Lecturers from the Digital Marketing and Masters in Digital Marketing teams at the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), Athlone campus are once again inviting companies from the Midlands and beyond to collaborate with TUS digital marketing students on a series of live digital marketing and consultancy projects for the 2024/25 academic year to help them fill their digital marketing resource gaps as part of an innovative ‘live’ capstone project.
The hugely successful initiative, now in its seventh year, allows the students to work with real businesses, helping them set and achieve strategic digital marketing goals while gaining invaluable, hands-on, industry-relevant experience.
Students from TUS’s Bachelor of Business (Hons) in Digital Marketing and MSc in Digital Marketing will develop and implement a fully-fledged digital marketing strategy for participating businesses under the supervision of experienced digital marketing lecturers and practitioners.
“We designed this programme with the digital needs of industry firmly in mind. There is still a significant skills gap in businesses as technology advances, and there are just not enough technically adept graduates to harness digital skills within businesses,” Louise Murray, senior lecturer in the Faculty of Business & Hospitality at TUS Athlone Campus, explained.
The live digital projects task students with bringing an idea ‘from conception to execution’ with the support of the company. “This is a fantastic opportunity for businesses to avail of our students’ expertise in this technical area; in return, our students get to apply their cutting-edge knowledge of digital marketing tools and processes in a real-world scenario under our supervision,” said Louise Murray. “If your company has a digital marketing skills gap and could benefit from such a collaboration, please get in touch. We are looking for businesses of all sizes to get involved – from SMEs to multinational companies from any sector.”
This successful academia/industry collaboration has seen past students collaborate with a wide variety of businesses, including DPD Ireland, Midlands 103, Panelto Foods, Zinkworks, Ganlys of Athlone, Mersus Technologies, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, O’Donoghue’s Bakery, Buymedia and Fernhill Garden Centre, among many others. These collaborations have been highly successful, resulting in bespoke and unique digital marketing strategies that have helped these businesses thrive in their respective industries.
“The digital marketing strategies that emerge from these collaborations are bespoke and unique to the respective company and their needs”, explained Dr Aisling Keenan Gaylard, a digital marketing lecturer with the Faculty of Business and Hospitality at TUS’s Athlone campus. “This ensures that your business will receive a strategy that is specifically designed to address your unique challenges and opportunities in the digital space.”
“A comprehensive, data-backed marketing strategy is essential for any business looking to maintain competitiveness and grow its market share. Our digital marketing students assess the specific needs of their partner company, considering the type of industry, competitors operating in the space, and the nature of the product/service, among other things, and in turn, build a full-funnel strategy to address those unique considerations.”
Businesses interested in participating in the programme are invited to fill out an expression of interest form, which is available at Live Digital Projects—TUS.
Further information can be obtained by contacting Louise Murray (louise.murray@tus.ie) and Dr Aisling Keenan (aisling.keenan@tus.ie).