MS in Advertising

MS in Advertising

• Learn from ad industry insiders—faculty have created top Super Bowl ads, launched high-profile bands, and won awards from Cannes to Clio. BU COM profs don’t just know the industry. They are the industry.
• Build creative campaigns for big brands—you’ll tackle real client briefs to build standout campaigns in AdLab, the longest-running student-run ad agency in the US. You’ll collaborate on cross-functional teams, just like a professional agency.
• Compete and win on a global stage—BU COM MS in Advertising students regularly earn top honors at industry competitions like the Hatch Awards, D&AD, and the global Young Ones (One Show) competition.
• Develop a standout portfolio—from class projects to client work, every assignment helps you build your professional portfolio or résumé. Get it reviewed by Ad alums and industry pros at the Creative Cafe. Add an internship for even more hands-on experience.

What Can You Do with an MS in Advertising?

BU’s advertising graduate program alumni are driving innovation, leading creative teams, and shaping the brands of tomorrow. Whether writing copy or building visual elements for creative campaigns, building strategies for global clients, or analyzing consumer insights, our alumni thrive across top agencies, global brands, and tech giants. 

Employers of MS in Advertising Alumni

Agency Examples: Accenture Song, BBDO, Amp Agency, Barbarian, McCann, Mischief, Wieden & Kennedy, David Miami, Saatchi & Saatchi, Digitas

Tech Companies: Amazon, Apple, Alibaba Group

Consulting Firms: C Space, Chadwick Martin Bailey

Brands & Organizations: ASICS, AstraZeneca, Blue Bottle Coffee, Boston Beer Company, Lego

Roles of MS in Advertising Alumni

From entry-level roles to executive leadership, BU COM advertising graduate program grads shape the industry. Careers span account management, brand strategy, copywriting, art direction, media planning, and digital marketing—plus leadership roles like Managing Partner, Head of Strategy, Brand Consulting Director, and Marketing Director.

Recent titles include:

Creative Development: Copywriter, UX Designer, Art Director

Client Service: Account Executive, Client Partner, Account Manager

Strategy & Analytics: Data & Analytics Lead, Insight Analyst, Marketing Analyst

Marketing & Brand Management: Senior Integrated Marketing Manager, Brand Director

Hear from BU COM Alumni

I entered the program interested in copywriting and after taking a couple strategy classes with Professor Mascott, I’ve started to pivot to creative strategy. It’s very exciting. You’ll get to try out lots of different things, and there might be something you like that you didn’t know existed.

Kenna Lloyd, MS in Advertising

Comparing Programs

• MS in Media Science: Choose Media Science if you love digging into data, testing messages, and backing recommendations with evidence. It’s ideal for those eyeing consultant or research-heavy roles. 
  • It also offers a Marketing Communication Research Concentration. 
• MS in Public Relations: Pick Public Relations if you’re driven to shape public opinion and guide organizations through opportunity or crisis.
• MA in Emerging Media Studies: Study how emerging technologies—from social media to AI—are reshaping communication and society. Build research and analysis skills and apply them in a year-long client project. Graduates work in UX, digital marketing, media strategy, and market research.
• MS in Advertising (this page): Choose this Advertising program if your passion is to invent the big idea and turn it into multichannel creative that sells.

Choose an MS in Advertising That Equals Real Experience

At BU COM’s advertising graduate program, you’ll gain experience through our renowned AdLab and strong ties to leading agencies and innovative brands. This isn’t just theory—you’ll build campaigns, collaborate with clients, and create work that gets seen.

AdLab

AdLab is the nation’s longest-running student-run agency. Here, master’s in advertising and marketing students create real campaigns for clients like Under Armour, Celebrity Cruises, and creative start-ups. AdLab operates like a real agency. There’s a student-run executive board, and client teams with roles across creative, strategy, account management, and project management.

AdLab is almost like a job that you’ll have while you’re studying – it’ll definitely grill you, but it’ll be worth it for sure. My client is a healthcare company, and they want a complete rebrand. Since I’m into creative, I get to make the logos, the taglines, and even change their image altogether. You have to work like a real agency, so it’s similar to an internship. Recruiters respect the fact that you’re in AdLab, so mention it on your CV and boast about it.

Tanishka SIngh, MS in Advertising

Internships

Master’s in advertising and marketing students can hold an optional internship here in Boston or spend a semester in London, Los Angeles, or Washington, DC. BU COM alumni have held internships at:

• Agganis Arena
• BHH
• DDB
• Digitas
• Giant Spoon
• Group M
• Havas
• HBO
• Hill Holliday
• Kinly, London
• Laundry Service
• Lego
• Leo Burnett India
• Luna App, London
• The Martin Agency
• McCann
• McKinsey
• Mullen
• Ogilvy
• Publicis
• Saatchi & Saatchi
• Wasserman 
• Wunderman Thompson
• And leading media and marketing firms

Creative Cafe

Creative Cafe is like speed dating for your portfolio. Master’s in advertising and marketing students can share rough cuts or polished portfolios with creative directors, art directors, and copywriters from top shops like Mullen, Digitas, and Arnold. Get real feedback—and make connections faster than two years of interviews.

