This is a guest blog by BA (Hons) Marketing Communications student Brityn Vreeland.

Today I attended Bournemouth University’s 9th annual Promotional Communications Conference, organised by Dr. Tanya Le Roux and Dr. Sae Oshima from the Department of Corporate and Marketing Communications. This year’s conference had the theme of “Revelation, Revolution: learning, and acting”. This theme could not have been more relevant. Each topic covered was inspired by current issues along with societal changes. The dissertation topics ranged from innovative technology or digital marketing to current issues such as sex trafficking or terrorism.

Starting with a delicious lunch in Fusion, the day was full of excitement and education. We then received an inspiring speech from our keynote speaker Jimmy Cregan from Jimmy’s Iced Coffee, who encouraged us to take risks, and go for whatever makes us happy (which in Jimmys’ case is coffee, the sea, sustainability & positive energy)!

Next, we began the dissertation presentations with Laura Biondi investigating fake followers within influencer marketing and how that might impact brand trust. Laura Hyde covered social media in PR strategy for the travel industry. Lastly, Ollie Thompson talked about how it could be time for a change in the advertising industry.

The next group up started with Myrsini Mantika who delivered a passionate presentation covering modern-day slavery and how current day messages could be preventing the combat of sex trafficking. Yana Miladinova spoke about how B2B companies can be impacted by PR strategies. And lastly, Chuck Adolphy compared the past with the present by analysing techniques used by the Nazi party to the techniques used by alt-right groups, such as Trump uses in the 21st century.

Freya Walton was then up covering the perceptions of Americans on gun control in the US, which provided an interesting opposing insight to the popular UK anti-gun law opinions. Tara Fothergill presented fascinating insights on diversity in the workplace in the insurance industry. Lastly, Danni Horsley presented an impactful presentation covering the plastic pollution crisis and how to connect with 20-30-year-olds about this conflict.

The second groups of presentations started with Raluca Rusoiu who covered the AI and CGI impact on the fashion industry and the reliability and trust consumers have within these technology ‘bots’. Sarah-Jane Addison presented insights on the motivations for image sharing among young adolescent males and Anna Lapacz covered digital marketing in relation to the film industry.

Our last group of presentations started with Laura Salvada-Boussi who most definitely educated every one of how virtual assistants can play a role in parenting. Secondly, Charlotte Cranny-Evans covered a comparative analysis on the UK newspapers representations of Muslim and non-Muslim terrorists. Denis Erturan covered the theoretical essence of brand mediation within running shoes and explained how this can impact brand feeling. The last presentation of the day was Balint Brunner who covered a strategic approach to expanding the Welsh language among migrants.

Following these fantastic presentations was the awards ceremony. This started with an inspiring speech on the purpose of University and University research from Dr. Einar Thorsen, Deputy Dean Research & Professional Practice. Congratulations to Laura Biondi and Yana Miladinova for winning best paper awards. And a big congratulations to the overall best paper award that went to Balint Brunner, who received a special prize gift.

The day was completed with a celebration reception where mentors, friends, and family could support and celebrate all of the work these final year students put into their research and their time at University. Overall, it was a successful and well-run conference full of educational findings and results that could impact the marketing industry greatly