Vega School of Brand Leadership

Vega was founded in 1999 in recognition of the shifting global focus towards Brand Leadership and Management and the increasing demand for creative and innovative brand thinkers. The accredited Independent Institute of Education, Degrees, Honours and Masters programmes are well known and respected by the brand, marketing and communications industries.

Vega School, an educational brand of the Independent Institute of Education, believes that brands are the world’s greatest assets for meaningful change. Vega, therefore, aims to graduate a new breed of a thinker by delivering fully accredited Certificates, Baccalaureates, Honours and Masters programmes in brand building and creative communication. Vega’s mantra - wisdom with magic - communicates its belief in creative strategic thinking. An IIE Vega graduate is an explorer who is smart, colourful and passionate, but generally dissatisfied with the status quo because he/she knows that brands, businesses, economies and societies can be healthier and do better for people.

The IIE graduates successfully contribute to society in diverse corporate and social arenas.

About Vega

Vega is the name of the brightest star in the celestial constellation of Lyra. Due to its intense luminescence and the crucial role it plays in maritime navigation, Vega has been described by astrophysicist Austin F. Gulliver as "the next most important star in the sky after the Sun".

Founded in 1998 by a breakaway group of pioneers, mavericks and innovators, Vega School was born in response to the urgent need for a paradigm shift away from conventional marketing communications. The traditional approaches to brand-building, marketing and advertising had been exhausted and were rapidly reaching their sell-by date. A new school of thought was called for and Vega answered that call.

The belief that the brand is born to lead is the cornerstone of the Vega philosophy. In the words of Vega founder Gordon Cook, "a brand delivers particular and unique meaning in order to add value and connect with people." In other words, a brand is not merely the name of a product but the manifestation of an identity and, more importantly, a purpose: think of brands such as Apple, Greenpeace and Google and you quickly realise that brands are far more than letters and logos but powerful cultural forces shaping the world as we know it.

Our Teaching Philosophy

The core pedagogic principle embraced by Vega is reflected in our very name. Since Vega is the navigational star, the concept of navigation is central to Vega’s unique teaching methodology. Vega lecturers are navigators: we are driven by the ethos of pro-active, expert guidance rather than that of merely imparting information that is passively absorbed.

Central to the navigational process is the dialogue established between navigator and student. The rigorous examination, review and critical analysis of ideas allow for the continual evolution of concepts into final crafting to produce the most refined and meaningful results possible. Perhaps the most important cornerstone of the Vega teaching philosophy is that enshrined in our mantra wisdom with magic. Expressed in this dictum is the fundamentally synergistic nature of the relationships between creativity and strategy; inspiration and innovation; idea and deed.

Our Val u es

• We believe in creativity with strategic intent
• We believe in creative application of borderless knowledge
• Our studio is the human imagination and we are here to have crayon-bright fun
• We strive to always be socially and culturally relevant
• We believe in always being warmly and immediately human because this gives the space for wisdom with magic to surface
• We strive to be at the leading edge in innovation
• We link business to profit by adding value to the lives of people