ZMM Winter Semester 2025/2026 at the University of Hamburg Business SchoolZMM connects marketing students with the professional world

30 March 2026

Photo: ZMM

Dr. Julia Diana Lenk from ZMM

The Centre for Marketing and Media (ZMM) looks back on the events it organised last semester, which brought students together with professionals.

An eventful winter semester at the Center for Marketing and Media (ZMM) has come to an end. The network led by Prof. Dr. Henrik Sattler, Prof. Dr. Michel Clement, Prof. Dr. Karen Gedenk, and Prof. Dr. Mark Heitmann once again created a range of formats that successfully connected academia and practice:

They kicked things off on November 10 with a GenAI workshop (“Prompt-a-thon”): Doctoral researchers Constantin von Brackel-Schmidt and Emir Kučević from the Department of Computer Science showed students how to use ChatGPT and a wide range of generative AI tools effectively – from literature research to the quick creation of compelling presentations.

One week later, students were invited to an in-house brunch at pilot: Over great coffee, breakfast, and an engaging case study, Senior Strategy Consultant Jonas provided insights into the development of media strategies and how to navigate the vast amount of market, competitor, and audience data, especially in times of technological advancement. Thanks to the entire team, including Leonie Steinkamp and Stefanie Brunsch!

On December 1st, an exclusive presentation workshop followed: Based on the slides by Prof. Dr. Michel Clement and extended with recent high-impact research by Dr. Julia Diana Lenk, the session focused on high-quality presenting, in particular the storyline, slide design, and confident delivery. During the 4-hour workshop, Dr. Lenk provided individual feedback on students’ presentation skills.

Finally, the ZMM Christmas party, handing out goodie bags from our corporate partners, was a great way to wrap up the year. The annual networking event for ZMM students, professors, and research staff took place at the Grindel Christmas market in Hamburg.

At the end of the semester, Dr. Julia Diana Lenk also steps down after four years of leading the ZMM operations:

"Organizing the ZMM has been a very rewarding experience. I was particularly impressed by the motivation and initiative of our students, as well as the many strong ideas developed during workshops and case studies. Thank you to all students, professors, and companies for the excellent collaboration. And to all students: look forward to the upcoming summer semester – exciting events are already in the making!"

Thank you, Julia, for your dedicated involvement with the Business School – you will be missed!

At the same time, we are more than happy to welcome Charlotte Weber, who will take over planning from the summer semester 2026 onwards. We wish her every success and a great start!