2018 Promotional Communications Conference

The 2018 Promotional Communications Conference will take place on June 1st 2018 at Bournemouth University.

Register at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/2018-promotional-communications-conference-tickets-44838784010

9-9:30 AM Registration & Coffee in FG06
9:30-10 AM Opening remarks in SHARE Lecture Theatre
10:15-11:45 AM PANELS:
Panel 1A – Creativity, Politics, and Culture (in Room F304)
Panel 1B – Trust, Influence, and the Market (in Room F305)
Panel 1C – Current Issues in PR and Advertising (in Room F306)
NOON to 1 PM Lunch in FGO6

1:15-2:45 PM PANELS:
Panel 2A – Society, Change, and Consumption (in Room F304)
Panel 2B – Ethics, Representation, and Policy (in Room F305)
Panel 2C – Technology, platforms, and behaviour (in Room F306)
2:45 to 3 PM Coffee Break in FGO6

3 PM to 4:30 PM PANELS:
Panel 3A – Influencers and Influencing (in Room F304)
Panel 3B – Fans, Consumers, and their Minds (in Room F305)
Panel 3C – UK Politics: Gender and Generation (in Room F306)

5 PM Closing Remarks in SHARE Lecture Theatre
5:30 to 6 PM Drinks Reception & Canapes in FG06

Association for Psychosocial Studies Biennial Conference at BU

BU hosts international conference on the state of the world, fifty years after it was turned inside out (circa 1967) and upside down (circa 1968).

Association for Psychosocial Studies Biennial Conference
Bournemouth University, 5th-7th April 2018
‘Psychosocial Reflections on a Half Century of Cultural Revolution’
http://aps2018.bournemouth.ac.uk

A half century after the hippie counterculture of 1967 (‘the summer of love’) and the political turbulence of 1968 (‘May 68’), one aim of this conference is to stage a psychosocial examination of the ways in which today’s world is shaped by the forces symbolised by those two moments. It will explore the continuing influence of the deep social, cultural and political changes in the West, which crystallised in the events of these two years. The cultural forces and the political movements of that time aimed to change the world, and did so, though not in the ways that many of their participants expected. Their complex, multivalent legacy of ‘liberation’ is still developing and profoundly shapes the globalising world today, in the contests between what is called neo-liberalism, resurgent fundamentalisms, environmentalism, individualism, nationalisms, and the proliferation of identity politics.

A counter-cultural and identity-based ethos now dominates much of consumer culture, and is reflected in the recent development of some populist and protest politics. A libertarian critique of politics, once at the far margins, now informs popular attitudes towards many aspects of democratic governance; revolutionary critiques have become mainstream clichés. Hedonic themes suffuse everyday life, while self-reflection and emotional literacy have also become prominent values, linked to more positive orientations towards human diversity and the international community.

The programme is now available on the conference website:
http://aps2018.bournemouth.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Provisional-Programme.pdf

There are five keynotes and eighty papers, with presenters from all continents, as well as a number of experiential workshops. As well as examining the main theme of societal change, there is an open stream of papers on a wide range of topics. Methods of psychosocial inquiry are applicable to most topics. As an academic community, the psychosocial is a broad church defined only by a commitment to exploring and linking the internal and external worlds – the deeply personal and the equally deeply societal as sources of experience and action.

BU colleagues can attend the whole conference at the hugely discounted rate of £40, or £25 per day.

Masterclass in “fuzzy thinking”

Dr. Chris Arnold (the recipient of an honorary doctorate from BU) gave a Masterclass in “fuzzy thinking” to the students of MA Advertising on 07 March to assist them in finding innovative ways in which to approach creative challenges.

Chris also led the students through an exercise based on a live brief on behalf of a major global brand (for GP Batteries) — a client for his two agencies, Creative Orchestra and The Garage.

MA Advertising students at the workshop by FKC creative agency

On Tuesday 27 February, the students in MA Advertising were given a workshop by Sean Parkin, Head of Creative at London advertising agency FKC.

Sean is a regular contributor to the MA Creative Direction unit.

Based on a brief which is currently ‘live’ in his agency, Sean took the group through the stages of creative ideation, including:

* the development of an appropriate proposition (based on the identification of the key benefit),

* the crafting of an effective strapline and

* the design of an image to illustrate the proposition and convey the identified benefit to the TA.

Sean was so impressed by one of the ideas proposed by the students (congratulations to Marie Neoralova and Amy Rivers) that their idea may make its way into the campaign.

