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BU students win national PR competition

16 June 2013

Final year PR students beat competition from students across the country to win work experience at Grayling PR agency

Two final year BU students fought off competition from PR students from across the country, to win the coveted prize awarded by Grayling, the global PR agency.

The finals of the competition - named 'Amilla', after the Greek term for healthy competition - were held at Grayling's offices in Soho, central London.

Five teams made it to the finals after an initial application phase: three from Bournemouth University and two from Leeds Metropolitan University.

Students had to pitch their campaign to Grayling on behalf of one of their current clients, Anchor - England's largest not-for-profit provider of housing and care to older people.

This challenging brief took students beyond their comfort zone of young consumers, requiring them to research and engage with post-retirement people.

The winning team was made up of Richard Wilson and Mario Morello (team name, 'Willoonello'), who are both in the final year of BA (Hons) Public Relations at Bournemouth University. Their prize was work experience at Grayling.

Alison Clarke CEO of Grayling UK and Ireland, who presented them with their prize said their pitch was "really smart, really well thought through".

Dr Dan Jackson, a course tutor of BA Public Relations at BU, added: "We are so proud of Richard and Mario.

"They are terrific ambassadors for the University, and have fantastic careers in PR ahead of them".

Dr Tasos Theofilou, the Chair of the 2013 Amilla competition, said: "Their success is a terrific endorsement of the quality of PR education they receive at BU. They understood better than any other team what the client wanted. Their research and insight was outstanding".

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