Nicola MacdonaldMembers of the experiential event agency TRO team visited Sheffield Hallam University earlier this week to officially launch the UK’s first experiential marketing degree.
The team met the first cohort of 17 students on the International Events Management with Experiential Marketing course, the first degree of its kind in the UK.
The agency has been working in collaboration with Sheffield Hallam University since June 2015 to develop the course – with specific focus on offering ‘real world’ industry advice and relevance to optimise students’ employability on graduation.
TRO has had input into the development of the course material and will be guest lecturing to students throughout the duration of the degree.
Dr Phil Crowther, principal lecturer at Sheffield Business School said: “As a university we are committed to co-creating curriculums with industry partners to ensure our students are highly employable on completion of their course. We have enjoyed a great relationship with TRO over the past 18 months and are very much looking forward to educating the next generation of experiential marketers alongside the industry insights that TRO will provide.”
Nicky Morgan, TRO’s group talent director added: “This initiative echoes our ambition to support academia and discover and nurture future talent. As well as supporting the roll out of the course we are also looking to provide ‘real’ work experience to students in a bid to get them industry-ready on completion of their degree.”
In an extension of the relationship, TRO is also currently into its second year of running an IP (Industrial Placement) programme for event management students at Sheffield Hallam University.
Image: TRO’s first paid intern, Ellie Montague, who joined last year from Sheffield Hallam University