IT students from Ashton Sixth Form College visited digital marketing agency Social Chain at their Manchester offices on Portland Street.

The students are currently studying a full-time vocational course in IT, exploring topics such as information technology systems, website development and social media for business. Their visit to Social Chain allowed them to see firsthand how marketing agencies are changing the industry and how social media has immense power to make brands stand out online more than ever before.  

Social Chain was formed in 2014 and five years later it is now a "public listed company on the Duesseldorf stock exchange, with consolidated revenues forecast to exceed 170m in 2019" (socialchain.com). They work with some of the biggest global brands including Apple Music, the BBC and Amazon and the visit allowed students to see how the company works from the ground up. 

IT students arrived at Social Chain and were given a tour of their bold and innovative office space. Social Chain's Manchester office is complete with jungle-themed tunnels, sleep pods, breakout spaces, and even a blue slide with ball pit! They have expanded over the years and now have multiple offices in America and Germany. Students had the pleasure of meeting Co-founder of Social Chain and Director of Social & Creative, Hannah Anderson. In 2018, Hannah was highlighted on The Vogue 25's "Most Influential Women in Britain", placing her alongside Dua Lipa, Amal Clooney and Stella McCartney (Vogue, 2018). Hannah spoke about how Social Chain was formed and explored some of the key values the company lives by. She gave students an insight in to how they employ their teams and how their creative office is constantly evolving ahead of emerging technologies, app developments and changing trends in the digital world. Students were gained a personal understanding of the company from one of the people who knows it best. 

During the visit, students worked with the creative team at Social Chain to develop their own ideas. Working in small groups, students were provided with a brief from a company that required them to develop a digital campaign. Students were pushed to think creatively and to put themselves in others shoes in order to deliver the best campaign. 

Throughout the day, IT students improved their communication and teamwork skills while learning about how a company works firsthand. It also inspired them to think about a range of careers that they may not have known existed. 

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Find out more about studying a Digital Technology and Multimedia course at Ashton here.