As part of the development of the MediaTek competition, students took part in a case championship

In 2019, as part of the development of the All-Russian Media Competition, the press services of Fuel and Energy companies and regional administrations of MediaTek, competitions of the MediaTek Special League of the CASE-IN International Engineering Championship (included in the Presidential Platform "Russia – the Land of Opportunities") were held for the first time.

The participants, students of six Russian universities, had to figure out how, using non-standard promotion methods and a creative approach, to attract the attention of residents of the regions to the construction and reconstruction of power facilities using the example of the construction of the 110 kV Sputnik digital substation in the Voronezh Region. It was also necessary to develop a communication strategy, including media and social media coverage of the substation's construction, as well as actions for the general public. The final event with presentations of the developed solutions was held as part of the Youth Day #Together Brighter of the International Forum "Russian Energy Week 2019" in Moscow. The case was developed based on the materials of PJSC ROSSETI.

The teams' decisions were evaluated by experts − heads of the press services of leading energy companies, representatives of industry media and universities, including: PJSC ROSSETI, JSC SO UES, PJSC RusHydro, JSC St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange, Tomsk Polytechnic University, Anews platform, Electric Power magazine. Transmission and Distribution", the newspaper "Energy and Industry of Russia" and others.

The winner was the team "Above the Overburden" (Faculty of Geology, Lomonosov Moscow State University). Its participants are confident that a digital substation can become a base for testing the latest technologies. They suggested focusing on three areas: training (conducting excursions, specialized shifts in camps), activities (photo contests against the background of a substation, interactive stands in shopping malls and parks, creating a mobile game), partnership and work (issuing a Voronezhenergo partner discount card, shooting promotional videos, etc.). The guys wrote sample texts press releases, we came up with sticker packs for the VK group and masks for the Instagram account, which they offer to give for subscribing to the Voronezhenergo account. The awards were presented by Alexander Novak, Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation, and Mikhail Kotyukov, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.

The silver medal was won by the team "Slysh and Company" (Tomsk Polytechnic University). The students suggested that special emphasis should be placed on informing different age groups of the population about what digitalization in the energy sector is and what it provides. For children, to organize a drawing contest "Let's save the planet from the First Digital" and the Olympiad "Energy in Digital", for young people - to launch a quest game and a simulator game "Build your station", and for the older generation to conduct surveys on the subject of digitalization, excursions to the Satellite substation and a raffle of gifts from PJSCRosseti".

The third place was won by the 4first team (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology). The participants suggested targeting two target groups: the elderly and the youth, and developed their own program of events for each of them. Among other things, they proposed launching a career guidance game for young people on a popular social network, thus drawing general attention to the development of the fuel and energy complex and the substation itself, establishing cooperation between universities and Sputnik substation, and conducting excursions to the substation for schoolchildren and students.

- It is pleasant to note that the case for the promotion of the digital substation "Sputnik" aroused such interest among the participants of the championship. The student teams, in general, coped well with the task., - says Natalia Pirogova, Head of the Public Relations Department at Rosseti Center Voronezhenergo. - The students demonstrated the ability to analyze the media market and knowledge of modern media promotion technologies. Almost all the participants correctly formulated the key message of the PR campaign and made a cross-section of the target audience. At the same time, I would like to wish future participants a deeper acquaintance with the specifics of the work of the "client" and attention to the details of the case.: this will eliminate erroneous promotion decisions and add viability to projects.

During the speeches, both traditional approaches and non-standard solutions were used, because each new generation has its own special view. For example, the EnergyMedia team (Tomsk Polytechnic University) proposed building Russia's first park museum accessible to the general public, where it will be possible to get acquainted with demonstration models of power equipment.

The Untouchables team (MISiS National Research Technological University) proposed to hold not only an event within the framework of the substation launch, in which the heads of the energy company itself, contractors and the city participate, but also to make a holiday for all citizens – LampoFest. A similar idea was expressed by the members of the Electric Mechanism team (Nizhnevartovsk State University) - to organize the opening of a substation in the format of an "Energy Festival", where innovative technologies can be demonstrated to everyone, guided tours can be conducted, and information about the substation can be broadcast using smart glass.

The Zolotaya Strela team (Faculty of Journalism at Lomonosov Moscow State University) proposed such creative solutions as a "dark buffet" for media workers and a light show on the facade of the substation in the spirit of the Circle of Light festival, as well as to involve eco-bloggers in information coverage.

The Federal Organizing Committee of the All-Russian MediaTek Competition hopes that the ideas of young people will help employees of the press services of fuel and energy companies to find new solutions in the field of information support for the construction and reconstruction of energy facilities, as well as that a similar format of case championships in the field of attracting students' attention to the development of PR solutions in the fuel and energy sector and career guidance for students of journalism and law schools. Public relations will also be developed in the country's regions.

The organizers of the championship were the Reliable Shift Foundation and the National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University together with the organizing committee of the All-Russian Media Competition, the press services of fuel and energy companies and the regional administrations of MediaTek. The project became the winner of the All-Russian competition of youth projects of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs among educational organizations of higher Education in 2019.

A source: Media Library