Leuphana students secure 1st place in the Hamburg Fair Trade University Competition

The Weltladen assigned the students three separate tasks, which they all completed brilliantly: to reach new target groups, the 20 bachelor’s students analysed the Weltladen's customer base, used personas to identify which new customer segments could be tapped, and developed specific discount and event promotions for the identified target groups.

The team proposed launching a digital newsletter and various creative workshops as new retention measures for existing customers. The introduction of an annual plan is intended to ensure the continuity of the Weltladen's social media presence. A new "fresher look" for the web presence also appeals to younger target groups. To simplify the process, the students have already created templates in a trendy look, which the Weltladen team can now apply across all channels.

"It was incredibly fulfilling to see that our project work for the Weltladen Lübeck was so important and fully appreciated," says Hanna Katharina Grieb, a student of business psychology, "and we are proud that our work has also led to the creation of a new position that can put our ideas into practice."

Over the last 10 years, 39 companies have worked with 13 universities in 48 individual partnerships. More than 800 students have been intensively involved in fair trade, developing marketing and communication concepts for their partner companies and thus being able to apply their theoretical knowledge in practice. For many companies, the project was their first collaboration with a university.

The winning team was supported by Prof. Dr. Kerstin Brockelmann from the Institute of Marketing at Leuphana: "The collaboration with the Weltladen Lübeck offered our students an excellent opportunity to put their theoretical knowledge into practice and at the same time make an important contribution to society. The Business Psychology programme at Leuphana University Lüneburg, with its focus on market and consumer psychology, provides an excellent basis for applying scientific findings directly to real-world issues. This practical experience is of great value both for the academic, application-oriented training and for the personal development of the students.“

Noah Dengler, a student of business psychology, is thrilled: "1 team, 20 students, 145 pages of homework and in the end a team of 40 volunteers in the Weltladen Lübeck is satisfied and grateful for new ideas - such cooperation makes university, practice, and life fun. A cool project!"

For ten years, the Fair-Trade City of Hamburg (FTS HH) and the Innovation Contact Point (IKS) have been organising the Hamburg Fair Trade University Competition together. The aim of the competition is to make fair trade more visible, to raise students' awareness of the topic and to strengthen cooperation between business and science. The IKS Hamburg initiates the cooperation projects in advance. In the anniversary year, the project work was evaluated by an eight-member jury with representatives from business, civil society, science, and the City of Hamburg. All winners receive a certificate and are honoured at a festive award ceremony in Hamburg’s City Hall. The patroness of this year's university competition is Senator Katharina Fegebank, President of the Ministry of Science, Research, Equality, and Districts of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.