EDGE CREATIVE GIVE COLLEGE STUDENTS REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE

Another year, another education project. We have once again partnered with Birmingham Metropolitan College group to help students at Sutton Coldfield College get hands-on experience with real-world marketing projects.

The partnership was first imagined by Senior Graphic Designer at EDGE Creative and Lecturer at BMet College, James Truman, in 2022. Working as part of both organisations, James wanted his students to gain a greater understanding of the marketing and design processes at work.

He took the marketing processes implemented at EDGE Creative and a real client that they worked with, Rudds Wellies, and challenged his students to create marketing materials for the brand. It was a huge success, leading the college to continue the tradition with the help of some of the marketing professionals from the agency.

This year, students were asked to create an extensive and varied marketing project for the Winter 2024 Collection from Birmingham-founded, retro fashion brand Harper & Lewis.

For the project, the students worked in groups to produce a website landing page, social media graphics, and video advertisements to promote the products in question.

They were expected to carry out strong and detailed market research to guide their own decisions, generate ideas, and inform them of how best to advertise the collection.

The four groups then presented their work to the rest of the class along with EDGE Creative’s Karen O’Donovan and Paul Lewis from Harper & Lewis, who would pick a standout selection based on the presentations.

The collaboration was a huge success, with every group producing a strong and market-relevant pitch to the judging team. The members of the winning group have also been put forward to win a college award due to their outstanding effort on the project.

Karen O’Donovan, Client Services Director at EDGE Creative, said this about the project:

“This is our third year working with the college and it couldn’t make us happier to see the results. We are an agency that believes in the development and incorporation of young talent, as they can always bring something new to a business, whether that’s perspectives, ideas, or ways of working. It makes it even more rewarding when you know you are helping to develop the careers and skills of local students early in their journey.”

Paul Lewis, Director at Harper and Lewis, added:

“It was fascinating to see some excellent ideas from one of our own target audiences and the ways in which they use relatively modern marketing methods in new and exciting ways. The incorporation and integration of social media with their other materials was the most interesting to me, and all four groups put forward a project that they should be proud of.”