From DMs to deals: The student-brand partnerships changing the game

Student Reporter, Jan 12, 2025, 10:41 AM IST

Representative image (source: Pexels)

As the world embraces digital creativity, brands and students find unique ways to collaborate and grow. Across various platforms like Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Snapchat, students are provided opportunities to collaborate with brands and up-skill themselves with innovative ideas while also offering their valuable contributions to the brands.

Shakur, student and CEO of BuzzEnt highlights the positive impact of brands and student collaborations. He stated, “Brand ambassadorship enhances students’ visibility and credibility”. Collaborations provide students an opportunity to work with reputable brands, and also gain recognition, building their skills and personality simultaneously. Such partnerships foster coming together as a community and building a way for better opportunities in the future. This marketing strategy used by brands also helps in reshaping how a brand is perceived, at the same time enhancing the skill of entrepreneurship among students.

Snapchat Opinion Leaders: Crafting Unique Identities

Tanisha, a Snapchat Opinion Leader (SoL), explains how her journey has transformed her as an individual, and in boosting her self-confidence. “Being known as a Snapchat creator has added a unique flavor to my own identity,” she said. The SoL program by Under 25 helped Tanisha enhance her creative skills and gain a fresh perspective on her abilities. “It is pretty cool to see people recognising my skills and calling me out for being different in a good way,” she added.

Professional opportunities through creativity

These brand-student collaborations help students explore their potential and carve out a niche for themselves. Akansha, a student ambassador for brands like 1+, Urbanic, and Under 25, has benefitted from such collaborations. Her experiences explain how brand partnerships offer students a platform to showcase their skills on a much larger platform and provide them with real-world experiences and networking opportunities. She emphasised brands fostering personal and professional growth among every individual.

Her partnership with 1+ has enabled her to showcase her creativity to a much wider audience through promotions and sponsored content, building her skills for future professional opportunities.

The brand-student partnership recognises students’ potential. This initiative also helps in building brand loyalty, developmental skills, innovative ideas, respect, and shared goals among both brands and the student community.

Student Ambassadors: Nurturing talent, forging connections

Bridging the gap between brands and student talent requires more than just collaboration. It requires commitment towards empowering the next generation of upcoming leaders. By recognizing their contributions, brands can adopt various approaches to engage with student talent. Offering mentorships can help brands tap fresh innovations, and perspectives, aiming towards the growth of both, the individual and the brand. Overall, the brand-student partnership helps in shaping the future of marketing, and entrepreneurship.

Elevating student visibility and financial management

Shakur explains how these collaborations elevate student’s confidence and creative skills. Students are offered opportunities to work with established brands, boosting their sense of excellence in their chosen field. Collaboration, according to Shakur, paves the way for insights into the reality of the world. Another crucial skill taught to students is financial management. These experiences push students beyond their limits to achieve their aspired goals.

A holistic approach

Reflecting on the journey of Shakur, Tanisha, and Akansha, diverse skills are cultivated from such programs. From developing communication, leadership, and event management skills, their experiences go beyond their student life. Brand-student partnerships equip students to be versatile in the professional world.

Building a professional foundation

Akansha highlights the significance of brand-student collaborations, and how they help in building a resume, CV, and portfolio, throwing light on its professional advantages. Shakur adds that, personally for him, these types of initiatives build confidence, social skills, and soft skills. It helps in kick-starting careers at a much earlier stage, providing a boost towards success.

Balancing academics and extracurriculars

While these brands provide a plethora of opportunities, they also come with challenges that co-exist with academics, with time management being the greatest. Tanisha advises on strategic planning and managing time between academics and extracurricular activities. She stresses on discipline and self-assessment, which helped her navigate through her commitments successfully.

Redefining the narrative

The alliance between students and brands through Snapchat Opinion Leaders; and student ambassadorship, redefines the narrative of academic learning and success. With brands initiating such approaches, they nurture and provide real-world experiences, creating a community where collaboration and growth come in sync. With brands being the bridge between academia and professionalism, students find themselves getting equipped with the future dynamics of the professional world.

Written by: Fiona Gloria Vaz, School of Communication and Media Studies. St Joseph’s University, Bengaluru