This term, the Department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship and International Business at Kent Business School celebrated the achievements of final-year students through the inaugural Kent Marketing Excellence Award.
The award recognises the ability of students to translate complex Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) theory into strategic, actionable campaigns for real-world partners. Working on a live brief with Kent Refugee Action Network (KRAN), students developed six-month marketing strategies designed to strengthen community engagement, increase visibility, and support the charity’s mission. Every student brought something distinctive to the project, and it was genuinely impressive to see such a strong body of thoughtful, creative work produced by young people in support of a charity working with young people.
KRAN supports young refugees and asylum seekers in Kent through education, advocacy and community programmes, helping them to build secure and hopeful futures.
“We were delighted to have been invited by Katie to be the focus organisation for the Marketing Communications, Advertising and Promotions module and to collaborate with the students. The finished campaigns presented to us were insightful, detailed and really captured the spirit, tone and focus of our work at Kent Refugee Action Network. Thank you and congratulations to the winners!”
As part of their final-year marketing communications module, students were tasked with developing a six-month integrated media plan for KRAN. The project required the use of real analytics, audience insight, and ethical storytelling approaches to ensure campaigns were both effective and responsible. The module is convened by Dr Katie Casey, whose teaching emphasises critical and socially engaged marketing. Students are encouraged to consider questions of power, representation and impact, positioning marketing not simply as promotion, but as a form of relationship-building and advocacy. For the assessment, students worked as consultants, developing audience personas, SMART objectives and integrated media strategies. Each student also produced a portfolio of campaign content and a professional pitch deck suitable for presentation to KRAN.
“The Kent Marketing Excellence Award was created to reward the most creative, affective and compelling student output and to recognise student effort across the board. It was incredibly difficult to shortlist student projects as there were so many excellent submissions. KRAN does such wonderful work for some of the most vulnerable people in our community – both the students and I are very grateful that KRAN agreed to partake. I look forward to finding a similar local community organisation for next year’s project! ” Dr Katie Casey
Projects like this provide organisations like KRAN with fresh, research-driven perspectives grounded in audience insight and measurable objectives. They also offer a space to test new narratives and formats – from volunteer storytelling to social-first video content – without the cost of commissioning an agency. For students, the project demonstrates how marketing skills can be used to support social justice and community organisations, and builds confidence in working with sensitive topics such as migration, identity and public perception.
Showcasing three award-winning campaigns
This year’s Kent Marketing Excellence Award recognises three projects that demonstrated exceptional strategic thinking, creativity and ethical sensitivity: First place: Michaela Nyangabyaki, BSc (Hons) Marketing with a Year in Industry, Second place: Abigail Lawrence, BSc (Hons) Marketing with a Year in Industry, Third place: Thais Distefano, BSc (Hons) Marketing with a Year in Industry
Across the winning work, judges from Kent Refugee Action Network (KRAN) and the University’s Centre for Philanthropy identified a consistent strength: campaigns were not only creative, but strategically grounded. Each concept was clearly linked to a defined audience persona, mapped to specific stages of the communication funnel, and embedded within a coherent six-month media plan supported by realistic budgets and measurable KPIs. The Department would like to extend its thanks to both KRAN and the Centre for Philanthropy for their time, insight and contribution to the judging process.
One campaign developed a direct, inclusive email invitation for KRAN’s annual fundraising football event, demonstrating how carefully structured messaging and a clear call to action can mobilise community participation and make the impact of attendance feel immediate and tangible.
Another project produced a ‘day in the life’ video concept following a volunteer, offering a transparent and relatable account of involvement — helping to demystify volunteering while creating a reusable storytelling format that KRAN can adapt across channels.
A third campaign centred on social-first video content exploring identity, migration and hope, foregrounding young people’s lived experiences through bold on-screen text and carefully constructed narrative while encouraging reflection and advocacy among audiences.
Together, these campaigns demonstrate how student marketers can combine theory, creativity and ethical awareness to produce work with real potential value for community organisations.
The Kent Marketing Excellence Award marks the beginning of an ongoing partnership between Kent Business School and the local Kent Community with the aim of continuing to connect critical marketing education to the needs and ambitions of local charities.