From the classroom to the medal podium Ideas that make a difference: at the Junior Agency Award, the HSLU team beat the competition with a great strategy, team spirit and digital excellence.

Fastlinks:
Proper projects | Studying meets practice | The expert for marketing and communication | “20 Minuten” | Smells like team spirit | Conclusion | Info-Events

The Junior Agency Award (JAA) is a university competition in the field of marketing and communication launched by the Swiss Association of Leading Swiss Agencies (LSA). Students develop a real-life campaign for real clients over the course of a semester, working in interdisciplinary teams and supervised by agency coaches from the LSA.

The HSLU is one of several universities in German-speaking Switzerland where teams can enter the competition as part of an elective module, gaining insight into the day-to-day agency business from working with briefings to budgets to target group analysis. They also get to present their work to a panel of experts.
The award underlines the study programmes’ practical relevance and builds team and project skills while offering a platform for talent in the communication sector. Spending time working at agencies, the students interact with seasoned professionals and get expert feedback while immersing themselves in the industry.

The success of the HSLU team shows how closely intertwined studying and practice are in the MSc in Online Business and Marketing programme. Focusing on practice-oriented learning, it builds the skills and knowledge to act both strategically and creatively in the digital economy. 

“We were able to apply the theory from our studies to our project, for instance marketing strategies and market research. That was extremely valuable.” – Jeannette Lutz, former HSLU student and member of the 2025 winning team

Modules including Online Business Strategy, Digital Customer Management, and Strategic Network and Ecosystem Management create a methodological and strategic framework to develop digital business models and marketing strategies. What is more, subjects like Organisational Transformation and Change, and Web Literacy reveal the connection between technology, communication and business management.

Lecturers from the business world help the students along. These close ties to the business world and the marketing industry in particular create learning environments where students not only pick up facts but develop actual skills and learn to take responsibility for ideas, decisions and results. 

The HSLU has been a major player in the Swiss communication and marketing sector for many years.

With its strong practical orientation, applied research and network of seasoned experts from agencies, companies an start-ups, it offers an ideal training ground for students wishing to make it in the digital world of business.

“Students get a proper “practice” experience by working with an agency. It’s a game changer for many of those wishing to start a career in communications.” – Dr Andreas Lucco, Lecturer at the HSLU

A blend of theory, practice and reflection not only helps students to understand how communication works today, it shows them how it will likely change tomorrow.

One entry of the 2025 Junior Agency Award focused on the media brand “20 Minuten” - a platform that exemplifies the Swiss media landscape like no other. The students analysed changes in media consumption particularly among young target groups and developed creative approaches to rethinking information behaviour.

They discussed...
 ... where young people get their information and which sources they trust,
 ... the role of social media as well as news and content platforms in the future media landscape, and
 ... how brands can communicate authentically in this environment.

With their ideas, the HSLU students made a valuable contribution to the discourse around the future of digital media and communication - a topic that will retain its relevance long after graduation.

In 2026, another traditional Swiss brand set the theme of the competition: Zweifel Chips.

The Junior Agency Award offered the students an intensive learning experience that went far beyond the classroom. It centred around collaboration, feedback culture and taking responsibility, which are key skills for their future careers. Supervised closely by coaches and lecturers, the teams learnedto understand how creative ideas can be translated into compelling communication strategies.

“I’ve rarely learned as much in such a short time and in such a positive environment. And what’s great is that I can use it all in my day-to-day work.” – Jeannette Lutz, former HSLU student and member of the 2025 winning team

In addition to learning what makes a successful campaign, the students learned to address challenges as a team - from finding an idea to presenting the resulting project to a panel of experts. Their shared success illustrates how motivating practice-oriented learning can be and how it can bring people together.

Winning the Junior Agency Award aptly reflects the philosophy of the HSLU’s MSc in Online Business and Marketing as a practice-oriented, creative, future-facing programme.

It is for people wishing to shape the world with ideas that make a difference and skills that are in demand in the digital economy. It turns students into movers and shakers who think and build the future.

Keen to learn more? Discover the MSc in Business Administration with Major in Online Business and Marketing and build the skills for your future career