University of Ilorin (Unilorin), Kwara State has organised advertising and public relations competition among eight leading Nigerian universities to prepare undergraduates for future professional tasks in the field.
Tagged “pitch-a-ton advertising creative contest”, the competition provides students with real-world experience of creating a strategic advertising/creative pitch for a corporate client.
Speaking at the event in Ilorin on Thursday, the convener and a lecturer in Mass Communication department of the institution, Dr Kehinde K. Kadiri, said that the students were expected to develop a creative advertising plan for a real product/service and then present for consideration their work to advertising professionals in the industry.
“We believe that there is no better way to learn about the advertising campaign process than by actually developing a campaign for a real client.
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“The field of creative communication is like a battlefield and I believe that to be relevant, the students have to be better prepared to face this battle. This preparation should not just be theoretical but also practical exposition from professionals in the field who have tasted the war and are conquering.
The advertising industry in Nigeria is a volatile and dynamic one. Hence it is important that students start learning about the tricks right from school so that they would not meet a drastically different approach from what they were used to when they eventually get to the real world. Hence, this creative competition will not only add to the reservoir of knowledge of both students and lecturers in communication, but it would also shrink the town and gown relationship that is needed in academia”, she said.
The competition saw the University of Ilorin clinching the first position, while the University of Ibadan came second just as the Kwara State Polytechnic picked the third position.
Tertiary institutions that participated in the creative contest include the host university, the University of Ilorin, University of Ibadan, Al-Hikmah University, Kwara State University, Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Kwara State Polytechnic, Summit University and Fountain University.
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