional abilities. These can be drawings, sculpture, ads,
websites, toys, engines youve built, etc. Explain your thought process behind each of these projects
from concept to execution.
6. Create a site by any means to put all your work and answers on.


SECTION THREE: PERSONAL INTERVIEW (All applicants)
We encourage you to schedule a tour of the Brandcenter and an informal interview in person. Please contact Hawley
Smyth (smythh@vcu.edu) or Katherine Keogh (kkeogh@vcu.edu) to set-up a date/time.
If you cannot make arrangements to visit the school without enduring financial hardship, please present yourself in a
5-minute video including the following information:
Your name and hometown.
Where did you go to college and what did you study?
What track are you applying for and why did you choose that track?
What are you goals beyond the Brandcenter?
What is the most interesting thing youve come across in the last year? Where did you see it and why did you
find it so compelling?