Portfolio

Part 2 - Professional and

Reflective Communication

Jake Sirjuesingh | Marketing Communications

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Table of Contents
Reflective essay 3
References 6
Blog post 7
News release 9
Social media posts 12

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Reflective essay
The Academic and Professional Practises for Marketing Communications
also known as APP for short has taught me a lot of key academic skills
that I will be able to use all throughout my years at university and even
after in my working life. In this essay, I will be talking about some of the
key parts of the unit, what I have found difficult and how I have
overcome some of the struggles I have had.

One of the first things we learnt about in APP and a huge part of all
pieces of work that we have to complete at university is BU Harvard
Referencing. I never had an issue with referencing previously during my
time at college however this time around it is a lot different. With the aid
of Bournemouth library’s Harvard BU referencing (2018) most of the
references were fairly straight forward as we were given the layout that
we need to use, it was more a case of filling in the gaps. I have evidently
made a few mistakes when it comes to referencing in my previous essay
plan assignment, however, I think these mistakes will start to start to
deplete the more I reference and the more I get used to it. I know that
throughout my entire duration at BU I am going to need to be
referencing so the quicker I can get used to it and perfect it the better.

During the first couple of weeks of APP, we learnt about how to write a
successful essay and the steps we need to take in order to do so. Having
done an A-Level in Business Studies I had written many essays in the
past although never with this degree of planning. As well as this there
were some distinct differences between the essays I used to write and the
ones we are expected to write at university. The first main difference I
found was the word count and how strict they are with it, as well as the

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actual content and layout was vastly different. In our first assignment,
we had to choose 1 out of 7 given questions to build an essay plan
around, I stumbled straight away as I took an age to decide which
question I wanted to answer, however, once decided I used some of the
Cottrell (2013) note-taking skills learnt in APP to get down my initial
ideas onto paper, this mainly included brainstorms, listing and
freewriting. I found the most success when using the brainstorming
technique as I could get lots of ideas down quickly and also spot links
and develop ideas. Looking back at this assignment, if I was to do it
again I would definitely make sure I choose a question quicker I did that
way I can spend ample amount of time researching the subject,
broadening my knowledge and in turn creating a much better piece of
work. As well as this, giving myself more time to thoroughly check my
references to make sure there is no plagiarism whatsoever and all
references are correct.

During our APP lectures and seminars, we have also come to terms with
how to create successful marketing content, for example, a news release
which you can see further into my portfolio. We were tasked with the
publication of a news release regarding a new LUSH product/product
line. I wanted my new product to revolve around something current and
in need of exposure and help. Because of this, I chose to base my new
bath bomb around the wildfires currently happening in Australia. I
incorporated a 75% donation for the Australian Bushfire Relief and
based the actual bath bomb around a flame. Foster (2008) had a lot of
useful things to say about new releases that aided me a lot when it came
to content and layout. He went into deep detail and even spoke about the
size you should have your headings. (p. 86) says “headings should be in
capitals or upper and lower case of not less than 18pt”

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Another key skill we learnt in APP and that I have also applied in this
portfolio is how to create a successful post for specific social media
platforms. Being able to use social media to market products or promote
websites is very important especially in the marketing world and will be
very important for the second year when I choose to add digital
marketing on top of marketing communications. Due to my avid interest
and large use of social media, I have a good understanding of what
people want to see when scrolling through their timelines, the caption
that will attract the most attention and will entice sharing and even the
best times to post throughout the week. Upon reflection of this section of
my portfolio, I feel that if I was able to redo it, I would have used a
different social media platform as my knowledge of Instagram was
already extremely solid. Using a different platform such as Facebook or
Twitter could have benefited me more as I would have been able to
broaden my horizons when it came to social media platforms.

As the first section of my portfolio comes to a conclusion, I feel that as a

whole the APP unit has taught me many valuable skills that I look
forward to using in my coming years at university and many years after.
Furthermore, I believe that throughout this essay I have been able to see
myself extend my knowledge and broaden my writing skills. Moving on
further into my portfolio you will find a blog that I constructed based
around my first semester of university, a news release for a new LUSH
product and finally 4 social media posts promoting my blog. Enjoy!

(962 words)

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References
- Cottrell, S., 2013. The study skills handbook. 4th edition
- Bournemouth University, 2019. Referencing available from
https://libguides.bournemouth.ac.uk/bu-referencing-harvard-
style/webpage [Accessed on 12/01/2020]
- Foster J, 2008. writing skills for public relations. Second edition

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Blog post
I have survived! As my first semester at Bournemouth University comes
to a sudden halt I would like to take some time to construct this blog and
reflect on the ups and downs. It has been one hell of a rollercoaster!

