New chief of VCU’s Brandcenter is praised as an innovator

The advertising industry is a fastmoving world of evolving technologies and wildly fluctuating consumer demands.

Its practitioners must be prepared for change.

Change is now coming to one of the preeminent advertising graduate schools in the country, the Brandcenter at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Kelly O'Keefe will become the school's new managing director July 1.

O'Keefe has been at the school in some capacity since it opened in 1996. He is president of O'Keefe Brands, an area brand-strategy firm. He as done work for clients including ESPN, Hamilton Beach and Sesame Street. A previous firm he owned, O'Keefe Marketing, was named AdWeeks' Agency of the Year in 1996.

"Kelly is a true innovator in the world of advertising, and is someone who has really elevated the brand of Richmond as a creative community to the rest of the world," said Karol Tompkins, president of Richmond Ad Club. "He's also already extremely popular among students at the Brandcenter, and we can't think of anyone more appropriate than Kelly to fill the position at the school."

O'Keefe, who will turn his business over to a partner, will take over the day-to-day operations at the school from Rick Boyko.

Boyko, who led the school to national prominence, will stay on as director and work on industry outreach, development and recruitment. He will continue to be involved with the school and involved in making decisions.

In his five years, the school grew its enrollment, added faculty, launched an executive education program and moved into its own building.

Making O'Keefe managing director and freeing up Boyko is intended to help the school continue to evolve.

"It is necessary that we fortify our leadership team to help stay in front of the opportunities and changes," Boyko said.

O'Keefe, sitting in a glass-walled conference room at the school in jeans, a sports coat and black button-down shirt, talked in a quiet, steady voice, a contrast with Boyko's rapid-fire speech.

"Fortunately things are going great here," O'Keefe said, citing student placement, faculty and curriculum. "The truth is, I worry more about not screwing it up."

As for his imprint on the school, he said yesterday that the nature of the advertising busi ness would dictate some changes, and that the Brandcenter would expand its offerings and develop relationships with other schools, corporations and agencies.

He also wants to expand his relationship in the community.

"For a long time, more people knew about us in New York than in Richmond," he said. That's changed, but he envisions the school becoming a hub for the community.

Cabell Harris, president of Richmond-based Work Labs and a professor at the Brandcenter, said O'Keefe's broad knowledge of branding will help the school, but the core of what Boyko built will remain.

"You shouldn't see a lot of change," he said.

Boyko, while spending most of his time on the road, will be back at the school regularly and will still set the strategy.

"Rick's been amazing. He took one of the best graduate schools in the industry and made it unquestionably the best. So I know Kelly's glad that Rick isn't going away," said Mike Hughes, president and creative director of The Martin Agency and a member of the Brandcenter board of directors.

Hughes said the two men, working together, can stay at the forefront of the industry as it develops the next generation.

"The best graduate schools help shape their industries. That's what Kelly's job is now," Hughes said.

Contact Louis Llovio at (804) 649-6348 or .