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University of Brands

Creating added value through brands – that is what the Brand University of Applied Sciences training courses are designed to achieve. And it is precisely that which makes the Brand University of Applied Sciences a university which enables its graduates to start successfully in their careers and go far in them.

The university was founded in 2010 as Brand Academy – Hochschule für Design und Kommunikation and changed its name to Brand University of Applied Sciences in 2019.

At Brand University of Applied Sciences you will learn from an international team of experienced professors, lecturers, experts and practitioners how to design, communicate, present and manage brands. You will learn in practical situations and in small seminar groups, guaranteeing intensive personal support.

Brand University of Applied Sciences is state recognized and accredited by:

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Info event Master's programme

Inspired by their fascination for big brands, a group of friends decided to found a university for branding.

They envisaged a place of education that unites and focuses on brand knowledge with a passion for brand stories – while not forgetting that education and creativity are two parts of one inseparable whole. A place that brings together cultures from the Eurasian region.
It was from this thinking which the university was born.

It was founded under the name Brand Academy – University of applied sciences. In September 2019 it changed its name to Brand University of Applied Sciences.
With the official recognition of the new name by the Hamburg Authority for Science, Research and Equality, the university received a special acknowledgement for its scientific work on brands.

Brands are exciting stories – and our students are the future authors of those stories.

Brand University of Applied Sciences is located in the centre of Hamburg. It is the first university to focus on brands – the central strategic success-factor in national and international businesses.

Brand University of Applied Sciences is a government-recognised private university offering internationally accredited Bachelor’s and Master’s degree courses.

We place great emphasis on a culture of creativity, curiosity and open-mindedness. Our university is a place of learning which combines scientific research and close collaboration with brand-name companies in Europe and Asia.

“Brand Thinking” – this paradigm is the central driving force behind education and research at Brand University.

But what is ” Brand Thinking” all about? Why do brands have such a high value in our everyday lives that we dedicate a university to the subject?
Every day we are reached by about 10,000 brand messages. This results in countless alternatives of products and services to choose from.

To differentiate themselves from the competition in saturated markets, companies must stand out, be remembered and win the trust of consumers. The key success factor for this are brands.
A brand is more than its visual appearance. Successful brands arouse emotions and associations, stand for an attitude towards life and create the possibility for identification through their values.

A brand is only authentic and future-oriented if business and brand strategy are merged within a company. If the brand plays the central role in a company and its values are lived by all the employees – from production to executive management. This is what we call Brand Thinking.

This holistic approach is the core of studies at Brand University. With this knowledge you will learn to develop, design, communicate and manage successful brands.

Your goal is a successful career in the brand and creative industry in which you play a part and achieve something? Then you don’t simply have to be a specialist, but a strong personality.

At Brand University you will learn for the future – our teaching is competence-oriented, practical, interactive and interdisciplinary. Whether online or offline, learning has a lasting effect and opens up space for personal development. In this way, studying is also more fun.

METHODICAL SKILLS
In this fast-moving, globalized world, it is essential for professional success to constantly expand your knowledge. This also applies to the time after university. That is why you will learn to understand topics in depth, evaluate information and apply your new knowledge. No matter what task you face in your studies or profession, with the right methods you will become a competent problem solver!

PRACTICE
In numerous practical projects, you will learn how to perform convincingly in the professional world, because you will experience how companies and agencies operate during your studies. You will learn how to organize yourself in a team and how to get the most out of your creativity together.
At the end of the projects, there is always a practice check: You present your ideas to CEOs, marketing managers or senior project managers. In this way, you establish contacts in the business world during your studies – the foundation for your career network.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
In small groups and at the same time across all disciplines, you will learn interactively and in dialogue in order to critically examine real business problems, develop solutions together and present them. In this way you will gain in communication skills and leadership competence.
At Brand University, professors and lecturers personally supervise all students and act as mentors. This personal closeness opens up individual ways in which your strengths can be recognized, challenged and encouraged. This results in opportunities and possibilities that become a stepping stone to your future.

Brand Academy Alumni e.V.

The Brand Academy Alumni Association provides a living interface between the university and its graduates, and between academia and professional practice.

The purposes of the Association are education, student assistance and the promotion of academic study.
To this end it organises events for students and professionals aimed at technical, cultural and social development and at an exchange between former students, teachers and the university itself.

Any former student who has reached the final semester of a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree course at Brand Academy can become a member. Former and current teachers as well as members of the university administration who were active for at least one semester or half a year at the university can also become members.

Majbritt Vogel
Pascal Krebs

Chairpersons

Claudius Finkbeiner

Claudius Finkbeiner

Treasurer

Student representatives

The student representatives are elected by the students collectively and are made up of students from all of the Brand University of Applied Sciences courses; they represent the interests and wishes of the students in general. Members maintain close contact with students, professors, lecturers and employees of the Brand University of Applied Sciences and they nominate individuals to act as representatives on the Examination Board and in the Senate.

Student representatives are responsible for making suggestions on how to improve studying at the Brand Academy, and for providing ideas about how to develop the university, as well as organising celebrations, events and guest talks.

Student representatives also support new students at Brand University of Applied Sciences as part of the Buddy Scheme, and provide them with assistance and orientation in the organisational and personal issues that arise in the early stages of study.

Student representatives call a general meeting of students annually in order to provide all of them with a review and a look ahead to things which will be changing at the university.

Contact our student council via Instagram:

Our mission

Application-oriented, interdisciplinary University of Applied Sciences for Brands – intercultural brand competence in the continuously coalescing world.

Our vision

A leading academic competence center for brands in Eurasia.

Our values

We build on appreciation.

We live interculturality and networking.

We encourage and challenge engagement.

We continuously work on our excellence.

We communicate with openness for dialogue.