The much-awaited COOPR Academy 2025 has finally begun. After nervously refreshing our inboxes for days, the email arrived, illuminating our screens with the words:

Congratulations, you have been accepted for the Coopr Academy 2024-2025!

And then, on the 13th of February, the ninth edition of COOPR Academy was about to start. We met at the beautiful Rotterdam headquarters, and as soon as we entered the room, a Valentine’s Day present was waiting for us: a package with a LEGO rose inside was placed in each sitting spot. The COOPR team members introduce themselves, as well as the values and the goals that lead the company. We have then discussed how PR is an umbrella term that includes many different strategies, skills and activities (is buying a sweater for the CEO of Netflix PR? I won’t spoil the answer )

Then, it was time to introduce ourselves through our mood boards, which we were asked to prepare prior to the first meeting. With ten students, all coming from different curricula (mainly from the IBCoM bachelor’s degree, but some, like the undersigned, coming from a Media Studies Master’s degree), there was a lot to talk about. We introduced ourselves, our backgrounds, hobbies and passions (apparently, many cat lovers in this year’s edition). Then, we talked about what we think PR is for us and what makes us passionate about the field and aspiring PR professionals of the future. It was truly inspiring to hear the stories of young students from many different places in the world and to realise that we are all connected by the desire to learn new things about this fascinating industry.

Photo by Canva Studio from Pexels.com

We all got the chance to chat and get to know each other better over a nice dinner break, and then it was already time to meet this year’s client: LEGO! The LEGO Benelux executives shared the company’s long story, which began in a small village in Denmark and has since grown to have a presence worldwide. They emphasised that they always work with children in mind: what makes them happy? How can they grow into their best selves while having fun?

We were then introduced to the company’s brief. The event we will collaborate on is nothing less than LEGO World, a week-long event held yearly in Jaarbeurs, Utrecht. Here, children and their families can enjoy different types of activities, from admiring life-size LEGO constructions to playing together. This is a very much awaited and loved event from the community. Therefore, it is fundamental for LEGO that this event maintains its reputation and secures excellent media coverage. We discussed the target group to have in mind for this event, the goals they want to achieve, their values and their desire to generate excitement and anticipation for attending the event.

Finally, we were split into two groups, each coached by Senior PR consultants at Coopr. Both groups will work on this PR case, and in the final week, we will be asked to hold a pitch with our ideas and proposal in front of a jury. The group developing the best ideas and delivering the best presentation will win! We wrapped up the session with a quick chat with our mentors, mapping out meeting sessions and some expectations for the following weeks.

I am so excited, and I still cannot believe that I can participate in such an inspiring project like this one. And I am sure that the best is still yet to come!

Julia (Coopr Academy participant 2025)

The Coopr Academy practical honours programme provides 12 selected IBCoM and Master Media students from Erasmus University Rotterdam the opportunity to partake in eight interactive public relations-based masterclasses with specialists from Coopr, an agency at the forefront of the PR operations in the Benelux area. These sessions promise to give us invaluable insights into the workings of a state-of-the-art PR, social media, and digital communications agency. Furthermore, what’s exciting is that this programme culminates in the students pitching campaign ideas to a jury of clients. Two years ago, students pitched ideas to MTV, last year it was Warsteiner Beer, and this time it’s Lexa.nl, the most popular dating site in The Netherlands! But more on that later.