{"id":28007,"date":"2026-05-27T11:06:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T10:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/?p=28007"},"modified":"2026-05-27T13:09:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T12:09:24","slug":"meet-jess-the-bu-graduate-leading-an-award-winning-marketing-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/2026\/05\/27\/meet-jess-the-bu-graduate-leading-an-award-winning-marketing-agency\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Jess \u2013 the BU graduate leading an award-winning marketing agency"},"content":{"rendered":"

A marketing agency<\/a> led by a BU graduate has scooped two Bournemouth Business Awards<\/a> for the second year running.<\/p>\n

Halo<\/a>, run by Jess and husband Nick, has just been named Business of the Year as well as winner of the Business Innovation category at the awards for a second time. The wins come after the agency was named in the Sunday Times Best Places to Work list in 2024 and was ranked in the top 40 places to work by Campaign Magazine in 2025.<\/p>\n

\"Halo<\/a>

Halo Design Associates<\/p><\/div>\n

Jess said: \u201cSince taking over the running of the business in 2022, we\u2019ve aimed to combine the very best elements of the larger agencies we\u2019ve both worked in, with the flexibility and agility we can offer within a smaller team. We have focused on modernising and growing the business while preserving its creative foundations and have developed the agency in a way that reflects our personal values. This not only helps us to attract and retain the best people, but benefits the partners we attract and work with too<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jess has built her career in the region since moving to Bournemouth from Devon to embark on her university degree. She said: \u201cI was attracted to Bournemouth University because of its reputation for teaching in media and advertising. The course had strong links with industry, I was able to spend time on placement and had opportunities to work on live projects for big-name clients including ITV and Audi. That really set me up well when it came to starting out in my career, particularly as I graduated at a time when the jobs market was incredibly tough. The reputation of graduates from BU\u2019s Media School<\/a> still holds true today and I frequently meet graduates working in the industry, so the BU alumni network is alive and well!\u201d<\/p>\n

The business award for innovation recognised how Halo is embracing AI to offer clients new ideas without losing the human touch. Jess said: \u201cLike many sectors, AI is radically changing the shape of marketing. As a small agency, we\u2019re well placed to experiment, while developing strategies for the internal and external use of AI that still reflects the importance of doing good and acting responsibly. Technology is a great asset but we still need people who can build relationships and think creatively to harness its potential.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally known for their work with Dorset brands including Dorset Cereals and Ringwood Brewery, Halo has evolved into a full-service strategic marketing agency providing media, digital, web, SEO, social media and creative services. The agency still works with local organisations including Stewarts Garden Centre and Diverse Abilities, as well as with global brands such as Menicon and sustainable food app Too Good to Go.<\/p>\n

Jess added: “What makes me most proud is the environment we’ve created. We wanted Halo to be somewhere ambitious brands feel supported, and somewhere talented people genuinely enjoy coming to work. Receiving recognition through these awards means a huge amount to our whole team<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A marketing agency led by a BU graduate has scooped two Bournemouth Business Awards for the second year running. Halo, run by Jess and husband Nick, has just been named Business of the Year as well as winner of the Business Innovation category at the awards for a second time. The wins come after the… Read more » about Meet Jess \u2013 the BU graduate leading an award-winning marketing agency<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4783,"featured_media":28009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1680,411,1669,496,1660,19,3610,1673,1674,2522,1675,501,283,1642,1663,1638],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-applying","category-business-management","category-clearing","category-pg-courses","category-ug-courses","category-editorial-news","category-featured","category-graduates","category-journalism-english-communication","category-marketing","category-marketing-ug-courses","category-media-production","category-media-film-tv-music-production","category-news-2","category-open-days-events","category-postgraduate","category-undergraduate"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4783"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28007"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28012,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28007\/revisions\/28012"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}