Reviewers are a mix of BU advertising alums and other industry professionals, ranging from mid-level creatives to chief creative officers. Since it’s a zoom event, we’re able to invite talent from all across the country and sometimes even across the globe. It’s a really great event.

Professor Pegeen Ryan

Spring Break NYC Ad Tour

The Spring Break NYC Ad Tour drops you into boardrooms at top-tier agencies like Droga5, Saatchi, Amazon Ads, and Giant Spoon. You’ll meet the pros, hear how the industry really works, and end the week at a BU alumni mixer that kicks your creative network into high gear.

AdClub

As part of BU’s chapter of the American Advertising Federation, AdClub connects you with professionals, peers, and national competitions.

How to Get a Job in Advertising

The MS in Advertising at BU COM offers career pathways into every role within the ad industry. Unusually comprehensive, this program prepares graduates with skills in strategic planning, consumer behavior, creative development, media planning, account management, digital advertising, brand building and strategy, communication, problem-solving, and collaboration.

Curriculum Overview

Our professionally-oriented graduate program in Advertising is designed to give you a 360-degree view of the industry. You’ll explore both traditional and cutting-edge approaches to strategy, creativity, and client management.

Core areas of study and electives in our curriculum include:

• Advertising Strategy
• Account Management
• Creative Development
• Art Direction
• Interactive Marketing Strategy
• Brand Experience Marketing
• Copywriting
• Portfolio Development

Elective courses allow you to broaden your focus or explore niche areas within advertising and communication. Across our curriculum, you’ll get hands-on experience through an array of student projects.

This program is designed to be professionally oriented, so that when you graduate, you have the skills, the tools, and the insights to be able to jump right into a career in advertising… We also have a lot of hands-on opportunities within the program that help replicate the advertising agency experience. You’ll gain broader knowledge of the discipline, and you’ll start to figure out what you’re good at and what you’re interested in.

Professor Karen Mascott

Portfolio Course Highlight

We time your portfolio courses around high-stakes, real-world competitions so you can beef up your portfolio. Here’s how successful MS in Advertising students are:

• Top 5 global ranking in the One Show student awards
• 37 Young Ones awards in the past five years
• 16 of 21 total Hatch awards last year

Here are just a few student campaigns for real clients:

• MS in Advertising students won a prestigious D&AD New Blood Pencil award for their 2025 project, “Escape from Level Zero” for Xbox. By Ahalya Bahuguna, CW, ’25; Rohan Carlo Sugapong, AD ’25; and Matt Gill, AD, ’25. Class: CM754 Grad Portfolio II.
• “Life Begins With Coach.” By Ahalya Bahuguna, CW, ’25; Carly Hansen, AD, ’25; and Xinru Jiang, Strategy, ’25. Class: CM754 Grad Portfolio II.
• Young Ones 2024, Triple Pencil Winner (Gold, Silver, Bronze), “Slurp Juice” for Fanta. By Kairen Shi, ’24, and Iraj Chaudhry, ’24. Class: CM754 Portfolio Development II.
• Young Ones 2024 ADC, Merit, Hatch Silver, Student Competition, “Make it Peanut Better.” By Maria Paula Arizabaleta, Design and Copywriting, ’24. Class: CM511 Art Direction.

Learn from Industry Practitioners

Faculty bring leadership experience from top agencies like Deutsch, HillHolliday, MullenLowe, BBDO, and Digitas. Their award-winning campaigns—including top 10 Super Bowl ads—have earned honors from Cannes, Clio, One Show, and more. They’ve led strategy and creative teams for major global brands and are experts in media strategy, brand development, creative direction, management, design, and more. 

Meet the MS in Advertising Faculty

Having been on the agency side before I came to BU, I loved hiring people who went through the BU AD program because they had real hands-on experience. They understood the language, the assignments—the work they did as students replicated the work they did when they came in. You graduate well-prepared to hit the ground running.

Professor Karen Mascott

Get Connected to the Boston Advertising Network

The MS in Advertising in Boston is more than just your backdrop—it’s your launchpad.

• One of the world’s most livable cities, Boston is known as America’s college town and home to a diverse community
• Leading ad agencies such as Hill Holliday, Arnold Worldwide, Merge, CTP, A&G (Allen & Gerritsen), MMB, Digitas, Amp Agency, Publicis Sapient, and MullenLowe—many of whom give tours, internships, and guest lectures
• A top 10 US media market, with major outlets like the Boston Globe, WBUR, GBH, and five commercial TV newsrooms
• Boundless opportunities for networking, internships, and career growth in a thriving media and tech ecosystem