‘Graduates Who Have Gone through Such a School Are Much More Prepared When They Start Their Careers’
As part of an industry project organized by the association of marketing professionals and HSE University—and with the active participation of business community members—master’s students of the Retail Management and of the Marketing: Digital Technologies and Marketing Communications programmes presented their projects for addressing environmental and social problems to jurors. The work was evaluated by representatives of such major brands as MTS, Pyaterochka, VTB, McDonald’s in Russia, Unilever and others—all of which uphold ESG principles in their activities.
The purpose of the project seminar was not only to familiarise Higher School of Business students with the principles of responsible marketing, but also to prepare them for a successful start to their careers through the development of effective solutions to real business problems. The direct participation of representatives of the business community is an important part of the educational process at HSE University because it enables graduate students to acquire the greatest possible number of practical skills and to contribute to society’s development.
Alexander Lebedev, Academic Supervisor of the Retail Management Programme
‘Everything we see around us started out as someone’s dream. HSE teaches students to dream and be ambitious. I had a dream to do something important and worthwhile. Some will say that the environment, social issues and corporate governance take a back seat during times of turbulence and economic crisis. ESG is linked to sustainable development goals that make it possible to reduce risk and achieve guaranteed results. There is a great deal of uncertainty now, and using the sustainable development goals is a strategy for looking a little further beyond the horizon. It allows you not only to think about what will happen tonight or tomorrow morning, but also to see yourself in the future, to know that we will live in a better world’.
Alexander Lebedev also said that the industry project is significant for both student and brands. ‘We came up with it back 2020. Thanks to work we did with our partners, we were able to attract several well-known brands with strong marketing experience at the same time, providing students with a huge springboard for their careers. Companies get a fresh new vision of business processes and the market. In addition to the fact that the best students take part in the project, they vie for the title of being the best, thus crystallising the knowledge that can become the marketing of tomorrow’.
Anton Yevstafyev, project manager for working with young marketing specialists
‘In my opinion, our project helps students get a feel for what real business practices are because they solve real business problems and, in keeping with this, get acquainted with those companies in which they can work in the future. This makes it possible to integrate students into the professional community of marketing specialists who have significant knowledge of the industry’.
Tatiana Vetrova, Academic Supervisor of the master’s programme Marketing: Digital Technologies and Marketing Communications
‘The Marketing: Digital Technologies and Marketing Communications programme carries out numerous projects and our calling card and main feature is that we have been focusing on ESG for two years now. This is a special type of consulting project with thematically linked social or environmental projects. We are proud to work with both Russian and foreign major brands. The students do a great job with their assignments and come up with a variety of solutions’.
For several months, students have been developing concepts and ideas for the development of environmental, social and corporate governance that will help change society for the better. For the final round, students made presentations to the jury. Two student teams won. The first worked on a programme to support Russian farmers (the McDonald’s business case) and the second developed a communication campaign for the launch of a new mobile application, VTB Care (the VTB business case). Among its various advantages, the proposed VTB app provides users with information about the bank’s ESG initiatives, telling them what to do with recyclables, where to donate for the needy, and how to join other groups of people who are holding clean-up days, planting trees or visiting animal shelters.
Anastasia Baronova, 1st-year master’s student in the Marketing: Digital Technologies and Marketing Communications programme and captain of the winning team
‘It’s nice that our work is so highly appreciated. We didn’t think at all about winning while we were working on the project. For us, the most important thing was to do something global and important, to really help people and generate income for the company, to build its ESG brand. It was difficult at first and we went in a completely different direction. But just in time, we came up with an idea for an app that would address many of our potential consumers’ concerns. And once we started down that path, the ideas fell into place easily’.
All the participants had a good time and gained invaluable work experience with leading brands. The winning teams also received gifts from the companies represented on the jury, including invitations to paid internships.
Alexey Shlykov, Managing Director of the Department for Coordination and Strategic Monitoring of the Department for Development and Coordination of the Retail Business of VTB Bank
‘Industry projects are a useful format that is both necessary and important for students. We worked with an engaged and responsive student team: the communication was interesting. Such formats develop non-standard thinking and provide not only the necessary experience that will be useful to future employees of large companies and their employers, but also the skill of being flexible, the ability to adapt to the modern world. Such joint activity also develops expertise. It teaches not only students, but us as well’.
Oxana Trofimova, Director of Marketing Communications, Pyaterochka
‘This is the second year that Pyaterochka has participated in this project and we see it as the fulfillment of our larger mission to contribute to the educational agenda in the field of sustainable development. The topic of ESG is becoming a hygiene factor within the marketing business of many companies. Sustainable development projects and communications are part of market strategies and activities. So, on the one hand, this is certainly a good opportunity for students to delve into the issues and ways to solve them—as well as to get to know major brands, study their practices and, possibly, find a place within these companies. Last time, the teams working on the Pyaterochka business case took First and Third Places, which was very valuable for us as experts. We are very inspired by the students’ presentations this year. We have adopted one of the ideas from the presentations and might be able to refine it and bring it to life’.
Olga Yurkova, Director of the Centre for Social and Charitable Programmes, MTS
‘For MTS, working with students on this project is not only an opportunity to help form a new generation of marketing professionals who are sensitive to modern trends and understand the mechanisms and tools for working with the economic agenda, but also an excellent resource for new relevant project ideas on topics important for the development of a harmonious and sustainable society’.
Svetlana Atueva, Marketing Manager for the Pure Line brand
‘It’s great that HSE University continues to bring the practices of large companies to teaching. Students get the opportunity to immerse themselves in a business atmosphere and understand and get a feel in practice for how to solve the real challenges businesspeople face. It also helped me a lot during my own studies. Graduates who have gone through such a school are much more prepared when they start their careers’.
Tatiana Vetrova
Associate Professor, Department of Marketing
Alexander V. Lebedev
Senior Lecturer, Department of Marketing