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A student-run advertising agency acts like a real advertising agency, but is operated by students.
The agency can be included in the academic curriculum, allowing students to work in the agency for academic credit. Or, the agency can simply be housed within the academic unit, allowing students to work in the agency for volunteer experience. In other cases, the agency can operate as a student club within the broader organizational structure of the university. The student-run agency provides advertising and similar communications services (public relations, marketing, social media, etc.) to various organizations such as college departments, small businesses, and community-based non-profit organizations. Some agencies compete with professionals and charge for services. Other agencies do all their work without charge. Other agencies have a philanthropic focus whereby communications work is conducted for free for nonprofits, while for-profit entities are asked to make a charitable donation to the agency to support its learner-centered focus. Most student-run agencies tend to take an integrated marketing communications focus, combining advertising with public relations and other services.
As is the case with communications agencies in the real world, student-run agencies typically offer a variety of support to clients, including public relations, marketing, promotions, and social media support. The main appeal of a student-run advertising agency for clients is that the agency can provide professional-quality work at no cost or very small cost. The primary appeal for students is that they gain real-world experience unlike anything that can result from a traditional classroom experience. Students working in this environment have to mentor each other. Students learn to engage in "reverse mentoring" whereby they typically have more experience and knowledge of communication than their clients - so they must educate the clients. In all agency environments, development of time management and teamwork skills is essential. Students must collaborate to produce work that satisfies the client and the agency supervisor (typically a faculty member). The work must be academically appropriate and professionally relevant. This balance of responsibilities and oversight makes the student-run agency an ideal learning experience and preparation for the professional workplace.
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization to the public in order to influence their perception. Public relations and publicity differ in that PR is controlled internally, whereas publicity is not controlled and contributed by external parties. Public relations may include an organization or individual gaining exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do not require direct payment. The exposure is mostly media-based, and this differentiates it from advertising as a form of marketing communications. Public relations aims to create or obtain coverage for clients for free, also known as earned media, rather than paying for marketing or advertising also known as paid media. But in the early 21st century, advertising is also a part of broader PR activities.
A video news release (VNR) is a video segment made to look like a news report, but is instead created by a PR firm, advertising agency, marketing firm, corporation, government agency, or non-profit organization. They are provided to television newsrooms to shape public opinion, promote commercial products and services, publicize individuals, or support other interests. News producers may air VNRs, in whole or in part, at their discretion or incorporate them into news reports if they contain information appropriate to a story or of interest to viewers.
The S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, commonly known as Newhouse School, is the communications and journalism school of Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. It has undergraduate programs in advertising; broadcast and digital journalism; Esports communications and management; magazine, news, and digital journalism; public relations; television, radio and film; visual communications; and music business. Its Master's Programs includes degrees in advanced media management; advertising; audio arts; broadcast and digital journalism; Goldring arts journalism and communications; magazine news and digital journalism; media studies; multimedia, photography and design; public diplomacy and global communications; public relations; and television, radio and film. The school was named after publishing magnate Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr., founder of Advance Publications, who provided the founding gift in 1964.
Ketchum Inc. is a global public relations firm, offering marketing, branding, and corporate communications services in the corporate, healthcare, food and beverage, and technology industries. George Ketchum founded the firm as a Pittsburgh-based advertising company in 1923. It later evolved to include a public relations practice. The firm is headquartered in New York City, with auxiliary offices and affiliates in North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The agency has been owned by Omnicom Group since 1996. Ketchum merged with Düsseldorf-based Pleon in one of the industry's largest mergers in 2009. It has been led by President and CEO Mike Doyle since 2020.
The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) is a nonprofit trade association for public relations professionals. It was founded in 1947 by combining the American Council on Public Relations and the National Association of Public Relations Councils. That year, it had its first annual conference and award ceremony.
The USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism comprises a School of Communication and a School of Journalism at the University of Southern California (USC). Starting July 2017, the school's Dean is Willow Bay, succeeding Ernest J. Wilson III. The graduate program in Communication is consistently ranked first according to the QS World University Rankings.
The Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication is a constituent college of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States. Established in 1915, Grady College offers undergraduate degrees in journalism, advertising, public relations, and entertainment and media studies, and master's and doctoral programs of study. Grady has consistently been ranked among the top schools of journalism education and research in the U.S.
