Second year BA (Hons) Fashion Business students were lucky enough to have international creative agency, DRPG, as their live client for their Marketing and PR module.
DRPG have been delivering everything from video, events and digital right through to research, strategy and creative communications for a wealth of clients for over 45 years. Their specialised teams work together to deliver multi-channel campaigns entirely in-house for a diverse portfolio of client including Amazon, Sainsbury鈥檚, Lloyds, EE, Tesco, Unilever and the BBC.
For this partnership, students were working directly with Sara Lyddy, DRPG鈥檚 Director of Communications, andAndy Wilkinson, founder and MD of OWB, one of 天美传媒鈥檚 hottest ad agencies, recently acquired by DRPG.
Keen to add a 鈥榝ashion spin鈥� to the brief, DRPG also involved Nigel Calladine, founder of two West Midlands based fashion start-ups 鈥� Keys 1885 and Lost Oceans, to provide the brief. 聽Nigel tasked the students with developing and pitching an innovative and original marketing campaign to promote these clothing brands to a Gen Z consumer.
During the module, Nigel joined lectures to present further insights into the brands and product offering leading discussions and workshops on industry challenges in the current climate and the increasing need for brands like his to be able to engage with the emerging consumer profile, the Gen Z audience.
Part of the assessment for this module was a live pitch, to industry standard. Nigel joined us for the assessment day and was impressed by the creativity and professionalism displayed by our students, he commented:
鈥淭he students all produced original concepts that challenged my preconceptions. I was blown away with their originality, all showed the future is bright and they all deserve great credit.鈥�
The case teaching method offers our students the valuable opportunity to progress their studies in an environment that emulates the commercial industry to align with real-world constraints and challenges.聽 It adds value to the academic delivery and promotes an agile and growth mindset.
As a 鈥榞rand finale鈥� for the module, all our students were invited to the DRPG HQ in Kidderminster to join the wider creative teams for the annual 鈥楽parks Live鈥� event. A career-focused educational event, aimed at inspiring the next generation of creative talent with key insights from experienced professionals.
The event introduced our students the company鈥檚 innovation hub, with a day structured around interactive sessions, panel discussions, and hands-on workshops designed to allow students to build on their skills and understand further how to apply these in the fast-evolving creative and comms industries.
During the event, 8 of our students were shortlisted to present their campaign pitch to a panel of Creative Directors. The students all delivered a highly professional pitch that awarded them further praise for their achievements.