| Description |
The University of Utah is known for their experiential learning experiences for students. The Dean of the David Eccles School of Business (Dean Randall), wanted to further this concept in his own programs, specifically in the marketing discipline. The idea and focus is to create a student advertising agency to serve as a training ground for students with interest in the advertising industry. With this focus in mind, research was conducted on other successful university's programs. However, the standout program, VCU's Brandcenter, was used as the model for the new program. The agency, ADTHING, was launched in September of 2016 and is currently still a thriving program, with 25 students currently a part of the program. ADTHING has served over 15 clients by providing everything from billboard campaigns, rebranding, brand identity, TV spots, radio exposure, brand films, as well as social media campaigns. Students have received one on one mentorship from the executive director Bill Oakley, and have had industry exposure by attending industry wide conferences around the nation. While ADTHING has developed and is quickly becoming more efficient and beneficial for the students, there are still areas for improvement. Changing some of the job titles and focuses will help eliminate some internal confusion, moving forward. Continuing to focus on mentorship and building stronger ties with the advisory board is key to progress and a greater learning experience for the students. In addition to both of these concepts, maintaining consistent industry exposure are all significant to the improvement of the program as a whole and increasing the significance of this experience for students. |
