Students in Humber’s Advertising – Art Direction and the Advertising Copywriting programs had the opportunity to create and pitch campaigns for tech start-ups through a pilot collaboration with the Digital Media Zone (DMZ) at Toronto Metropolitan University.

The DMZ is an incubator for tech start-ups and the founders of three of these start-ups met with Humber students and provided them with promotional campaign briefs. From there, the students created campaigns that they showcased to the start-ups at a final pitch.

The start-ups were:

• PoliTraQ, which helps public affairs professionals implement and manage advocacy campaigns, monitor legislation, and track their advocacy impact.

•RealDesk, a next-generation platform that seeks to empower stakeholders involved in real estate transactions by providing them with a comprehensive, interconnected platform that revolutionizes efficiency and facilitates seamless information sharing.

• Robbie, which monitors drying of damage caused by water to ensure accuracy in insurance claims.

Janice Fung is the program coordinator and a professor with the Advertising – Art Direction program who thought it was an excellent opportunity for the students to build their portfolios while also showcasing their talents for the possibility of internships or work placements. It was also a chance for collaboration between students of the two programs and it replicated how they will be working in the real world once they start their careers.

In total five teams of students created campaigns for the start-ups.

Fung said the students produced tremendous campaigns while flexing their creative muscles as they came up with ideas. Fung added they had a challenging job taking these companies, which have niche products, and finding a way to make them accessible and understandable to potential clients.

“This tested their capabilities and they met the challenge rather well,” said Fung. “There was some really good work and some clever thinking about how they could connect the audience with the technology.”

Advertising – Art Direction graduate David Nunez was one of the students who participated in the collaboration. Nunez said his time at Humber in the program will serve him well in his future career.

“This program gave me the tools to adapt my previous knowledge and gain new skills to effectively turn my ideas into campaigns,” said Nunez. “Thanks to the program, I’m entering the industry with live client and agency experiences. The guidance and support from our professors and amazing effort from the program to provide networking events and industry opportunities has prepared me for the start of my internship. Truly a great decision to kick-start my creative career in Canada.”  

Mary Secord, program coordinator with the Advertising Copywriting program, said it was an interesting exercise for the students as they were pitching the company founders directly instead of marketing directors or to an advertising agency. While they usually work with established brands, this was a chance to create a campaign for emerging companies before a brand narrative had been established.   

It was also an opportunity to develop an important skill - presenting. Secord said being able to walk the client through a campaign and convince them of its efficacy is of great importance otherwise all the hours and resources spent on developing it are for naught if a client rejects it.

“One of the best moments for me was watching the students take all the skills they have learned and apply them to a real-world campaign,” said Secord.

Although this year was a pilot, Fung hopes to continue the partnership going forward.