Agency nurtures next generation of creatives through college collaboration

Sutton Coldfield-based marketing agency EDGE Creative has partnered with Birmingham Metropolitan College (BMet) to help students gain real-life experience.

Every year design students at BMet 's Sutton Coldfield campus are provided with a large-scale design and branding project based on a real-life situation which tests their skills in not only design, but brand awareness, commercial marketing and understanding the requirements of an audience.

Last year the two organisations joined forces for the project based on the agency 's client Rudds Wellies.

Following its success, they have collaborated again, highlighting EDGE 's commitment to helping nurture young talent in the industry.

Students were set a deadline of 12 weeks to complete the project, which involved creating a complete marketing campaign for Rudds Wellies to help promote their new shade of colour with an eye on appealing to the younger generations.

Their task involved creating a webpage, social graphic, advertising video and mascot with an accompanying detailed strategy explaining their decisions and ideas throughout the project.

The students were taken to Sutton Park and the Custard Factory in Birmingham as part of the photography and videography process, providing them with the full creative project experience.

EDGE 's creative experts were involved throughout. Head of production Kelly Brown and Content Manager Ellena Yapp visited the college at various stages to see the student 's progress, providing feedback in the process, before being presented to by the groups.

Following those presentations, two groups were handed the opportunity to present their campaign to EDGE Creative 's founder Louise Panayides and Head of Design Ryan Luckoo, who act as brand guardians for Rudds Wellies.

The EDGE team were impressed by the quality of work from both groups of finalists, particularly many of the considerations made concerning how their idea transformed across various platforms.

EDGE 's creative director and founder, Louise Panayides, said: “At EDGE, we are passionate about supporting the next generation of creative talent and collaborating with BMet has been a fantastic chance to share our knowledge and experience with the students and give them an exciting opportunity to work on a project with a live brief.

“It was fantastic seeing the student 's creativity. They produced brilliant ideas and showcased their work across various marketing channels and platforms. ”

Pictured: Kelly Brown and Ellena Yapp reviewing BMet students progress