糖心在线

• Gelsenkirchen is one of the most deprived regions of Germany and has been ranked 401st out of 401 German cities for quality of life.
• Students from ESMT Berlin recently took part in a three-month project to devise use cases and a marketing plan for an iconic church in the city center.
• Although unusual for a business school project, the experience has taught the students more than they ever could have imagined.

Just off Kurt-Schumacher-Straße—the main street in the center of Gelsenkirchen in Germany—lies St. Joseph’s Church. It is a symbol of the city and dominates the humble skyline. Once upon a time, this church was the vibrant hub of a thriving city. Now, the church isn’t quite abandoned, but it’s not far off: the pastor left around six years ago, and today the church is just used for one-off events and occasional meetings.

In many ways, the slow decay of St. Joseph’s Church mirrors the decay of Gelsenkirchen itself. Formerly a prominent mining town and one of Germany’s economic powerhouses, it’s now a city facing extreme hardships. It has the highest unemployment rate in Germany (), over of its children are at risk of poverty, and it has been out of 401 German cities for quality of life.

So when the foundation responsible for managing St. Joseph’s Church approached the business school ESMT Berlin about a possible collaboration, it was clear that this would be no normal business school project.

“It’s not a typical business school project because the client didn’t necessarily have economic goals, but more social goals,” explains Baris Efe, who runs the school’s entrepreneurship hub and led the St. Joseph’s project. “The number one goal of the church is to relaunch the city. What’s really important is to create hope in the city and region.”

Efe says that this kind of socially oriented project is what ESMT is all about. “Social purpose is really important for us. We’re one of the only schools to have a social impact project that is integrated into our master’s programs. It’s a mandatory one-month social project, where most of our students will fly to another country and work for an NGO.”

The objective was clear enough: come up with a marketing plan for the church, along with some use cases for how the foundation managing the church could use its space and start to reignite the local economy. Much of that plan would be centered on the local football team Schalke 04—one of the biggest clubs in Germany and, according to Efe, “the reason why people didn’t give up on this city.” The club’s importance to Gelsenkirchen is illustrated in the blue and white Schalke scarf that adorns the church altar.

Luciano Coppolino was part of the student group that worked on the St. Joseph’s Church project. He says that it held particular relevance for him. “Coming from a small town in southern Italy, I understand how much places like churches, football stadiums, and old industrial buildings can hold significance and memories for generations,” he explains. “I was immediately curious about how we could breathe new life into such a location without losing its essence. I also appreciated that this was not simply a theoretical assignment but something that could genuinely be utilized and implemented by the foundation.”

First, ESMT students had to identify the potential growth areas of Gelsenkirchen’s flagging economy. Schalke’s Veltins-Arena has hosted concerts from some of the biggest names in music in recent years, making music and the creative arts one possible area to target.

“I worked on developing a business model for an e-gaming and VR game hall, as I believed this could be a strong, creative draw for the younger community and the occasional music fans,” says Coppolino.

Coppolino’s ESMT colleagues worked on two other business models: one that would convert part of the church into a co-working space, and another that would focus on hosting local events. “We then circled back together to define the value proposition, analyze financial viability, and co-develop the overall marketing and branding approach,” he adds.

The three-month project was mainly done virtually from the students’ Berlin base, but Efe and one of the students did get the opportunity to visit Gelsenkirchen to see the space for themselves and meet local residents. Efe says it was his “favorite moment” of the project, representing a vital chance to get out of the classroom and connect with people on a human level.

“Yifei is from Asia, and she had never been to a German city like this. It was really interesting to see how they spoke on an eye-to-eye level, how respectful those people are, how great those people are, and how loving those people are.”

Moments like this can feel rare for business school students. It’s one thing to theorize about business concepts and marketing plans in the classroom but another thing entirely to see for themselves how their actions can have a positive impact in local communities. In a disadvantaged area like Gelsenkirchen, they can have an even bigger, more noticeable impact on the fortunes of local residents.

Sometimes, even just the visible sign that “something is going on” can uplift a local community and give it some hope for the future. This wasn’t just a chance for business school students to show off what they’ve learned in the classroom: it was a chance to create meaningful change in a deprived area. For the students who took part, it has benefited them more than they could have imagined.

“The biggest benefit was that it reminded me of why I studied innovation and entrepreneurship in the first place,” says Coppolino. “It showed me that even something like a marketing proposal can carry meaning and help shape how people connect in a shared space. I started seeing how something similar could happen where I come from in Italy, and it made me feel even more connected to my roots, with a new desire to maybe one day do something similar there.”

So what does the future hold for St. Joseph’s? Efe says he’s in regular contact with the foundation and plans to make it over for a Schalke match in the coming months—even though he’s a fan of rival team Borussia Dortmund. Now that the foundation has a clear idea of how to utilize and market the space, St. Joseph’s Church could soon begin a bright new era.

And while this one project couldn’t possibly fix the deep-rooted issues affecting Gelsenkirchen, it does show the potential of business to impact local communities and economies.