Belmont University wins gold in ICCO University PR World Cup

Alyssa Sotiros and Nora Suknaic representing Belmont University (USA) have won Gold at the second annual ICCO University PR Word Cup. Silver was claimed by Emilia Sala and Michalina Wójcik representing University of Warsaw (Poland), while Jessica Gaynor and Sarah Cockett from Leeds Beckett University (UK) won Bronze. They were competing against 30 teams from 20 educational institutions providing PR and communication studies all over the world.

From 6th to 9th November, 30 teams from Asia, Europe, Africa and North America competed against each other to be crowned champions. Pairs made of undergraduetes from public relations and communication courses responded to a brief set by this year’s competition partner, the United Nations Development Programme. The students were given the task of creating a campaign idea centered around the 13th of 17 Sustainable Development Goals and then presenting it to the international jury of industry leaders as well as academics in a five-minute video pitch explaining how they would inspire global audiences to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Besides the winners, the jury highly commended six teams:

• Helena Pacato and Andrei Vasilev from Corvinus University of Budapest (Hungary)
• Marion Colaco and Dellaney Botelho from Middlesex University Dubai (United Arab Emirates)
• Mia Bakarska and Gabriela Todorova from Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski (Bulgaria)
• Laura Szabó and Ivett Varga from Kodolányi János University (Hungary)
• Dakshata Jain & Anish Shaw from Xavier's Institute of Communications (India)
• Chloe Tan & Ethan Lin from Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)

Member of the Jury, Busi Roberts from Edelman Africa, said:

„Sometime the simplest ideas are the best. I loved the winning teams’ approach. The Gold campaign idea ticks all the boxes. It meets the stated objectives and even more – addresses the mental health issue, especially with new studies on the impact of climate change on it.”

Rob Morbin, Executive Director, ICCO, said:

“Congratulations to the Belmont University team for delivering a creative, clear, and well-rounded pitch, and to the close runner ups, the teams from University of Warsaw and Leeds Beckett University. All of the three teams delivered ideas tailored to Gen Z and Millenial audiences, while not losing the hopeful messaging that is difficult to mantain while speaking about climate change.

We are truly grateful to UNDP for supporting the University PR World Cup. As this competition grows, we are able to see the wealth of emerging talent. I am sure they all have bright futures in public relations.”

As part of the prize, the winning team will have the opportunity to intern within a leading agency in their local city and to attend the PRCA Virtual International Summit 2024.

Previous Gold winners were a team from Leeds Beckett University (UK).