Canadian University Dubai (CUD) Communication and Media students Andrea Kurian, Andrea Assi, Nour Haddad, and Nada Abdulrahman, known collectively as ‘Next-Gen Agency’, have taken the top spot in the 2021 National Student Pitch Challenge hosted recently by the Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA).
The communication brief aimed to promote the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature and required the students to increase interest in literature, target a younger audience, have the event recognized as a top cultural event in the Middle East and gain international media interest across various cultures and platforms. Ahead of the competition, participants heard from senior industry professionals on how to dissect a brief and develop a communications strategy.
CUD’s Next-Gen Agency team responded by creating a communication objective that focused on how literature inspires movies that shape pop culture and social movements. They conducted audience research on reading trends, use of leisure time, and media usage. This led to the ‘big idea’: integrating video gaming and movies onto an immersive virtual events platform. The integrated communication strategy included PR, social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, KPI’s, and budget planning.
Besides the commemorative trophy, the CUD Next-Gen Agency took home a prize value of AED 18,600 that includes free student/individual MEPRA membership for one year, complimentary tickets to attend a range of MEPRA industry events, and free MEPRA Academy training for each team member for 12 months.
Dr. Ode Amaize, Professor and Head of the Department of Communication and Media, Canadian University Dubai, offered his congratulations, saying:“I’m proud of the accomplishment of our four talented and diligent students for their skills, and their willingness to learn how to learn; I look forward to their continued success.”
The Department of Communication and Media at CUD offers a Bachelor of Arts in Communication degree that provides students with an interdisciplinary perspective and a comprehensive understanding of traditional and contemporary digital media environments with concentrations in three areas: Public Relations, Advertisement, and Journalism.
The advertising program is accredited by the International Advertising Association (IAA), and the public relations program is the first in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region to obtain the Certification in Education for Public Relations (CEPR) from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).
