During this 4th edition of the Communication Challenge, two teams of master Media & Business students will partner with you to deliver research-driven and practically relevant recommendations on how to manage one of your communication challenges.

To help the teams co-create high-quality solutions with you, they will receive training and guidance from academic mentors at the department of Media and Communication, Erasmus University Rotterdam. Teams will also benefit from industry mentors with extensive consulting experience in agency/corporate.

Topics and themes related to new and social media and corporate communication are suitable for this challenge. Some examples:

• Help us improve our business reputation.
• Help us address and manage crises.
• Help us create brand awareness and/or change our brand positioning.
• Help us develop or improve our (internal and/or external) communication around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
• Help us formulate, improve, or (re)define our digital (or social media) communication strategy.
• Help us engage our employees or other stakeholder groups.
• Help us make our communication more relevant for millennials and gen z.
• Help us emphasize our corporate social responsibility (CSR) or sustainability efforts.

✅ Key features of the challenge

• Students per team: 5-6 students
• Number of teams: 2 teams will be assigned
• Course: Consulting Challenge
• Programme: Master Media and Business
• No. of hours spent per team: 200 hours
• Deliverables: A report (in the form of slides) and a presentation. 
• Company time investment: Your time involvement is 12-18 hours in total (e.g., (bi-)weekly (short) meetings, interviews, final presentation, etc.).
• Matching fee: €750,- (Non-profit organizations can participate free of charge).

📑 Main Deliverables and Expectations

The main deliverables are a presentation and an advisory report (in the form of a slide deck) containing recommendations for your challenge. Implementation of recommendations (e.g., producing content for the company) is not part of the deliverables. Please note: we have a preference for communication challenges that have a focus on societal issues.

Insights are developed based on data and information you provide around the topic, and supported by some form of research conducted by the teams (e.g., desk research, state-of-the-art academic literature, interviews with relevant stakeholders, competitive analysis, communication audit, etc., as is relevant). This analysis will allow you to make better decisions for your overall communication strategy.

Select feedback from past partners: "The report is very clear and detailed in what we are doing now, how we are doing compared to our competitors, with clear and applicable recommendations that can be addressed."

"Often enough, plans or proposals from students end up on the shelf and gather dust, but this will not happen here. The research is solid, especially considering the limited time the team had for a rather sizable issue overall.

"It is excellent work grounded in a clear needs assessment and supported by secondary research."

🏢 Requirements for participating companies

• Any company/organization
• Any industry
• At least 10 employees
• All communication between the company and the teams is conducted in English; company materials should be available in English.

Please note: we have a preference for social enterprises and other organizations that aim to create a positive impact on society and/or the environment.

When matched:

• Create an 'information package' for your teams:
  • a deck of slides or a document detailing your company/organization activities, structure, strategy;
  • as necessary, all relevant/background information about the problem associated to the challenge;
  • your expectations and ideas about the proposed challenge;
  • specific questions related to the topic that you want the students to investigate for you.
  • list of people (e.g. colleagues) students need to talk to to gather relevant information
• Be available during the kick-off and the final presentation (see planning).
• Adequate involvement (12-18 hours total for two teams) during the course by being available for interim (brief) updates and to answer team questions.
• Crucially, please also appoint a second contact person for students to reach out to in case you are not available.

💰 Costs

Master Challenge will charge a matching fee of €750,- (ex tax).

❗️You will only be charged when matched to one or more teams.

Please note: non-profit organizations can participate free of charge.

📨 How to apply

You can submit the challenge directly through the website. Provide a title that summarizes the challenge. Subsequently, briefly elaborate on your challenge (max. 150 words). Click here for a template you can use or use our AI Challenge Generator.

🗓 Planning

• January 20 (extended), 2025: Deadline for submitting your challenge
• December 20, 2025: Receiving message if your challenge is approved by the Course Coordinator
• January 17, 2025 11:00-12:00: Kick-off meeting with companies and the course coordinator
• January 22-29: Student teams rank the companies they want to work with
• January 30-31: Companies rank the teams that want to work on their challenge
• Before Feb 3: Matches are communicated to companies and student teams
• February 4-12: Kick-off meeting with your team (your team will contact you to set up the meeting)
• March 24: Final presentations (09:00-16:00, preferably on-campus)

Questions? Want to discuss your challenge before submitting one? Feel free to schedule a call on this website.