Staffordshire Students Hit New York

Students from the Advertising and Brand Management course at Staffordshire University made their annual trek across the Atlantic to pitch their responses to a creative brief set by Bandujo Advertising and Design.

The ABM course at Staffordshire University does not sit quietly in Stoke-on-Trent, our students work on live briefs set by agencies from London, New York and Staffordshire as well as live client briefs set by a range of enterprises from far and wide. Most students on the course benefit from participating in these briefs that usually stand outside of their assessments, and the ones who can get to New York on the annual trip benefit from working on a live brief set by Bandujo for one of their clients. Over the past three years students have worked mainly on NYC Health Department awareness campaigns - HIV/AIDS education for Hispanic and African American men, Obesity and Fizzy Drinks, and Binge Drinking. What distinguishes these briefs from the ones set by UK based agencies is that the target audience is very much American, usually New Yorkers, and removed from the students' immediate experience.

Rav Sidhu has made the transatlantic crossing every year so far and has experienced working with Bandujo every time and he feels this has truly benefited him in terms of professional aspirations and enhaned his student experience: “Going to New York was such a memorable experience. Being given the opportunity to work on live briefs set by a New York-based agency was an experience I could not have gained elsewhere. As well as taking in the sights and the culture, I have made valuable contacts in the ad industry over in the States too.”

Only six tackled the Binge Drinking brief this year: Rav Sidhu and Hugh McAloon (3rd Years), Will Foster and Lizzie Dixon ( 2nd Years), Gemma Dickens and Alex Moran (1st Years). The joint research and insight presentation can be found here:

NY Research on Prezi

From there the three teams worked on creative independently. Rav and Hugh went for a copy-led solution stating the facts cleanly and non-judgmentally. Lizzie and Will engaged the audience through interactive education. And Gemma and Alex looked at the social damage the binge brought to the individual - embarrassment the driving force behind their idea. These are some examples of their work:

NY creative solution on Prezi

Bandujo open their doors to us for the best part of the day and the student teams pitch to Jose Bandujo, the president, Shawn Kelly and Bob Brothers, Creative Directors, as well as junior account and creative teams. Nerve racking? Probably. Worth every penny? Definitely. These briefs add value to our students' portfolios. The following day consisted of a visit to Strawberry Frog for a round table session where we were introduced to the Frog philosophy and approach. Rav and Hugh took the opportunity to receive an impromptu book crit that was constructive and encouraging. If Strawberry Frog can also offer us live briefs in the future we will really boost our student experience no end.

There are more live briefs planned over the next few months, and we are always open to helping you agency types on any problems you may be stuck on - from research to creative strategies. If any agencies want to work with us in this way contact me, John, on j.p.delacruz@staffs.ac,uk