1. Mike Pretious ‘Everything you always wanted to know about developing an industry-relevant academic module…but were afraid to ask!’

2. First Steps  Initial contact with Glasgow marketing communications agency DADA  Explanation of ‘The Student Project’ competition  Discussion with academic subject- group colleagues

4. Next Steps  Commitment to take part in ‘The Student Project’ 2009  Perceived need to embed participation into a formal module  Consideration of where to fit the module into existing programmes  Discussion at subject and School level of module requirements

6. The Student Project Brief  Achieving as many registrations as possible on a ‘Scottish Sun’ student website  Developing two promotional campaigns appropriate to the ‘Scottish Sun’

7. The ‘Marketing Consultancy Project’ module  Synthesizing the elements of ‘The Student Project’ with Level 4 learning outcomes  Development of an appropriate assessment regime  Linking a ‘practical’ industry brief with academic requirements

8. Module Assessment  Group response to consultancy brief following participation in the competition (two sets of PowerPoint slides)  Individual report reflecting on team working, the consultancy process and the academic principles relevant to the practical project

9. Student Engagement  Two QMU groups competed in the competition: ‘SunStroke’ and ‘Off the Record’  Extraordinarily positive response to the brief  Both groups far exceeded expectations in terms of the ‘sign-up’ element of the competition  Both groups developed highly creative promotional ideas  Both groups were invited to the final judging event in Glasgow…

11. A team of Queen Margaret University students is jetting off to New York City after scooping a top marketing prize. The winning team beat three other finalists. Part of their prize will be to visit a high profile news corporation in NYC, as well as have a work placement opportunity at News International’s offices in Glasgow. Joanne Steel, assistant brand manager at News International, said: “‘Off the Record’ presented a highly creative campaign and hopefully this taste of the marketing industry has inspired them and we have helped to motivate tomorrow’s marketing minds.”

14. Student Feedback “I wanted to thank you for this opportunity. Without this module I am sure that I would still not be 100% sure if marketing was for me. This is a fantastic module for all marketing students as it provides great insight into a real life situation…the experience gained outweighs any benefit of sitting another academic module in 4th year. 4th year students need a taste of reality, which this module definitely gives.”

15. Concluding Comments  Huge amount of work both in terms of preparation and teaching  Achieved the aim of producing an innovative industry-relevant module  Significant positive outcomes for the students, the university and personally