Students at TU Ilmenau are developing PR campaigns for the "Invest in Thuringia" team of the Thuringia State Development Corporation as part of their Master’s program course. The communication concepts, which they will develop in teams this winter semester, are intended to interest companies from the USA and Great Britain in Thuringia as an investment location. The best PR campaign has the chance of being implemented to attract international investors to the Free State of Thuringia.
State Development Corporation of Thuringia (LEG) wants to strengthen the Free State’s economy through more investment by industry and companies in innovative sectors such as optoelectronics and life sciences. In order to make international investors aware of the advantages of the Free State, professional communication is needed, especially in times of a shortage of skilled workers and a weakening economy. To this end, the 24 students on the "Media and Communication Science" and "International Business Economics" Master’s program courses, supervised by seminar leader Dr. Andreas Schwarz, are now developing professional communication concepts in six competing "junior PR agencies" for their "client", the State Development Corporation of Thuringia, by the end of the semester.
With a briefing by State Development Corporation of Thuringia at the start of the seminar in the Group for Research in Public Relations and Communication of Technology Susann Martens, Project Manager for Invest, Western Europe and Life Sciences, prepared the students for the big goal: "Your campaigns should draw the attention of investors from innovative and economically strong countries such as the USA and Great Britain to Thuringia". At the end of the semester, a jury made up of members of TU Ilmenau and State Development Corporation of Thuringia will decide which of the teams has developed the best campaign.
"Invest in Thuringia" is a win-win cooperation for both sides: For them, professional PR campaigns contribute to the economic development of the region. And for the students, who from seven different countries, working on a practically relevant topic based on the latest scientific findings and for a "real" client is the best preparation for a future career in the increasingly internationalized communications industry.
