A new MSc module on Strategic Digital Communications, introduced at RGU’s School of Creative and Cultural Business in response to the global digital skills shortage, has produced its first set of findings for a North-east business.
Students have been working on a project in partnership with The Station Hotel, Rothes and Aberdeen-based Tricker PR since September 2016 to carry out a detailed analysis of the luxury hotel’s digital communications strategy, including the hotel’s website and social media platforms.
Based on their research and analysis each student then developed a set of recommendations for the client. The top four students were invited to present their recommendations to Neil Slessor, general manager of The Station Hotel, and Beverly Tricker, Tricker PR, who selected Lois Atherton as overall winner. Lois has been awarded an overnight stay in the hotel’s top suite and will be presenting her recommendations to hotel and local business owner Richard Forsyth. Tricker PR has also awarded each student a weeklong placement at their Aberdeen office.
Neil said: “With The Station Hotel being such a new business, having little past experience or statistics to analyse, we aren’t always 100% where our marketing strategy should be directed. When we were approached by Christina Stewart from RGU, with the proposal that her students could work with our data to analyse the trends and insights from our website and Facebook page, then present their findings, I was delighted to get involved. Not only is it fantastic for us, giving invaluable information, but it lets the students of RGU use live data from the real world.”
Strategic Digital Communications equips students with the skills to plan, manage and optimise digital communications strategies by providing them with practical experience of digital marketing and digital PR tools. The module was introduced for the first time this year for students undertaking courses in International Marketing Management MSc and Corporate Communication and Public Affairs MSc.
Christina, a lecturer at the School of Creative and Cultural Business, said: “The partnership with The Station Hotel provided valuable industry insight to our MSc students. Importantly, students gained hands-on experience using a range of contemporary digital tools in the context of a real business. This project addresses the current digital skills gap, in turn increasing our students’ employability prospects.”
Neil also heard presentations from Jana Gersdorf and Iga Monika. He also received the findings of a fourth student, Amy Guyan, who was unable to attend.