Canoe Ventures and VCU Brandcenter form TV advertising partnership

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Canoe Ventures and the VCU Brandcenter announced this week the creation of a “Partnership for Innovation in Television Advertising” that will support VCU’s educational activities designed to foster innovation. The partnership will help the VCU Brandcenter teach graduate students how to apply new technologies that are turning television into a more compelling and competitive marketing medium.

Through the partnership, interactive TV advertising will become a bigger part of the school’s curriculum, culminating in a project next year that will challenge students to explore innovative applications of cable’s newest advanced ad technologies. In order to kick off the partnership, Canoe Ventures has established a scholarship fund.
 
“Canoe Ventures is working with the industry to advance the medium in ways that should be interesting to all advertisers,” said Rick Boyko, director of VCU Brandcenter. “We are pleased to be able to tap into their knowledge, and we are grateful to the commitment they’re making to tomorrow’s advertising leadership through their scholarship. This announcement comes at an opportune time as we celebrate another Advertising Week in New York City and the beginning of another school year.”
 
David Verklin, CEO of Canoe Ventures and a founding board member of the VCU Brandcenter, said he has watched the VCU Brandcenter become one of the most influential graduate schools in the industry.

“The Brandcenter’s multi-disciplined approach – integrating creativity, technology, strategy and brand management – reflects the convergence of factors that is shaping our world,” Verklin said. “Our scholarship commemorates Canoe’s commitment to fostering the next generation of not only the technologies, but also the talent, that will shape the future of advertising. We are leading the industry to evolve with the medium.”
 
Interactive TV advertising is being deployed across the country by cable operators who are introducing new products and services that enable marketers to reach and engage audiences in innovative ways and empower millions of cable customers to interact with their TVs.

Canoe Ventures LLC was founded by the nation’s leading cable operators including Bright House Networks, Cablevision Systems Corp., Charter Communications Inc., Comcast Corp., Cox Communications Inc. and Time Warner Cable. Based in New York City, the company is focused on making cable’s advanced advertising solutions easier to buy, use and measure.