The University for Creative Careers organizes business-focused programs under a new school to lead innovation in today’s rapidly changing business environment
SAVANNAH, Ga.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Savannah College of Art and Design launches the SCAD School of Business Innovation, which strategically incorporates a diverse array of top-ranked academic programs focused on preparing creative professionals to lead transformative change across key industries.
Bolstering SCAD’s international reputation as the preeminent source of knowledge in the disciplines it teaches, the school offers 15 graduate and undergraduate degrees in advertising and branding, business of beauty and fragrance, creative business leadership, design management, luxury and brand management, service design, and social strategy and management.
“For more than 40 years, SCAD has continually reinvented itself in service of our mission to prepare students for creative professions, always and forever focused on the future,” said SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace. “We changed the game for R&D with SCADpro, our innovation studio where students work directly with the world’s most valuable brands … from Amazon and Google to Delta, Deloitte, HP, and Capital One. SCAD’s buoyant partnerships with the professions are why SCAD grads have enjoyed a 99% employment rate for the last four years straight. And now, to ensure the continued elite career preparation of tomorrow’s leaders in every sector of the global economy, SCAD invents again. I’m so pleased to announce the formation of the SCAD School of Business Innovation.”
The SCAD School of Business Innovation prepares the next generation of creative leaders to navigate the rapidly changing business landscape through in-depth industry knowledge, design thinking, research, and collaboration. With curriculum focused on the fundamentals of business design and economics, quantitative insights, global supply chain management, lifecycle marketing, brand acceleration, social analytics, and more, the school’s premier degree programs empower students to become forward-thinking subject matter experts who will deliver transformative innovation to businesses.
Academic leaders
Victor Ermoli
The School of Business Innovation is led by Dean Victor Ermoli. Also overseeing the School of Design, Dean Ermoli has been with SCAD for more than two decades and has led the curriculum design of several programs in both schools. Ermoli has been named one of the 25 “Most Admired Educators in America” by DesignIntelligence, holds undergraduate and graduate industrial design degrees, and leads the new school through the lens of design and entrepreneurship. In addition to patents in the U.S. and Canada, and more than 30 years of design experience, Dean Ermoli led studio classes where his students designed products for Coca-Cola, Fossil, Pentair, Dell Computers, and many more prestigious companies.
Meloney Moore
The School of Business Innovation is also led by Associate Dean Meloney Moore, who held executive and management leadership roles in companies including Estée Lauder, Liz Claiborne, and Toys “R” Us. Moore, who also leads the SCAD business of beauty and fragrance program, holds undergraduate and graduate business administration degrees and brings brand-oriented, global business perspective to the school leadership.
Jon Denham
Jon Denham is a visionary in the business industry with extensive experience building brand identities and delivering billion-dollar growth for leading global companies such as Procter & Gamble and Kraft Foods. Most recently, Denham served as the strategy and account vice president for Lextant Corporation, where he worked with clients such as Pfizer, Clorox, and SC Johnson.
Alessandro Cannata
Alessandro Cannata worked for more than a decade in the luxury sector across three continents in executive-level positions and with a focus on business development and communication. Serving as director of sales for companies such as Boglioli, Isaia, and Sutor Mantellassi in Milan, Cannata is an expert in luxury branding and consumer behavior. He holds two terminal degrees from leading European business schools: ESSEC Business School in Paris and Singapore and Universita’ Commerciale Luigi Bocconi in Milan.
Christopher Peeler
Peabody and Emmy Award winner Christopher Peeler joined SCAD in 2020 after serving as a senior producer and senior director of video news and programming at CNN and CNN Digital, where he grew the CNN Digital audience by more than 400% over a five-year period and expanded coverage from 17 hours to 24 hours per day. At CNN Digital, Peeler led digital content strategies for a portfolio of international digital products that drove more than $6 billion in annual video views and $90 million in revenue. Prior to CNN, Peeler was an executive producer at Sony Pictures Entertainment, where he achieved the network’s highest show rating in 2005 with “Games Across America.”
Oscar Betancur
Before joining SCAD in 2012, Oscar Betancur worked as VP and associate creative director at The Star Group and has won multiple advertising awards. Betancur’s client experience includes Warner Brothers Music, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Campbell’s, Johnson & Johnson, Mattel, and Tyco. As associate chair of social strategy and management at SCAD, Betancur brings a multidisciplined approach with his background in advertising, graphic design, motion media design, and fashion marketing and management.
