We’re always on the lookout for ways in which we can get involved with and give back to our local community as part of our Buzz Does strategy (our long-term commitment to supporting people and the planet).

This may be through supporting local businesses, participating in local charity events, or by supporting local schools and strengthening our connections with education staff.

We recently heard about Bolton Rewind, Regenerate – a new project for the Year 8 learners at Ladybridge High School which explores Bolton’s past, present and future. We were really keen to get involved (especially with a few of us being Boltonians ourselves), so we volunteered to lead an interactive session on marketing to support with the project.

Over the past few weeks, the Year 8 learners have been busy researching Bolton and taking part in fieldwork and real-world exploration. So far, they’ve visited Bolton Museum, Aldi Distribution Centre at Logistics North, Smithills Moor and lots of areas in and around the town to observe how Bolton has evolved over the years.

Their project culminates in a pop up exhibition later this month at Crompton Place Shopping Centre in Bolton where learners will be able to showcase their research with written work, posters, artwork, videos and creative displays.

To help the learners spread the word about their upcoming event to the local Bolton community, our marketing team and managing director, focused our interactive workshop around the key areas of marketing relevant to their project.

• Lyndsay and Michael delivered an introduction to marketing, quizzing the learners on good and bad examples of marketing and encouraging them to delve deeper into why some campaigns worked and others didn’t.

• Dan, our Digital Designer, worked with his group on developing a striking logo that perfectly encapsulated Bolton and clearly communicated the focus of the project. He introduced the learners to different types of logos before tasking them with the creative challenge of sketching their own logo ideas.

• Izzy, our Marketing Executive, helped her group to brainstorm which social media platforms they could use to promote the project and the type of posts they could create, for example whether fun or informative. They also discussed the different demographics of potential visitors and how best to reach them.

• As one of the team’s creative copywriters, I worked with my group on creating a press release for the project, introducing them to the different elements of a press release and encouraging them to think about the persuasive writing techniques they could use to entice people to visit their exhibition.

We thoroughly enjoyed working with the Year 8 learners and unpacking some of the key concepts in marketing. Their enthusiasm and passion for the topics we explored really shone through in their work and in their feedback:

“When Buzz Education came to school, they really helped me because I did not know how to market a product and use social media. I now have the skills to market products in the future.” Year 8 Learner, Ladybridge High School

“I thought working with Buzz Education was really helpful. It taught me new skills that helped me with our project.” Year 8 Learner, Ladybridge High School

“Working with Buzz Education helped me learn how businesses use marketing to sell their business. I hope to use these skills if the future to start my own business in the future.” Year 8 Learner, Ladybridge High School