Northern has launched a challenge for students from schools and colleges across Yorkshire and Humberside to develop a marketing and PR campaign to encourage people aged 15-30 to travel to destinations on the Northern network.
The ‘Marketing and PR Challenge’ is a joint initiative between Northern and the Young People’s Enterprise Forum (YPEF), supported by Yorkshire Forward and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to give students, aged between 16 and 19, the opportunity to use their creative and commercial skills by undertaking a real-life business project.
The students will be asked to create a campaign for promoting their chosen destination using a number of methods, including posters, TV, radio, newspapers and on-line.
The winning entry will be used as part of Northern’s summer 2011 marketing and PR campaign to promote rail travel to some of the great destinations across the north of England, whether it be for sightseeing, shopping or events.
Richard Allan, Head of Marketing and Communications at Northern, said: “We’re delighted to be launching the ‘Marketing & PR Challenge’ in Yorkshire and Humberside. It gives students a real opportunity to get first-hand business experience and provide an insight into a career in marketing, PR and tourism.
“The Marketing and PR Challenge follows the very successful Engineering Challenge we ran last year which gave students the opportunity to develop their engineering skills by designing and building detailed scale models of train carriages, meeting the most up-to-date customer service and engineering standards.”
Jane Walton, Policy Director, YPEF, said: “Taking young people out of the classroom and into the world of work is an excellent way to inspire them by giving learning a real world context. The Northern Marketing and PR Challenge does just this, putting young people’s creativity and skills to the test to solve a real business task.”
