Radio Heard HereVCU Brandcenter
"Words are a powerful way to convey an image. The auditory quality of the spoken word adds the dimension of sound, evoking an even higher level of engagement, especially when it's delivered in the right environment. In radio, what is said, how it's said and where it's said are equally important." - Rick Boyko, VCU Brandcenter
Radio is a Hot Topic at the VCU Brandcenter
Radio is front and center at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Brandcenter, the leading graduate advertising program in the country.
Rick Boyko, Director of the VCU Brandcenter and former co-president and chief creative officer of Ogilvy & Mather, North America, is big on radio. Rick is the chief judge of the 2009 Radio Mercury Awards and has helped pulled together a Mercury jury of unprecedented distinction in the creative world.
Radio is part of the dialog every day at the Brandcenter. Students have worked on radio-centric projects, including a recent one to explore radio's future. The work was impressive enough to make a visiting executive (Mike Boylson, Chief Marketing Officer of J.C. Penney) applaud and congratulate the students.
The school is also putting its money where its mouth is, with the recent opening of a fully-functioning recording studio for students to use in honing the craft of creating great radio. The studio will play an important role in the school's efforts to help tomorrow's creative leaders embrace radio as an essential component of every marketing mix.
Doug Zanger, editor of the Radio Creativeland Blog, recently spoke at the school about radio and knocked the socks off hundreds of students (who promptly lined up to see if they could land an intern gig with Doug). Doug took things to the next level by offering to sweeten the pot on their competitive radio project. The student teams are developing radio creative for a non-profit organization - Read to Them - (www.readtothem.org) and the winning team will have their spot produced by Zanger.
