The final installment of the Marketing Communications Education Trust‘s pledge donated to brand communication education at Wilfrid Laurier University was handed over on Monday.
Part of a total donation of $2 million from MCET, a not-for-profit foundation comprised of Canadian marketing and media leaders, the cheque was handed to professor Brad Davis of Wilfrid Laurier’s school of business and economics.
According to a release, Professor Davis is the first chair in brand communication at a university in Canada.
MCET was formed, in part, to raise funds from the private sector to support a new Bachelor of Business Administration degree – with a major in brand communication – at Wilfrid Laurier’s school of business and economics.
Major changes are currently being made to the brand communication option at the Waterloo, Ont. university, including new courses like Social Networks and Marketing. After receiving feedback from MCET partners and other industry sources about which skill sets graduates should have today, Laurier has added five new courses in five years to its marketing department.
Professor Davis said in a release that the new courses are intended to elevate student exposure to skills in everything from creative thinking and selling to social media and brand analytics.
Mike Welling, MCET trustee, campaign co-chair and president of Doug & Serge, said it is gratifying that the innovation on programming has expanded beyond Laurier, with the initiative “building bridges to other post-secondary institutions” that may also put a greater focus on brand communications.
The university’s brand communication program was established in 2006.