The public relations officer (PRO) or chief communications officer (CCO) or corporate communications officer is a C-suite level officer responsible for communications, public relations, and/or public affairs in an organization. Typically, the CCO of a corporation reports to the chief executive officer (CEO). The CCO may hold an academic degree in communications. A Public Relations Officer has a positive public opinion of an organization and increased brand knowledge as their first concern. They access and monitor their client's online presence to prepare the right message to convey. They can also coach clients on the importance of self-image and how to communicate with the media. A Public Relations Officer aims to positively handle and communicate information internally and externally.
Boston University College of Communication (COM) is the communication school of Boston University (BU), a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1947, it was the first university in the United States to offer a degree in public relations (PR), and the program sets the standard for PR paths across the country. It houses the University's undergraduate and graduate programs in advertising, film and television, journalism, media science, and public relations.
The Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication is the journalism unit of the University of Oklahoma in Norman. The college is named for the former longtime publishers of The Oklahoman.
Agricultural communication is a field that focuses on communication about agriculture-related information among agricultural stakeholders and between agricultural and non-agricultural stakeholders. Agriculture is broadly defined in this discipline to include not only farming, but also food, fiber, animals, rural issues, and natural resources. Agricultural communication is done formally and informally by agricultural extension and is considered related to science communication. However, it has evolved into its own professional field.
CELSA is a French communication and journalism school located in the West of Paris, (Neuilly-sur-Seine) and is part of the Sorbonne University. The name CELSA is an acronym for the French phrase 'Centre d'études littéraires et scientifiques appliquées', i.e. Centre for Applied Literary and Scientific Studies.
Texas Tech University College of Media & Communication provides faculty, staff and students opportunities to study communications-related disciplines. The college is located on the sprawling Texas Tech University campus in Lubbock, Texas. TTU CoMC features seven undergraduate programs as well as a doctoral program and three master's degree programs.
Burson Cohn & Wolfe is a multinational public relations and communications firm, headquartered in New York City. In February 2018, parent WPP Group PLC announced that it had merged its subsidiaries Cohn & Wolfe with Burson-Marsteller. The combined agency is now known as Burson Cohn & Wolfe.
The UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media is a nationally accredited professional undergraduate and graduate level journalism school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The school, founded in 1950, is ranked competitively among the best journalism schools in the United States. The school offers undergraduate degrees in media & journalism as well as advertising & public relations. It offers master's degrees in journalism, strategic communication, and visual communication and doctoral degrees in media & communication.
The Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications is the undergraduate and graduate college dedicated to the study of journalism, mass communications and media at Pennsylvania State University. Re-established in 2017 under its new name after the producer, screenwriter and benefactor Donald P. Bellisario, the Bellisario College is home to four departments: Advertising/Public Relations, Journalism, Film Production and Media Studies, and Telecommunications and Media Industries. Offering five undergraduate majors, a master's degree in media studies, and a Ph.D. program in mass communications, the college is the largest accredited program of its kind in the United States. The college's facilities are located on the University Park campus.
Worldcom Public Relations Group is an international network of independently owned public relations firms, with 112 integrated communications agencies in 35 countries.
The School ofJournalism & Mass Communication (UWSJMC) is the journalism school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Located in Vilas Communication Hall, the School offers two undergraduate programs, two Master of Arts programs in Journalism, and a doctoral program.
The A.Q. Miller School of Media and Communication offers distinguished programs of instruction and research leading to the bachelor's and master's degrees in mass communications at Kansas State University. Undergraduates can pursue a science or arts degree in one of four sequences: News and Sports Media, Digital Innovations in Media, Advertising/Public Relations and Communication Studies. Emphases include drone journalism, news broadcasting, graphics production, public relations, and advertising. The Miller School teaches drone photography and video in partnership with the K-State Polytechnic Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight and Operations program. The School collaborates in the Kansas State interdisciplinary doctoral degree program in leadership communication, Leadership Studies, Communications and Agricultural Education, and the Institute of Civic Discourse and Democracy.
Northeastern University School of Journalism and Media Innovation is the journalism school of Northeastern University, a private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to the school's undergraduate and graduate degree programs, Northeastern's flagship cooperative education program allows students to alternate semesters of full-time study and semesters of full-time, professional work in newsrooms, public relations firms, advertising agencies and non-profit organizations.
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