My university journey, like most, involved me moving my entire life

away from home. Church Crookham, Hampshire 75 miles south to Lyme
Regis House, Bournemouth where I would be studying Marketing
Communications. During my initiatory week at university, I met people
from all over the country in my seminars, lectures and football trials. As
well as meeting many unaccustomed faces I additionally perceived some
familiar faces as many people from back home ended up in
Bournemouth as well! Making new friends was very apparent as
everyone seemed to arrive in Bournemouth with open arms, within the
first week I and few others had formed a solid group, all with
complementary interests and personalities.

Now, to the actual work at university. I knew there was going to be a lot
from the get-go as Marketing Communications is quite a full-on degree.
However, I was not prepared for how individual you have to be when it
comes to assignments, catching up and working in general. I additionally
found myself having an extortionate quantity of free time outside of the
university. With this free time, I decided a good use would be getting a
part-time job to help me live the life of a university student. You are
expected to manage your free time and find a balance between
university, independent study and socialising in order to meet deadlines,
learn and of course enjoy myself! Finding this balance is by no means

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straightforward and even after the first semester, I am still on my way to
mastering the impeccable balance. If I could offer any advice on how to
find this balance I would say make sure you always know your deadlines,
never leave anything to the last week, timetable your weeks and never
forget to take time out for yourself to do things you have a passion for.

Last but by no means least my last piece of advice would be no matter

what bumps you experience or deadlines you miss. Do not give up as
once you commence nailing the balance those “failures” will be
unrecognisable and left in the past!

Jake
(392 words)

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News release
To: nhg@thelondonprintingcompany.com
From: jake.sirjuesingh@lushcosmeticsltd.co.uk

Subject: Time to do what we can to help Australia!

For release as soon as possible.
__________________________________________________

Relax knowing you are helping the planet

one bath bomb at a time!

We here at LUSH Cosmetics are very much looking forward to the

release of our new bath bomb called “Down Under.” These will be
released towards the end of January 2020 and will help to provide aid
for the current wildfires that are reaping havoc all over Australia.
Although not necessarily a perfect gift for someone this bath bomb
brings with it self worth and a feeling of altruism as you are acting as a
good samaritan to help your planet.

This one of a kind product will see 75% of all purchases made donated to
the Australian Bushfire Relief in order to help combat the raging
infernos destroying hundreds of acres of wildlife, killing thousands of
species of animals and destroying peoples home. Furthermore, all
packaging for this product will be biodegradable to further emphasise
the helping of the planet and the reduction of litter.

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The bath bombs will come in one design consisting of a star-like shape as
seen on the Australian national flag, the colours will be red, orange and
yellow representing a fire, for it to then be “put out” and calmed via the
reaction made when placed into the water.

Mark Constantine OBE, co-founder and CEO of Lush has stated “we here
at LUSH are very much excited for the release of “Down Under,” the
concept of donating most of our profits on a product is very new to use
but we welcome it with open arms as we hope to help Australia as much
as we can”

Calling all lovers of LUSH to come together to try and help raise as much
as we can to help combat the current disaster in Australia. Make that
difference now.

(296 words)
__________________________________________________

Notes to editors:
- To be released before 31/01/2020
- Founded in 1995, LUSH is now a worldwide company with over
900 stores in 49 countries. LUSH strives “To make their products
by hand with only vegetarian ingredients and little-to-no

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 preservatives. They are staunchly against animal testing, even
refusing to buy material from producers that test on animals, and
seek to minimize packaging to reduce waste and lower costs for
better products.”

Contact details:
Mr Jake David Kenneth Sirjuesingh
+447887388165
jake.sirjuesingh@lushcosmeticltd.co.uk
uk.lush.com

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Social media posts
I chose to do my social media posts to encourage click through to my
blog as it would tie nicely into my portfolio as a whole seeing as I have
already created my blog. I have chosen to have a mixture of photos of me
and also photos of uni and uni life itself.

I have chosen a simple photo of the first

post. I feel that a photo representing what I
might mean by “my
life” from back
home. I have
included a link to a
blog that would
hopefully encourage
people to click
through.

My second post is
mainly focused on
the fun life of a uni
student during their
first weeks. I used a
lively photo of me
and my best mate
with a very relatable
caption. Everyone
has funny
memories from
nights out and
everyone likes to
hear about other peoples funny moments, so
hopefully, this would encourage a click-through.

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 This next post is definitely the most
relatable as
everyone needs to
eat and everyone
likes saving money!
Hopefully, this
encourages click-
through.

This last post is

offering students
help when it comes
to assignments
another relatable
post with a link for
a vlog.

(196 words)

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