Rebecca Pipes graduated in 2021 with a degree in Marketing Management and now works at Johnson & Johnson as a Marketing Graduate. She recently returned to LUMS to mentor students taking part in the 'Marketing Me' Launch event.

‘Marketing Me’ Launch 2023 is a day for first-year Lancaster University Marketing students to utilise and build upon their marketing, presentation, teamwork, networking and stakeholder management skills as they tackle a live brief from a client while being mentored by returning alumni. The purpose of this event is to help students feel equipped to market themselves in addition to the products and services they learn to market in their academic studies. This year, each student group competed to win a ‘day in the life’ at the creative agency Shoot the Moon, allowing students to expand their network, develop presentation skills, and impress the panel of industry expert judges!

Run-down of the day

For 2023, Marketing Me partnered with GROW Your Future (GYF) to deliver an end-of-year brand strategy challenge to improve Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) students’ awareness of GYF to increase uptake of the service so more students benefit from the programme. GROW Your Future is part of the Lancaster University Widening Participation strategy and offers students at Lancaster University the opportunity to take part in activities that support the development of key employability skills, professional networks, and confidence to compete effectively in the graduate labour market.

So, the day began with Hannah Allison, Careers Widening Participation Manager at Lancaster University, delivering the challenge brief. Students then heard from keynote speakers and alumni to inspire current students through short ‘day in the life’ presentations. These presentations helped students understand what it’s really like to work in marketing and advertising in various roles and industries. Following this, the students broke into groups and each alumnus mentored a group of students as they tackled their brief. Before long, the students had completed their tasks and went on to prepare their presentations, documenting their brand strategy review and their interpretation of GYF’s strengths and opportunities for improvement before concluding with their recommendations on how to grow awareness of GYF.

The day ended with takeaway pizza (what’s a better way to the students’ hearts!) and a networking opportunity with all alumni mentors.

Importance for current students

The ‘Marketing Me’ Launch event enables students to develop multiple tangible skills, all relevant to their future internships and placements. Often this is the first time the students have tackled a live brief, so it is encouraged that the students have the opportunity to reflect upon their experience. Given the winning team also had the chance to experience a day in the life at Shoot the Moon, students had an extra incentive to participate and perform well on the day.

The support I received from alumni during my Lancaster University experience was invaluable and inspired me to support today’s students. The time, commitment, and passion of the alumni network are what make all the difference for current and future students. This event is a way for students to witness what individuals who previously studied the same courses as them have gone on to achieve. This inspires students to invest in their personal development early in their university journey. Hearing various ‘day in the life’ presentations from several alumni and their varying challenges and successes gives a real boost to current students and demonstrates the success of hard work and dedication. To ensure the day is relevant to all students, Vicky Metcalf, LUMS Marketing Careers Coach, does an excellent job of always ensuring there is a breadth of experience within the alumni mentors for this event including representation from in-house, agency side, large corporate organisations, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and charities from varying industries.

Returning as an Alumnus

The support of the LUMS alumni community and employer network is what makes the ‘Marketing Me’ events what they are. As well as delivering a short ‘day in the life’ presentation to help students understand what my day working in brand marketing on Calpol is like, I also mentored a group of students as they tackled their live brief. Within these breakout rooms as an alumnus mentor, I tried to engage the group, offer my insights and recommendations based on my commercial experience in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry, and empower my team to build up the confidence to present to the judges as it's a great practice before real interview and case study applications.

Giving back to current students is really empowering; many alumni helped me navigate my course and career options when I was a student so it’s exciting and fulfilling to offer the same support. I am passionate about early talent and personal development so volunteering at such events is a great way to build up mentoring skills. The difference between the students that first arrived in my breakout room to those who presented to the judging panel was incredibly rewarding as I felt like I had added value in a short amount of time.

From a personal perspective, returning to university is a fantastic way to reconnect with University colleagues who all made a monumental impact on where I am today. There are also opportunities for alumni to network with the judges, and I have met some very inspirational industry leaders at this year’s Marketing Me event.

I would highly recommend and encourage all current students to connect with their alumni mentors and all alumni who are interested in returning to Lancaster to contact the LUMS Careers team and continue to inspire students.

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The opinions expressed by our bloggers and those providing comments are personal, and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of Lancaster University. Responsibility for the accuracy of any of the information contained within blog posts belongs to the blogger.