McCollins Media, a UAE-based full-fledged digital communications agency has launched ‘The McCollege Project’ which aims to discover a new generation of talented young individuals across universities.

During the month-long project, launched in October, students will compete through interactive and constructive social media workshops for an employment opportunity.
 
An inter-university initiative, the workshops were conducted by Meghna Kothari, the director, McCollins Media and covered topics such as content generation, social media trends within the UAE, social media analytics and product seeding. Over 100 students are participating in the workshops.

The brands include Costa Coffee, Liberty Automobiles, Fujifilm, Al Hamra Village and Wamli.

"With digital media gaining such prominence it’s become important to have a tutorial on this vast subject. While people roughly get what digital brand activation is about, for those aspiring to be a part of this industry directly, it is imperative to understand the various aspects of a digital brand strategy and the evolution of media," stated Meghna Kothari.

"With The McCollege Project, we aim to explain to the next generation the first steps in realizing the importance of a digital brand strategy and its role in building brands," she added.

Keitaro So, the GM for Fujifilm Electronics Imaging Division (Mena) said: "With the landscape of communications changing dynamically, it is imperative for brands to adjust their marketing strategy to include the digital platform. With the students already familiar with the various social media channels, it was interesting to see their knowledge and skills being utilized for brand activation."

"The training received will help mould their understanding and provide a competitive edge while seeking employment in the communications industry," he added.

McCollins Media utilized case studies of existing clients across Consumer Electronics, F&B, real Estate, Automotive and E-commerce to provide students their first go at implementing Social Media campaigns. These will then be presented to the key brand managers of each respective brand for further evaluation and analysis.

The best digital brand strategy will be announced at The McCollege Project Event Finale, which is scheduled to take place by the month end.

The winning strategies stand to win an internship at some of the best brands in the region. Mccollins Media will launch a blog that will use content created by the students. This blog will give students a fast-track to blog management and therefore give an insight into the blogging world.

Participating Universities include the University of Wollongong, American University of Sharjah and Manipal University.

Dr Mohammed Ibahrine, the professor at AUS, said: “The social media workshop was an innovative idea. It offered students a golden opportunity to get professional insights from the business world. AUS students applied what they had learned in real life projects. They took part in this workshop with strong dedication.”-TradeArabia News Service