New placement opportunities for marketing students as agency boss delivers guest talk

University College Birmingham students have had the chance to gain expert insight on marketing from the head of a city agency offering a range of placement opportunities.

Students on undergraduate and postgraduate marketing courses at the University were given a guest talk last week by Lindi Mngaza, Founder and Managing Director of Birmingham-based firm Explode Social Media.

Located in Colmore Row, the agency specialises in digital and social media marketing and has collaborated with the University to provide a variety of voluntary and paid placements for students since 2020.

As part of University College Birmingham's collaboration with the firm, Lindi delivered a talk at Moss House for students on our Marketing Management BA (Hons) and Marketing Management for Events, Hospitality and Tourism MA courses.

The talk covered a wide variety of key topics for the marketing sector, including organic social media, influencer marketing campaigns, pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimisation (SEO) and brand development.

"Explode Social Media are extremely delighted to be working with University College Birmingham," said Lindi. "We believe it is important to support and harness the creative minds of the next generation from such a great local institution.

"We are looking forward to launching further initiatives with the University to attract vibrant, exciting and focused students who want to go on and work in marketing, especially opportunities within our innovative agency."

Several students have already completed 10-day voluntary placements at the firm with more being made available, covering responsibilities and elements including social media content, TikTok videos, influencer outreach, campaign planning, reports and analysis, B2B sales and project support.

For Business Enterprise BA (Hons) student Franklin Maliykel, one such voluntary placement led on to a summer internship, followed by a paid year-long placement with Explode.

"I would definitely recommend Explode – it’s a very good starting point," said Franklin. "If I don't know something, they have taken the time to train me, which is great."

Franklin’s work with the firm has seen him provide sales support and manage Linkedin clients as well as providing administrative support.

"One of the main things I've taken from this placement is how I've developed my confidence and how to work well in a team," he said. "I've also learned so much about LinkedIn and social media in general.

"From where I started to where I am now, I have come a long way."

Speaking following last week’s visit from Lindi Mngaza, marketing lecturer Faiza Khan said: "Lindi gave a very engaging talk about her business and provided some very useful insights into how things work in the marketing world.

"The students learned about the suitability of different social media platforms for different businesses and audiences. Her lively and interactive style, complete with examples of brands she had worked with, were well received by the students."

University College Birmingham regularly welcomes experts from industry to provide insight for students across our range of courses, as well as working with a wide variety of employers to open up placements, project work and other enrichment opportunities.

Last month saw students on our hospitality and tourism courses given a series of talks by Dominique Sidley, Global Trade Strategy Director for leading attractions operator Merlin Entertainments, with a view to encouraging new talent from a diverse range of backgrounds to pursue placement and work opportunities within the sector.

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