Graduate students at the University have a new degree program to consider: a Master’s degree in strategic brand communication.

The degree, an online-only program, is a collaboration between the University’s College of Media and College of Business.

The curriculum is designed to combine advertising methods with business administration techniques. Its goal is to allow advertisers to better target messages toward consumers using these strategies.

Executive Director of the College of Media Mary Lee Gilliland said that the program aims to prepare future brand leaders.

“With today’s emerging digital and social world, and the amount of technology that’s out there and how fast it’s changing, a lot of senior marketing executives didn’t have the opportunity to be trained in the world that we live in today,” Gilliland said.

She said young professionals and undergraduates wanting to work in the industry need to be trained, educated and given the tools to manage brands in the varying ways that consumers take in advertising  messages.

Gilliland said that the program is for people who “have the potential to lead in the future in marketing positions” and communication positions. She said it can lead to becoming a chief marketing officer or chief digital officer. 

She emphasized that the program is efficient, only taking 16 months to complete. It is designed for people who are working full time, so they won’t have put their careers on hold, she said.

Both the College of Media and the College of Business are coordinating with each other in the program. Six classes for both business and advertising are included in the curriculum.

Gilliland said both colleges discussed social media’s role in changing communication and public relations fields.

“We are trying to prepare leaders to have the business acumen to lead their brands in communication, marketing and advertising and lead as executives and lead their teams rather than just getting an education about advertising without that leadership component or business side of it,” Gilliland said.

The strategic brand communication program is accepting applications globally, enabling students from all over the world to apply and attend the classes offered. Gilliland also said that the colleges are planning to offer global workshops with industry leaders and alumni to further the program along.

“The nice thing is that with this degree (students) will (be) prepared to work on a global scale and work with brands that have a global reach,” she said. “More regional or national brands, in this day and age, are communicating globally.”

They started to accept applications on Dec. 15, with 100 students currently working in the program. Gilliland said that the quality of the applicants are important because they will be representing and building a brand here in Illinois.

“I am consistently, every day, talking to applicants because we’re getting that much response and we haven’t even paid for advertising yet,” she said. “That’s how excited people are for this program.”

Gilliland said that there has not been a program like strategic brand communication that joins the likes of marketing, advertising, business and media.

“I think they have a real opportunity to get ahead of the game in the workplace right now because people are trying to keep up with the changes that seem to be weekly,” Gilliland said. “So many things have really changed in the past five years even, I think that really being in tune with what to anticipate out there and how to manage and approach things for a brand will be critical for them. Plus the network at Illinois, they’re going to have excellent leaders in their fields.”

Aaron Navarro and Vivienne Henning contributed to this report.

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