Digital politics, fake news and propaganda: Paweł Surowiec speaks to the EU and the NATO

The debate about the proliferation of fake news and disinformation campaigns launched towards European democracies from Russia is gaining momentum as the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation are gearing their efforts to challenge both fake news and disinformation campaigns. Upon the invitation from the EU and the NATO, Dr. Pawel Surowiec, of the Faculty of Media and Communication, addressed the audiences of both institutions, and spoke at events concerning challenges to strategic communication brought about by fake news and disinformation campaigns. On 7 December, 2017, at the conference entitled ‘Myth and Reality: Countering Disinformation in Visegrad 4’ (Warsaw), the Faculty’s researcher participated in a panel discussion focusing on solutions to the disinformation campaigns, and offered an expert intervention on hybridisation of soft power and strategic communication during the conference held on 23-24 November, 2017 at the Annual Plenary, Club of Venice – the European Council’s network of strategic communicators.

Experience on Placement Motivates Public Relations Student to Apply (and win) BU Co-Creation Award

Connor Peters receives co-creation award

Connor Peters, final year BA (Hon) Public Relations student, receives a co-creation award hosted by Centre for Excellence in Learning at a ceremony on December 5, 2017.

By Dr. Joyce Costello, Senior Lecturer Digital Marketing

During Connor Peters’ placement year, he gained insight into challenges amongst public relations specialists in the technology industry when utilizing social media. Having done much content creation and social media planning himself and realizing that he wanted a deeper understanding of how it’s used in a global context, he decided to apply for the Bournemouth University co-creation project. The project hosted by the Centre for Excellence in Learning (CEL) gives final year students the chance to put together a research proposal and work with an academic with the end goal of a joint publication.

“I’ve always been someone who thinks about the future. In not just the PR world and the world of UK business, two things seem guaranteed for the future – digital business and global business are both going to be incredibly important,” said Connor, final year BA (Hons) Public Relations student. “Particularly with Brexit, we need to look for economies outside of the EU for UK businesses to expand successfully. To my surprise, there is also very little research into this topic, so it’s important to really get an initial understanding of how PR in a global context will change in the years to come.”

On December 5, Connor received the co-creation award and a £500 check presented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Tim MacIntyre-Bhatty. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor iterated that the opportunity for students and staff to work on project to create knowledge is a great opportunity to make a positive impact locally and nationally.

Connor is working with Dr. Joyce Costello, senior lecturer with the Faculty of Media and Communications, to address how individual cultural attitudes and organizational norms will influence the social media strategy adopted by UK technology companies in emerging markets. Connor’s advice to students who might consider applying next year: “If you have a topic you’re interested in, and an academic who’s also interested, then you should 100% make the most of that opportunity. It’s a great chance to produce an exceptional piece of work, expand your knowledge in a speciality area, and get paid to do so!”

To learn more about co-creation projects, visit the CEL blog https://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/cel/.

CMC project receives national recongition

The Department of Corporate and Marketing Communication’s work for Cog Research and Exterion Media was recognised last night with the project winning Best Media Research at the Market Research Society of Great Britain’s annual awards function.  The team comprised academics from our PR, Marketing Communications and Advertising degree programmes.  You can find out more about the project here.

Creative Orchestra & The Garage Workshop for CMC

CMC would like to thank Dr Chris Arnold of for the intensive day-long workshop he delivered to the students in the L6 unit Creative Direction & Copywriting on Friday 24 November, 2017. (Of course, now they all want to come and work for him.)

Caption for attached photo:

L-R: L6 students Paula Martinez Revuelta, Victoria D’Andrea, Carl Venables & Zelda Zemzare present to Dr Chris Arnold in Creative Direction & Copywriting on 24 November, 2017

MA Advertising visited local ad agency Bright Blue Day

The students of MA Advertising visited local ad agency Bright Blue Day.

Managing Director Jonathan Clark and Bright Blue Day are longstanding supporters of BU — and have previously provided rewarding placements for the students of both the BA and MA advertising programmes.

After the visit, MA Advertising student Lianhua Li said:

“This was really a good look at an actual advertising agency. The well-articulated office environment and the particular working style are perfectly blended together. We had great fun chatting with Jonathan, the founder of the agency. Anthony showed a great deal of insider’s achievements along with some career tips which were very impressive. Ben, the Creative Director, was amazingly and demonstrated the art of dealing with clients. They are all simply brilliant.”

Tutor and Principal Fellow Dr Richard Scullion explained that “This was an ideal way to help them link practice and theory and to get a ‘feel’ for agency life too. It is an important aspect of the programme that has such good working relations with many local ad agencies.”

The students of the 2017-18 cohort of MA Advertising programme (L-R: Olivia Pepper, Amy Rivers, Aaliyah Binnie-Martins, Marie Neoralova, Ya-Hsiu Chang, Lianhua Li and Harshwardhan Munje) were welcomed to a visit to local Bournemouth advertising agency Bright Blue Day by Managing Director Jonathan Clark (3rd from left).