The Agency opens with a focus on Millennials

Under streamers of colored flags, a crowd of faculty, staff, alumni, students and guests gathered recently to attend the official dedication ceremony of The Agency, the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications' newly created full-service strategic communication agency.

"The Agency isn't the vision of just one person," Dean Diane McFarlin said at the opening.

The idea for the integrated communication firm focused on the Millennial sector began in August 2013, during the College's annual faculty retreat. By October, Dean McFarlin commissioned a task force to develop an immersive entrepreneurial project for advertising and public relations students, as well as other College and University of Florida students with interests in strategic communications.

To create a competitive and engaging student-run agency, the task force reached out to industry leaders and other professionals, while looking at similar agency projects by other universities.

Greg Ash, creative director of 160over90, a branding agency in Gainesville, said he typically sees a gap from when students graduate to when they join the industry and that many seem to have issues applying the material that they have learned to the real world. He sees The Agency as a great tool to empower and train students while they are still in college.

"We work with a lot of universities, and this isn't happening anywhere else," Ash said.

The Agency will not only be developing strategies and campaigns for high-profile clients, but it will also be a center for thought leadership through the development of a nationwide Millennial Research Core – an online panel of thousands of Millennials who will provide insights on a number of topics including buying habits, social media usage and brand loyalty.

Andy Hopson, the executive director of the agency, said the goal is to become internationally recognized for The Agency's expertise on marketing to Millennials.

Ph.D. student Jasper Fessmann, who had his own agency in Germany, said he sees great potential for students involved in The Agency.

Of the 300 students who applied to be a part of the integral team, 57 are currently on the staff.

"There are all the pressures that you have at an agency, while still maintaining a safe environment," he said.

Professor Tom Kelleher, chair of the Advertising Department, said that he wishes there had been an opportunity like this when he was in attendance at the College. However, he is excited for the amount of potential The Agency holds for the future. Right now there are 57 students involved, but there is the prospect for so many more as it grows.

Ryan Baum, assistant to the executive director, is a third-year public relations major and has been at the forefront of building The Agency with Hopson. As a student, he sees this as a way of taking the classroom and putting it out into the industry itself. The Agency will have real-world clients, which means there are real responsibilities and consequences to the team's actions.

"As fun as it was to build it, I can't wait to see what we can do with the final project," he said.