Samantha Ford
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The Eff Test Certificate

23/3/2020

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My research straddles multiple disciplines such as linguistics, cognitive science, and advertising. In order to develop my knowledge and skills when faced with measuring advertising, I know that it is important to engage in specialist training that enables me to observe and measure the effectiveness of advertising not only from an academic but also practitioner point of view. I therefore signed up to study The Eff Test Certificate.

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The Eff Test is a qualification that involves specialist training to understand and measure advertising and marketing effectiveness followed by an examination to test the knowledge and skills obtained. Designed by expert advertising professionals, the certificate is granted by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) incorporated by the Royal Charter. I passed the exam, which awarded me with a completion certificate and a qualification for measuring advertising effectiveness.

Achieving the qualification is evidence that I have the knowledge and skills to:
  • Analyse the impact and effect of any campaign
  • Speak the language of advertisers and clients in the marketing business
  • Design a measurement programme that evaluates multi-platform activity, from sponsorship, digital, and promotional
  • Calculate payback and Return of Investment (ROI)
  • Write an effectiveness paper

Read more information about The Eff Test Certificate here.
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Introducing new book Unpacking Creativity: The role of figurative communication in advertising

11/10/2019

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Jeannette Littlemore, Paula Perez-Sobrino, and Samantha Ford (pictured to the right) are writing a collaborative monograph that explores the ways in which figurative communication is being used creatively in advertising.

Just like language, advertising constantly evolves. Research has largely focused on the print form of advertising. But of course it is now much more than that, and has been for some time! Advertising can span multiple modes: 
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From left to right: Samantha Ford (me), Jeannette Littlemore, Paula Perez-Sobrino
from text to sound to imagery to movement. It can also involve the consumer in very different ways than what it used to (think back to when we would have to read advertising).

​Advertisers are becoming increasingly aware that their audience are critical of their craft. In recent years, advertising has shifted from selling a product to selling an experience. It is moving toward, or has already reached, integrating advertising a product, service, or experience with a story or activity that involves the consumers themselves. Research has shown that figurative language including metaphor and metonymy is frequently used in print advertising (Forceville, 1996; Perez-Sobrino, 2017; Littlemore and Perez-Sobrino, 2017).

​The new ways in which advertising is reaching its audience must also be explored in order for academia to keep pace with the changing world. As such, Jeannette Littlemore, Paual Perez-Sobrino, and myself - Samantha Ford - have come together to write a collaborative monograph on the role of figurative communication in advertising in the modern world. With the book, we hope to draw together key insights into how academics and advertisers alike may work together (as in the EMMA project) to improve the way in which advertising may be used for the better; to raise awareness of important issues and highlight essential services that will improve our lives, and not just to sell products.


For more information, visit the EMMA website.
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Master of Arts by Research Graduation 2019

15/7/2019

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I graduated with a Master's by Research (MA) degree in English Language and Applied Linguistics with no corrections on Monday 15th July 2019 from the University of Birmingham.  My Master's thesis was entitled: The Visual Language of Virtual Product Design: The Semiotics of Colour and Shape in Smartphone App Icons. I am always grateful for the support from my supervisors Dr Bodo Winter and Professor Jeannette Littlemore, who gave me opportunities that have enhanced my educational experience as well as assisted in the development of my academic career. The MA degree was a lesson in self-motivation, perseverance, and application. It proved to be great practice for my PhD 2019/2023, which I will begin in September. 

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During my MA, I worked as a Research Associate on the EMMA project, collaborating with the Big Cat Agency. This role has inspired my PhD as a Collaborative Doctoral Award for which I received from the Midlands4Cities Arts and Humanities Research Council (M4C AHRC). My thesis will involve working with Big Cat Agency on a collaborative PhD entitled: The creativity of figurative messaging in advertising: a collaborative investigation into its application and measurement of success in real-world advertising campaigns.
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Birmingham Post's 2018 'Partnership of the Year Award'

1/11/2018

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On 1st November 2018, the collaborative project between the University of Birmingham and Big Cat Marketing Communications Agency was awarded the Birmingham Post's Partnership of the Year Award. ​The project worked with non-profit organisations Solihull Community Housing Association and the Aspire charity (research, rehabilitation, and reintegration for people with spinal-cord injury) as part of their Aspire Channel Swim campaign. 
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The Partnership of the Year Award is presented at the Birmingham Post Awards ceremony 2018

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Bachelor's Graduation 2017

7/7/2017

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I graduated on Thursday 6th July 2017 with first class honours in English Language from the University of Birmingham.  Coming to university and moving to a big city such as Birmingham was a life-changing experience, and it proved to be a very different lifestyle from the one I had known from my childhood in the South West of England, in the Forest of Dean.  With the vast amounts of people and wealth of knowledge I experienced at university, I met with so many different and stimulating ideas, which developed my understanding of the English language and other languages besides, as well as making many friends.  Being admittedly quite intense at times with a lot of challenges thrown in, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at university during my Bachelor's degree.
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