[SSU University Guest Lecture] Three Members Lecture on PR Thinking at Nihon University!

Hello! This is Oku from the Account Planning Division.

One of the opportunities we occasionally receive at SUNNY SIDE UP is to conduct guest lectures at schools.

In this blog, we will share the details of a lecture at Nihon University where SUNNY SIDE UP members served as instructors 🍳

Nihon University, College of Industrial Technology, Department of Architecture Lecture>>>
Lecture Title: [Special Lecture] Recommendations for “PR Thinking”

This time, we were invited by Professor Toshiaki Fujimoto from the Department of Architecture at Nihon University’s College of Industrial Technology, and three members from SUNNY SIDE UP—Managing Director Matsumoto, and planners Shimizu and Oku from the Account Planning Division—served as lecturers.

This lecture is actually our second time—following last year!

We were honored to be asked again this year to provide a lecture on “PR thinking.”

Last year, due to COVID-19 restrictions, we used two classrooms and everyone wore masks. This year, however, all students gathered in one classroom, and mask-wearing rules were relaxed, allowing us to conduct the lecture while seeing everyone’s expressions!

>> You can view last year’s lecture here.

Lecture >>
Learn About “PR Thinking”!

First, we started with a serious academic session on PR thinking 🎓

The students attending this lecture are those who usually study architecture and creating things. Since SUNNY SIDE UP has actually handled PR for numerous architectural projects including commercial facilities and hotels, we explained that architecture and PR are deeply connected, and learning PR could be useful somewhere in their future careers!

Furthermore, we explored the influence and effectiveness of PR based on real-world PR case studies that have moved society…

The students appeared very interested in Matsumoto’s real-life experiences from numerous projects that have made a social impact 👀

Group Work >>
Think of Ideas to Promote “Nichidai”!

After learning about “PR thinking” in the first half, the second half involved a workshop-style practical exercise in generating ideas using PR thinking.

The theme was: ideas to promote “Nichidai”!

Divided into groups of 4 or 5,

How to promote “Nichidai”:
① To whom (target audience)
② What (Nichidai’s characteristics)
③ How (communication method)
?

This was a worksheet exercise to fill in these three points.

Particularly for “② What,” some students mentioned they had never really thought about their own university’s characteristics! So we had them research using their PCs and smartphones…

It became an opportunity for them to rediscover characteristics unique to Nichidai compared to other universities, as well as Nichidai’s history ✨

The instructors also visited each group to advise on how to organize key points and how to develop ideas.

Once the worksheets were filled out, we selected groups with interesting ideas and had representatives present them.

Here are some of the ideas presented that day 💡

・Create a Nichidai YouTube channel and introduce a day in each department through short videos
(Example) Real Vlog of a Day in the Life of a Nichidai Student
・Leverage the fact that Nichidai produces the most company presidents in Japan by conducting classes taught by alumni presidents
・Appoint popular influencers who graduated from Nichidai as ambassadors and use the large student body to promote fun campus life on social media
・Students visit high schools to offer hands-on experiences of clubs and lectures—a “reverse open campus”

Many groups targeted prospective students, and student-like ideas utilizing YouTube and TikTok, which are effective for reaching younger audiences, were abundant!

In response, the instructors provided thorough feedback on what made each idea excellent and how to refine it further! 🖋

Actually, at the beginning of the lecture, we explained that in addition to “creators” like architects and chefs, and “users” who visit buildings or eat food, there is also a role of “communicators” like PR companies, and that the importance of “communicating” has been increasing in recent years.

When we revisited these three roles at the conclusion, we were very pleased to see that more students felt that the “communicator” role was relevant to them after the lecture.

We hope that this lecture, which introduced the role of “communicating” to students in the Department of Architecture who usually have many opportunities to learn about “creating,” will be useful somewhere in their future careers…!

Professor Fujimoto and all the students who attended, thank you very much!!