Driven by a strong interest in advertising and public relations, 10 undergraduates have taken the initiative to set up an advertising society in NTU.
ADdiction, NTU’s advertising society, is the first advertising agency in Singapore to be wholly managed by students.
Although founded only last semester, the society currently has in their clientele base companies such as Coca-Cola and Nature Trekker, a non-governmental organisation (NGO).
Anisha Baghudana, 21, founder and president of ADdiction, said: “I thought it would be great if there was a platform available for youths to come together and create advertisements, and it struck me that I could actually create this platform.”
The fourth-year Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI) student then consulted Professor Ang Peng Hwa and Assistant Professor Yeoh Kok Cheow for advice. She also sought the opinions of her friends, who showed positive interest in the idea of a student-run advertising society.
Copywriter
Iris Nation
ADdiction prides itself on being an interest-based club and offering free services.
Cathryn Neo, 21, the media director of ADdiction said: “This is why we want to reach out to NGOs, who usually face problems of budget constraint, yet are most in need of publicity.
According to Neo, it is a win-win situation. Not only will the NGOs benefit from having the improved publicity, it will also help ADdiction to build up its portfolio and credentials.
Baghudana said: “Advertising is a creative industry where age and experience doesn’t matter. What counts are the ideas.”
The current recession might even help to increase the club’s clientele base, said Stephanie Tan, 19, a first-year student from the Nanyang Business School.
“In such trying times, companies will want to find ways to cut costs. Offering free-of-charge advertising and marketing services will actually benefit companies a lot.”
However, some remain skeptical about the club’s long term success.
Mr Roger Yong, a copywriter with eight years of experience at advertising agency Iris Nation, said: “Sometimes even the clients are not sure of what they want themselves.”
He also said the agency needs to be a consultant to the brand, which he is not sure if students are ready for it.
“And when you are a student-run ad agency offering pro-bono services, there’s always the possibility that clients might not treat you as seriously, and won’t expect that much from you,”he said.
ADdiction will host Coca-Cola’s ‘Open Coke, Open Happiness’ campaign in NTU next month.
Although the club currently consists of mainly WKWSCI students, membership is open to all NTU students.
