UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 04 FEBRUARY 2019
BA (Hons) Digital Media and MA/MSc Future Media students were recently given the opportunity to attend the inaugural Forward 2020 conference to hear from professionals in the field of digital marketing.
The conference, organised by lecturers from both courses, was an opportunity for students to learn about the variety of roles in the industry, as well as gain advice on how to break into the field and stand out from other graduates.
It began with a talk from Amanda Warren, Brand Development Strategist for Buzzfeed, an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. She spoke about how the company was founded to focus on tracking viral content and the process behind the 520 pieces of content they create every day, the different platforms they have (As/If, Goodful, Nifty, Bring Me etc.), and shared details about how they work with companies to advertise their products/ services.
Amanda’s talk was followed by Kimberley White, a graduate of both the BA (Hons) Digital Marketing and MA/MSc Future Media course. Kimberley spoke to students about the work she’d created for her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and gave them helpful advice for their own projects. She also spoke about her placement with advertising and digital marketing agency, McCann, which she secured whilst attending Birmingham Design Festival.
Following Kimberley’s inspiring talk there was a panel discussion that covered everything from trends to look out for in 2019 to career advice. The panel included:
- Jazz Singh, Senior Account Manager for MediaCom
- Josh Turbill, Digital Director for Clevercherry
- Glen Duncan, Operations Director for 383 Project
- Katie Underwood and Matt Bowell, Senior Account Manager and Director of Client Service for Connecting Element
Representing a range of agencies based in Birmingham and London, the panellists gave students an insight into the different roles available in the industry. They provided a range of advice to students embarking on their careers which included, showing potential employers a passion for the role, choosing an agency/ position that fit their interests and having a good online/personal brand.
The last two talks of the day were delivered by Marianna Thomadaki and Solene Dassing from Unruly, a video advertising company, and Timothy Armoo, CEO of Fanbytes, one of the world’s largest Snapchat influencer networks. They all gave students great examples of marketing campaigns they’ve worked on including the recent Gillette razor commercial and a Snapchat filter for Deezer.
Wai Lo, Senior Lecturer for our BA (Hons) Digital Marketing and MA/MSc Future Media courses commented on how useful the conference was for students:
"Our Forward 2020 conference was the first of its kind for our marketing students at NTI and it’s been a huge success! Our aim was to provide an immersive, industry styled experience for our aspiring marketers to demonstrate what they have to look forward to from the industry."
The value of the event was echoed by the students that attended. BA (Hons) Digital Marketing student Georgia Allard commented:
If you’re interested in learning more about digital marketing join us at our next Open Day to find out more about the course.