A PR master class with a difference has forged a collaboration between a Gloucester accountancy and business support firm and a group of university students.
Staff at Abaqus Ltd joined Journalism students from the University of Worcester to look at ways of boosting their public relations profile in an industry brief.
With the help of You Do Better PR agency owner Ruby Edwards, the third-year students looked at Abaqus’ website and client services to come up with social media, branding and content ideas.
Their industry strategies were then assessed as part of a BA Hons Journalism degree module.
Abaqus Founding Director Tom Payne said “It’s been great opportunity to involve the university in a real time client pitch so they can offer a journalistic perspective to what we do for us and our clients.”
UoW student Milan Laljani said: “The brief gave us the opportunity to be creative with social media, analytics and content and really brought the assessment to life.”
Student Fran Bicknell said she enjoyed designing a new Abaqus logo.
“I’ve learnt a lot about PR by undertaking this task; things such as how important it is that your business has a professional style and name, to building client confidence.
“It was a lot of fun and accountancy and business support have been great topics to explore because it has really pulled me outside my comfort zone.”
UoW Journalism Course Leader Rachel Ammonds said the more opportunities students had to get involved with practical industry projects, the greater their employment prospects.
“PR has always been a popular career choice for our Journalism graduates because the media and creative skills they learn on our BA Hons degree course are easily transferable,” she added.
To find out more about the project, read Abaqus’ Blog here.
