COM student team wins PRNEWS digital award

Innovation and goodwill earned a Boston University College of Communication student team national recognition for their social media strategy to help a nonprofit organization.  

PRNEWS granted Yichang Lee, Paola Rodriguez, Zhentong Mai, Grace Berg, and team superviser Anushka Singh the “Digital Team of the Year” award for their campaign, “Team Goodwill Boston,” on behalf of the Boston office of Goodwill, the nonprofit which operates thrift stores but also helps people find employment.

The team is part of BU’s student-run public relations agency, PRLab. BU student Jahnvi Shah, the current account director at Boston University’s AdLab, wrote the application. 

“We’re so proud of the incredible results that this team of students was able to deliver for a great purpose-driven organization like Goodwill,” said Justin Joseph, associate professor of the practice of public relations, who mentored the team. The campaign was also a finalist in the PRNEWS “Social Media Team of the Year” competition. 

To ensure their campaign engaged Goodwill Boston’s followers, the students conducted a social media audit to determine their interests. They found out that the audience considered itself socially and politically conscious, so their campaigns focused on how shopping at thrift stores can help the environment.

The first campaign deemed those who followed Goodwill’s Instagram page, liked a post, and tagged a friend eligible to win a gift card. By clicking on the hashtag #Goodwill25 for the second campaign, users could see examples of coordinated outfits for $5 or less to show how shoppers could maximize their budget.

“They carefully studied Goodwill’s target audience and used a comprehensive digital strategy to demonstrate that Goodwill embodies their own values,” Joseph said. “To be recognized nationally by PRNEWS is such a high honor, but it also speaks to the high standard that our students hold themselves to each day.”

Amy Shanler, associate professor of the practice of public relations and co-director/faculty advisor of PRLab, noted the students’ ability to apply lessons learned in class to a real-world setting.

“PRLab gives students the opportunity to synthesize all they have learned in their public relations courses and apply it to real clients,” Shanler said in a statement. “This award-winning project illustrates the students’ understanding and application of research, theory, creative development, digital media, and client service.”