Ruth Chan

Bachelor of Communication (2013) in Public Relations and Media Studies

A couple of weeks ago, we were very lucky to have Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters come to BAM in London for their album launch and do karaoke with fans, which was a surreal experience!

Ruth Chan is based in London, where she is Head of Marketing and Partnerships (UK) for the Parisian brand BAM, short for Boîte à Musique, meaning ‘music box’. BAM operates karaoke venues around the world. She says, “It’s a lot of fun, and I’ve had amazing opportunities to travel between London and Paris.”

Her main focus is creating and executing marketing strategies that will scale a new brand, concept or venue, ultimately joining the dots between brand awareness and sales. “Because there is a lot of competition out there, being culturally relevant is key, so I spend a lot of my time speaking with cool brands that we'd like to work with. For example, I work with major record labels such as Sony and Universal Music to find out what is happening in the UK music scene and be the first to create new artist content or host fan listening parties and album launches.” She also indulges her love of event management by freelancing to help bars and restaurants open in the UK and Europe.

Ruth chose to study communication because she was deeply interested in writing and organising events. “I wanted to learn about business and marketing, but through a creative lens. At school, I was actively involved in organising student events and activities, from directing our school's Stage Challenge performance to arranging school after-ball parties. In the end, I switched my major from Journalism to Public Relations as it was more aligned with a path into event management.”

She remembers the Bachelor of Communication as “really fun, as a lot of the learning felt very practical”. There was also plenty of variety, from writing media releases and filming and editing to short-story writing sessions and time in the photography studio.

Her fondest memories are of the other students she met. “I made some lifelong friends, and I was pretty active in the student community.” Her part-time job as a student brand manager for an energy drink helped her make lots of connections, and she also wrote a monthly column for the student magazine Massive.

After university Ruth worked in Sydney for several years before moving to London. “My jobs were in marketing, starting at assistant level, then progressing to executive, manager and head-of-department roles. I moved from the property industry into hospitality and have worked both in-house and for creative agencies.”

She says travelling internationally is the “best thing I could ever have done. Travel opens your mind in so many different ways: you learn about new cultures and languages, meet new people and adjust to different ways of living. That experience is invaluable and I would encourage anyone considering it to go for it. My comms knowledge has definitely been applicable outside New Zealand, in fact in the UK they love Kiwis, as we generally tend to have a very honest and hard-working approach. Press release writing, editing, public speaking and presentation skills are things I still use day to day.”

She hopes other young people will also consider a communication career. “Go for it, it's such a varied degree that you can start off quite broad and figure out where your passion lies. I started my studies thinking I would be a journalist and have ended up doing something entirely different, but the journey has been amazing. Make the most of every opportunity, say yes and put yourself outside your comfort zone - you never know where it might lead!”