For my fifth and final co-op experience, I had the honor of learning an entirely new field: experiential marketing. Factory 360 is a brand activation and experiential design agency that specializes in integrated brand experiences, live events, pop-up shops, product sampling tours, experiential retail, and digital/social media campaigns.

Beyond learning an entirely new area of design, I also took on a new role: Design Strategist. Creative Strategy is an intentional approach to creative problem solving that involves balancing client objectives and messaging, research and insights, deep consumer understanding, budget, timeline, feasibility, and the various channels of consumer reach.

During my semester with Factory360, I not only developed the skills of a strategist, but I also found immense passion for creating ideas that reflected consumer insights. I loved being able to collaborate with various clients and internal team members to deliver experiences that were intentional, exciting, and truly impactful for the brand and consumers.