Student marketing agency NEXT offers real world client experience

NEXT is a new Humber student agency program to create engaging, creative, and eye-catching content to promote brands in innovative ways. They strive to make the message interesting and enjoyable for the audience and hopefully get people understand the core message when it comes to advertising and branding.

Jessica Fowler is the director of the student advertising agency NEXT. She is also a full-time professor in the field of communications and business. Fowler has worked with notable clients like Edelman, Hellmann’s,  Mazda,. and J.W. Thompson. Fowler works with Felicia Guthrie, the coordinator working with students and clients. Guthrie is an advertising marketing communications graduate of Humber.

“NEXT is a program designed to give students in the creative and communication fields client and agency experience. It offers external clients to come and work in our classrooms on projects. This year, we’ve piloted our first student agency. So we have 15 chosen students, from across all of our programs, to represent a student agency, in which they’ll be doing work that’s related to client work and also in an environment that’s agency-like,” Fowler says.

Fifteen second-year students have been chosen for the main creative level of the agency for the 2024-25 school year. These students will move into the student board when they are in their third year, while second-year students will be selected to join the main creative level. There are 10 students on the student board. There is also an industry board of professionals in journalism, public relations and creative advertising. There are six members on the industry board and more will be announced.

Kayla Fernandes is a third-year bachelor of public relations student. She started her role in NEXT as public relations officer last fall. She is on the social media and the video team. Her responsibilities consist of planning content for their official launch.  

“Jessica did a phenomenal job at making sure that she collected the best of the best who applied and making sure that everyone is top of their game. They’re excited to be there. No one feels like they’re being forced to be there, which is obviously like a really good thing,” Fernandes says. She will be in this role for the year, before she moves into the student board next year.

Abby Henderson-Bowman is a third year in the bachelor of creative advertising program. She is part of the student board. She was introduced into NEXT agency in her first semester of second year. Fowler visited her “copywriting 1” class with the challenge of coming up with name ideas for the agency. Bowman was part of the voting process to select a name. After the name was selected, Bowman had the opportunity to join the student board without filling out an application.

Student board members can be described as middle management looking after what’s going on. For example, Bowman is a team leader for the social media team. Her responsibilities include checking in with social media team members, keeping track of due dates, making sure everyone is on top of all of their work and relay any questions they have for Fowler.

Bowman has found that the balance between the agency and school work has been great because it’s not a full-time commitment and flexible around her school schedule. “I definitely want to be involved in NEXT as much as I can, but also being in third year, now I’m starting to develop my portfolio, and the course load is a lot heavier. It’s nice to still have the option to participate without all of the stress of having to make sure I’m doing a bunch of different things,” Bowman says.

You can follow the agency’s Instagram page at @nextstudentagency for updates on introductions to the team and official launch.