Advertising Students Space Talk with Melissa Thorpe

11 December 2018

Creative Advertising space talk
Type: Text
Category: Student stories

Melissa Thorpe, Head of Marketing and Communications at Spaceport Cornwall, held a talk for the Creative Advertising students recently, where she discussed the future of space travel and exploration.

Sean Kirby, second year student, attended the talk: "It was very eye-opening. Melissa covered the current state of the UK space industry, highlighting how we're the only nation to have developed satellite launch capability and then abandoned it. We were shown how the UK's economy, in the face of uncertainties such as Brexit, could be helped in the long-term by investing in the space sector. A spaceport in Newquay could also benefit both Cornwall and the South West, providing jobs and allowing for economic growth."

Melissa led the students on a live brief from Spaceport Cornwall. Their objective was to convince SMEs to make use of Virgin Orbit's first launch from the UK in 2020.

Describing the workshop, Sean said: "The real challenge was communicating to business owners that being able to launch their own satellites isn't only possible, but is affordable, thanks to new services like Virgin Orbit. They wouldn't only be helping their businesses, they would be making history, contributing to the growth of the UK space industry."

Throughout the course, students are given various briefs for different types of advertising work, from print and radio ads to integrated marketing campaigns.

Sean added: "One of my favourite aspects of advertising is the diversity. When someone says advertising, you think ads in magazines and on TV, but this brief allowed us to create a campaign that was integrated across as many mediums as we could think of, from social media to science and tech conferences. The challenges we're given [throughout the course] change wildly and you can never guess what will come next. Last week we were making radio ads for superglue, this week we're telling businesses about the future of the space industry. You're never stuck to one creative discipline, so the possibilities are endless."

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