COM to Introduce Combined Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Branded Content Production

In a media landscape saturated with content—from short-form TikTok videos to AI-generated images produced with the click of a button—what does it take for a brand’s message to break through the noise?

COM’s new Branded Content Production degree program, set to launch in fall 2027, seeks to give graduates a set of skills to build compelling, multimedia campaigns that hook audiences and inspire them to action. Great brand-oriented content—whether it’s a video from a startup seeking venture capital or Dove’s “Self-Esteem Project”—must fit in with a larger integrated communications strategy, look professional, contain a strong story arc, and not leave viewers feeling “as if they are part of a sales pitch,” says Amy Shanler, a professor of the practice of public relations and cocreator of the new degree program. 

“As new communication channels come on the scene, the need for good content grows exponentially,” Shanler says. “When a new platform comes around, brands don’t stop communicating via previous ones, so there’s this hunger for content. And smart brands know they need great, breakthrough content that will capture audiences’ attention, form a connection with them, make a lasting impression, and be top of mind when audiences have an opportunity to take action. Maybe the branded content will even inspire them to take action right then.”

COM’s new Branded Content Production program will be taught by faculty in the departments of mass communication, advertising, and public relations, and film and television. Students majoring in those departments will be able to add 32 units to their undergraduate degrees to earn both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees in just five years. The program gives students in advertising, public relations, and marketing communication research the technical production skills to strengthen their storytelling capabilities, Shanler says, while expanding strategic communications skills for film and television students. Maura Smith, a master lecturer in film production and cocreator of the new program, sees the initiative as an example of how COM works across disciplines to create new opportunities for students. 

One of the goals is to make COM graduates more attractive to nonprofits, political campaigns, healthcare organizations and creative agencies for positions in digital content creation—particularly those which involve video.

“The career landscape that our students will be entering once they leave COM is ever changing, but for the last few years the focus on video communication that brands of all kinds have had has only been increasing,” Smith says. “This program will give our students the opportunity to not just understand this new landscape but to enter it with a high-level of experience, giving our students a host of practical, and marketable, skills that will help to set them apart.”

Current or prospective students majoring in public relations, advertising, media science, or film and television are eligible to apply for the program.