The beautifully shot three minute film www.uwe.ac.uk/aboutus/realworldfilm uses real students to tell an emotive story of what life is like at UWE Bristol and takes a new approach to promoting a university. The people of Bristol are being called on to support the film and vote for the film by clicking the ‘Like’ button beside the work. The winner will then be featured in the next issue of The Drum (23 July) in the Creative Showcase spread. The next two week’s are particularly special as work shown here will also be displayed at The Drum Live on Wednesday 9 July in a special Blippable Creative Showcase gallery.

Taking a new approach to promoting a university, the film entitled “The University for the Real World”, moves away from the usual factual, prospectus style brand films which often focus on facilities and courses.  This film is designed to prompt an emotional connection in viewers and the resulting piece is a powerful representation of life at UWE Bristol, with an emphasis on preparing students for life and careers in the real world as well as access to the great range of social, leisure and lifestyle features of the city of Bristol. The stars of the film, 25 UWE Bristol students, are shown studying and gaining practical experience for their chosen careers in a range of UWE’s excellent facilities alongside their wide ranging leisure interests.

The film aims to highlight to prospective students that UWE Bristol is a top university for passionate people who want to succeed in their chosen career.  It has been developed to show what makes UWE Bristol distinctive as a university and raise awareness and the reputation of the University both in the UK and internationally.

UWE Bristol is in the top six English universities for graduate employment and was placed 8^th by The Telegraph in its list of top universities for getting a job in 2013.

• 94.4% of UWE Bristol graduates are employed or in further study six months after graduating
• Awarded National ‘Best University Careers/employability’ service 2014
• 5,300 undertake work placements each year
• 1,200 have undertaken paid internships (2010 – 2013)
• 4,437 part-time jobs advertised through our student JobShop

Commenting on her role in the film, business and management student Ellen Riis-White said: “The film made me feel emotional as I’m proud of the university and everything it has to offer…I truly believe this film is going to attract many to look further into all the incredible opportunities UWE, and the city of Bristol has to offer.”

Vice-chancellor, Steve West said: “UWE Bristol is an ambitious University with a real passion and commitment to transforming futures. We are engaged in ground-breaking projects that are inspiring people and improving lives across the globe. This film showcases some of the advances we are making in high-tech/advanced engineering, for example, the film features one of our business students who through her involvement with the UWE Motor Racing Society did her work placement with the Bloodhound Super Sonic Car project .

“Our top priority is to nurture the confident, agile and enterprising graduates that our society and economy needs – the individuals who will go on to shape our future. That is why it is so important that our students are part of these and many other innovative projects, and that we focus on real world experiences for all our students.”

The Consumer Products division of ITV Studios Global Entertainment and Nelvana Enterprises have appointed Bath public relations agency Highlight PR to manage a consumer PR campaign to promote the 80th anniversary of Babarthe Elephant in the UK during 2013.

Whilst celebrating this milestone, the campaign aims to re-engage fans with this classic book-based character, build awareness amongst new consumers of all ages, and create a demand for ITV’s planned product roll-out.

Highlight will use a mix of media relations, social media and product placement to support the brand, leading up to a birthday celebration and retail event in Q3.

In 1931, The Story of Babar, the first book in the series by Jean de Brunhoff, was published in France, however it was not until 1933 that the books appeared in the UK.

After Jean de Brunhoff’s death in 1937, his son, Laurent continued creating the books. Over the years Babar grew into a worldwide brand, published in 17 languages, with film and TV adaptations. Babar: The Adventures of Badou is currently aired on CiTV. Laurent De Brunhoff is still alive today, aged 85.

Global celebrations leading up to the 80th Anniversary kicked off in Paris in December 2011 with a retrospective exhibition of artworks and memorabilia spanning eight decades. This was followed by a month of celebrations in New York in November 2012, which included in-store events at Saks Fifth Avenue and the eponymous bookstore, Books of Wonder, as well as the costume character closing the New York Stock Exchange.

Alison Vellacott, director of Highlight PR, comments:

“I grew up with the Babar stories and have always loved the character – like thousands of people across the UK. We are delighted to be working with Nelvana and ITV Studios Global Entertainment to promote this anniversary, whilst creating a platform for the first phase of the consumer re-launch. The new Babar vintage range reflects the essence of the beautiful artwork in the books, and chimes with the current trend for stylish, retro interiors.”

Maggy Harris, Head of Brand Marketing, Consumer Products at ITV Studios Global Entertainment said: “Highlight PR has specialist expertise and experience in promoting classic book-based licensed characters, which made the agency an obvious hire on this project. We look forward to working with them and Nelvana on an exciting re-launch of Babar in the UK this year.”

Antoine Erligmann, VP Licensing Europe, Nelvana Enterprises, said:

“Babar is an extraordinarily well-loved literary classic – not just in his native France but throughout the world. We believe there is great potential for the brand in the UK; this PR campaign aims to kickstart consumer awareness, prior to the product sell-through.”