March 4th, 2019: Students of the Bachelor of Communications program at Canadian University Dubai (CUD) have been given a real-world insight into the workings of the public relations industry in a workshop delivered by Mr. Dan Leach, Creative Director at Edelman Middle East.
The event was the first in a series of industry interactions organized by the Faculty of Communication, Arts and Sciences to bring leading professional experts into the lecture theatre, to share their experiences of the business world. As the biggest communications marketing firm in the world and the largest PR firm in the Middle East, Edelman is among the many prospective employers for graduates of CUD’s Bachelor of Communications programs in Advertisement, Journalism and Public Relations.
In an engaging and thought-provoking presentation, Dan started out by discussing the role of PR in business and the essential distinction between paid advertising and earned attention. He pointed to the importance of brand recognition and the need to be constantly creative in engaging an audience.
Speaking about the growing impact of PR on the profitability of an organization, Dan demonstrated how earned attention is now becoming a key measure of success across marketing disciplines. He concluded by urging students to think about what their audience cares about and ultimately, to always deliver something that they are proud of.
Reflecting on the workshop, advertising student Sahar Falaky said, “The presentation was extremely helpful in giving me a greater understanding of the core differences between public relations and advertising, which are often mistaken outside of the profession. The case studies on real PR campaigns gave us a fascinating insight into the impact certain messages can have on an audience.”
Fellow student, Kamal Mavalwalla, commented, “The seminar was very informative and encouraging. It provided industry examples of how a simple idea can turn out to be a masterpiece and revealed that watching even one case study a day, analysing it and understanding what’s special about it, would help us to develop our ideas and become inspired.”
According to Dr. Pablo Medina Aguerrebere, “these interactions are extremely important and helpful to students as they provide excellent insights into industry practices and offer a real sense of what it will be like to be a professional in the field. We are grateful to Dan for giving students this opportunity and look forward to our upcoming program of workshops that will feature more leading professionals from the regional and international communications industry.”
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