Practical projects
Practical projects bring knowledge to life: application-oriented, easy to understand and directly applicable – whether they involve successful implementation examples, exciting project developments or valuable insights from real-world experience. On this page, we showcase ‘practical projects’ undertaken by students in collaboration with local companies, providing insights into real-world initiatives, innovative solutions and concrete results from everyday working life. Please do get in touch if you have any practical projects for our students.
A successful practical project with the Essenbach Sinfonietta
As part of the Marketing and Sales module, students took part in a practical project during the winter semester 2025/26 for the Sinfonietta Essenbach, an orchestra and its supporting association, which plans, organises and stages events with the aim of bringing classical music to rural areas.
Under the supervision of Prof. Dr Maike Kolbeck, the students focused on marketing and public relations for a classical orchestra. To this end, they analysed the orchestra’s public image and developed concepts for its further development. This resulted, for example, in a benchmarking exercise comparing the social media activities of similar orchestras, a comprehensive fundraising concept, a press distribution list and an editorial plan for press relations in 2026, a pitch book for presentations to sponsors and patrons, as well as a comprehensive branding concept including the further development of the logo.
The students presented their findings in an academic paper and a presentation to the board of the ‘Freunde der Sinfonietta Essenbach e.V.’ association, receiving great success and praise.
AI project with LaVita
The ‘AI in Marketing and Sales’ skills module got off to an exciting start in the 2025 summer term! Together with our dedicated project partners, we are now focused on developing innovative AI solutions for use in marketing and sales.
The project team brings interdisciplinary expertise to the table:
Prof. Dr Mitterhofer provides the marketing expertise, whilst Prof. Dr Sandra Eisenreich and Prof. Dr Dagmar Schuller contribute their expertise in IT and AI – a strong team!
A big thank you to Lavita’s head office for the warm welcome and the fantastic kick-off! We’re looking forward to an insightful semester!
Innovative thinking meets practice – Master’s final-year project using Malmachen AI
In the practical project for the Master’s programmes in Market-Oriented Business Management & International Business Administration, things really got going in the summer semester of 2025: our students developed creative use cases for VoiceAI and turned these directly into fully functional chatbots – for both inbound and outbound calls.
Also on board: our alumni Leonard Pöppel and Anton Kirchner from Malmachen KIas key project partners!
Whether at the dentist’s, in a hotel or at the hearing aid specialist’s – the applications created impressively demonstrate what is already possible today. Anyone wishing to test them is welcome to dial the following numbers:
Doctor: 089 41 43 41 51
Hearing care professional: +49 8941 434781
Hotel: +49 8941 434596
Prof. Dr Gronover is delighted with what our students have achieved this semester!
Practical project with VollCorner – Developing campaigns to attract new customers
Students on the Marketing and Sales module have successfully presented the results of their practical project with VollCorner. The aim was to develop campaigns to attract new customers for various product ranges (such as fruit, the fresh produce counter, etc.), particularly given that potential customers perceive the goods as ‘high-priced’. No easy task! The results were fascinating, ranging from interactive leaflets to a social media campaign. A big thank you also goes to the team at VollCorner Biomarkt for their fantastic support during the project, as well as for the lovely invitation to a pizza dinner together. Prof. Dr Sandra Gronover is delighted that, with VollCorner as a partner, we have been able to secure such an exciting company as a partner for our teaching.
New product ideas for new target groups for Margarete Steiff GmbH
Fifteen weeks of intensive work for the students on the Master’s programme in Market-Oriented Business Management are drawing to a close, with many great ideas to show for it. In collaboration with Margarete Steiff GmbH, the students have developed new product ideas for new target groups. These included ideas such as the ‘Couples Bear’ featuring IoT technology, which transmits the partner’s heartbeat, or soft toys that ‘communicate’ with one another when moved towards each other. This is just a small selection of truly exciting product ideas, most of which involve the ‘digitalisation’ of soft toys. For the project, under the guidance of Michael Nowak and Prof. Dr Sandra Gronover, the students not only developed product ideas using the Design Thinking approach but also built prototypes – or at least created mock-ups – that brought the ideas to life. The aim was also to develop initial ideas for a launch campaign. The focus here was clearly on social media campaigns.
Client acquisition for Eckert Schools and FAVORIT network GmbH
In the Marketing & Sales competence module, the focus for the 2024/25 winter semester was on customer acquisition! Project partners included Eckert Schulen and FAVORIT network GmbH. Prof. Dr Gronover explained that both companies focus on trust in the sales process and the ‘upper funnel’. Andrea Radlbeck and Ines Friedl presented the wide range of courses offered by Eckert Schools, and the students developed concepts for a target group similar to themselves. Manuel Franz and Ronny Schüler provided fascinating insights into IT services for small and medium-sized enterprises. The project here centres on B2B lead generation.
The students presented their findings at the end of the semester.