Programs
Advertising and branding
SCAD advertising and branding students research, create, and deploy brand messaging that boosts engagement, drives action, and wins prestigious accolades like National ADDY awards and more. Guided by SCAD faculty, students have contributed to major campaigns for companies like Comcast, Chase Bank, Kodak, and Nintendo, and upon graduation, work for the world’s top agencies; the program features a 100% alumni employment rate. By mastering cutting-edge resources like game engines and augmented and virtual reality equipment to create their own branded experiences, students graduate as versatile, multiplatform storytellers prepared for career paths in emerging creative technology.
Business of beauty and fragrance
Beauty and fragrance power a $530-billion industry. In the SCAD business of beauty and fragrance program, students graduate with a globally minded, business-centric degree that lands jobs at top brands. Led by faculty from powerhouses like Estée Lauder Companies and mentored by celebrated guests from international companies like L’Oréal as well as boutique lines, SCAD students gain an in-depth understanding of the beauty industry grounded in future-forward marketing techniques, product development, branding packaging, and entrepreneurship. The program culminates with the development of a unique beauty brand or product and launch strategy.
Creative business leadership
Facing constant transformation, the most established businesses seek creative leaders to reimagine their services, products, strategy, and operations. Enter SCAD creative business leadership. In this one-year M.A. program that complements all SCAD undergraduate degrees, SCAD students transform into entrepreneurs prepared to run successful businesses or intrapreneurs who promote corporate innovation within existing organizations thanks to SCADpro collaborations with Fortune 500 brands and mentorship by visionaries at Tiffany and Co., Samsung, Clayco, and more. Students use simulation software to mimic the multifactor, high stakes decision-making scenarios CEOs face, and to understand market fluctuations and the challenges of raising capital.
Design management
SCAD, the world’s premier site for the study and practice of design thinking, is a living laboratory for the application of design management — a discipline that empowers companies to spark innovation and think and act like designers. Design management students gain experience that will mirror their pivotal careers in the professional world and are prepared to enter a market that values creative design thinking, business theory, consumer needs, prototype development, and product testing. The program bolsters students’ knowledge and methods of business strategy, design theory, data visualization, communication techniques, social innovation, financial systems, and marketing.
Luxury and brand management
As future innovators in the luxury market, SCAD students enter this $350 billion global industry through five avenues: tech, travel, hospitality, beauty and fragrance, and fashion. The world’s first M.A. and M.F.A. degrees in luxury and brand management reflect the vigor of an expansive and evolving luxury market. The customized curriculum at SCAD, centered on global distribution and marketing strategies, financial analysis, supply chain management, and consumer engagement, explores the entire spectrum of the international luxury industry.
Service design
SCAD offers the first and only service design B.F.A., M.A., and M.F.A. in the U.S. Service designers create intuitive systems that organize three elements — people, processes, and physical components — to improve services across every realm of human activity. At SCAD, students learn how to research and analyze human behavior, societal needs, business models, and competitive environments to transform those insights into strategy. Equipped with a solid foundation in enterprise, innovation, and problem-solving, SCAD students are prepared to take leadership roles in the private and public sectors.
Social strategy and management
SCAD students are poised to launch brands to the top of the social media feed via a curriculum that merges advertising, branding, graphic design, marketing, photography, film, motion graphics, television, and writing. Students coordinate online brand advocacy and cross-promotion and become adept at creating compelling campaigns, from brand storytelling and strategy to analytics and audience engagement. Professionally, they become the creative directors, content creators, and community managers who orchestrate videos, photography, graphics, and copywriting across digital channels to launch authentic conversations and accelerate growth.
For more information on the SCAD School of Business Innovation, visit scad.edu/innovation.
SCAD: The University for Creative Careers
SCAD is a private, nonprofit, accredited university, offering more than 100 graduate and undergraduate degree programs across locations in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia; Lacoste, France; and online via SCADnow. SCAD enrolls more than 15,700 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 120 countries. The future-minded SCAD curriculum engages professional-level technology and myriad advanced learning resources, affording students opportunities for internships, professional certifications, and real-world assignments with corporate partners through SCADpro, the university’s renowned research lab and prototype generator. SCAD is No. 1 in the U.S., according to Art & Object’s 2021 Best Art Schools ranking, with additional top rankings for degree programs in interior design, architecture, film, fashion, digital media, and more. Career success is woven into every fiber of the university, resulting in a superior alumni employment rate. For the past four years, 99% of SCAD graduates were employed, pursuing further education, or both within 10 months of graduation. SCAD provides students and alumni with ongoing career support through personal coaching, alumni programs, a professional presentation studio, and more. Visit scad.edu.
Contacts
JJ Maxwell
Executive Director, PR and Marketing
jmaxwell@scad.edu
912-525-5362