Meet our academics – Loren Birkett
Loren Birkett
Marketing Practitioner
Hello, My name’s Loren Birkett and I’m a Practitioner in Marketing at Huddersfield Business School.
At Huddersfield Business School, we employ excellent researchers and teaching staff who care tremendously about our students’ learning experience. We are proud to have achieved The Global Teaching Excellence Award 2017 and the Triple Proof of Teaching Excellence 2022. As part of the meet our academics feature, you’ll be introduced to a wide range of our academics and practitioners that support our students throughout their time at university. In this blog, you will hear from Marketing Practitioner, Loren Birkett.
1. Please can you tell us a bit about yourself?
My name’s Loren Birkett, and I’m currently employed on a part-time basis at the Huddersfield Business School where I work as a Marketing Practitioner. I’m also employed as a Marketing & Communications Officer at West Yorkshire Combined Authority. I am originally from Bradford, but I moved to Huddersfield before I started high school. After completing high school, I went on to study for a BTEC Extended Business Diploma at Kirklees College and then undertook a BA (Hons) in Business Studies at Huddersfield Business School in 2014. During my time at University, I developed a love for marketing. I particularly enjoyed the Marketing for Small Business and Direct and Digital Marketing modules in my third year. After my degree, I decided to pursue my studies further and undertook an MSc in Marketing. During my Master’s, I became a course representative where I regularly met with Senior Lecturers to discuss modules, timetables and marking issues. I finished my Master’s in 2019 and was employed as a Practitioner in 2022. I wanted to become a Practitioner as I loved my time at the University and I wanted to give back to the University by helping to teach, support and inspire its Marketing students.
2. What do you teach?
I teach digital marketing and social media modules to students in Digital Marketing BSc(Hons), Business and Marketing BA(Hons), Business and Digital Marketing Management BA(Hons), Marketing BA(Hons), and Events Management BA(Hons). I’m the module leader for Digital Marketing in the Contemporary World and Social Media Marketing. The Digital Marketing in the Contemporary World module is designed to introduce students to digital marketing. It focuses on all aspects of the domain (i.e., B2B, B2C, Service, etc). Students get to use a variety of digital marketing tools and platforms to design, manage and optimise campaigns on the modules, which I love teaching. The social media marketing module is designed to introduce you to social media marketing, giving students the opportunity to use a variety of social media tools and platforms to design, manage, and optimise campaigns. I also teach the ASPIRE 2 module, which supports students’ personal and academic development, with a focus on advancing commercial awareness and enterprise skills. This is a great module as it gives students the opportunity to work on a real business challenge, where they can apply the knowledge and skills they’ve developed during their course.
3. What do you wish people knew about Huddersfield Business School
This is a tough question, but I think I’d want people to know about all the great staff we have from academic colleagues to professional support staff, who work incredibly hard to support our students. I’d also want people to know about all the brilliant, hardworking, forward-thinking students we have too. 75% of students at the University achieve a 2:1 or first-class, which is brilliant!
4. What has been a highlight during your time at Huddersfield Business School?
While I’ve had lots of great highlights while working at the University, the Academy of Marketing Conference that took place in 2022, must be my number one. The Conference saw delegates from around the world come together to discuss the latest cutting-edge research in the field of marketing capturing its role in the design, manufacture, distribution, and consumption of products, services, and experiences. The Academy of Marketing is a Learned Society catering for the needs of marketing researchers, educators, and professionals, and its main purpose is the advancement of marketing knowledge as a rounded discipline and profession. The event was a big success, and there was a real buzz as, for many, it was one of the first in-person events since the pandemic. I loved meeting academics from all the different universities across the globe and it was brilliant to hear about all the latest marketing research.
5. Do you have any interesting facts about yourself?
I own a pug called Hugo, and I’m an avid Huddersfield Town supporter! I’m also a food influencer/ content creator. I have over 90K followers now across my Instagram and Facebook accounts, which I’m proud to have achieved in the last few years. I’m also a freelance marketeer too! I’ve worked with some large brands including Oppo Brothers, Müller Milk & Ingredients, Mallow & Marsh Ltd and The Skinny Food Co – just to name a few! I’m looking forward to what else is to come in my marketing career and I hope to continue to inspire and support students along the way.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about Loren’s career and how she supports our Marketing students. If you’d like to find out more about our Marketing courses, please visit https://courses.hud.ac.uk/2023-24/search:marketing.