Credit: JEL / Maison Moderne

Jonk Entrepreneuren Luxembourg (JEL) have announced the winners of this year's Innovation Camp, held on Wednesday 26 February 2020 at the Chamber of Employees in Luxembourg-Bonnevoie.

For the 20th edition of the JEL Innovation Camp, 60 students aged 16-19 from sixteen secondary schools responded to the “Business Challenge” proposed by Maison Moderne.

The students, divided into mixed teams, had to think of solutions to respond to the "Business Challenge", which they had discovered that same day. For this edition, Maison Moderne asked the students to think about the following challenge: "After 20 years of existence of the brand, we entrust you with the mission of reinventing Paperjam to address the young generation. Develop a brand development / repositioning strategy, targeting the 18-29 age group". 

To guide the students in their project, several advisers from Maison Moderne were present to share their knowledge and experience: Sarah Macri, Managing Editor Paperjam Guide & Data Operations Manager; Julien Delpy, Director of Paperjam Club; Thierry Labro, Journalist; Mike Koedinger, Founding President.

At the end of the day, the twelve teams each presented their project to the general public and tried to convince the jury, which was composed of Isabelle Faber, CEO of Leitmotif, Pascale Kauffman, Managing Director of Apollo Strategists, Carole Retter, Partner at Moskito, Thierry Raizer, Editor-in-Chief of Paperjam (Maison Moderne) and Duncan Roberts, Editor-in-Chief of Delano (Maison Moderne).

After much deliberation, the jury chose the following top three teams:

- First prize was awarded to the “Paperjam Connect” team, composed of Leili Arendt, Ben Zeimes (Lycée de Garçons de Luxembourg), Tom Carré (Lycée Vauban), Aurélien Clerc (Lycée Vauban) and Anass Jandoubi (Lycée Aline Mayrisch). Their project consisted of a mobile application, accessible to everyone and present on all connected devices. For their marketing strategy, the students started from the principle that free public transport will lead to an increase in traffic and thus targeted advertising media as a priority.

- Second prize went to the "YoungJam" team, composed of Sascha Emringer (Athénée de Luxembourg), Guillaume Nickels (Lycée Aline Mayrisch), Salma Belmir (Lycée Hubert Clément Esch), Samra Ajdarpasic (Lycée Robert Schumann Luxembourg) and Charlotte Martin (Lycée Hubert Clément Esch). This team wanted to create a "Y-Jam" movement made up of several branches, all dealing with different subjects through podcasts, interviews and discussions. Different branches would be created such as the “Working Jam” or “Music Jam” branch.

- Third prize was awarded to the “Write the future” team, composed of Yuri Schmitz (Lycée Aline Mayrisch), Océane Sellami (Ecole privée Fieldgen), Graciette Marques (Lycée Hubert Clément Esch), Lynn Schweig (Lycée technique Agricole) and Apolline Mathiot (Lycée Vauban). Their project aimed to integrate QR Codes in the magazine to allow the reader to access additional content, such as videos and filmed interviews.

Innovation Camp brings together students aged 16-19 who are divided into mixed teams of four to six students. For a whole day, they search for innovative solutions to respond to a real "Business Challenge" posed by a sponsor from the professional world. The experience offers young people the opportunity to learn to work in a team, respect deadlines, compete with other groups, present their ideas and defend them before a jury.