Friday’s b@s videochallenge award ceremony in Berlin honored the best entries in seven different categories in the video competition of the educational initiative business@school. Students from the cities of Hanau, Meissen, Öhringen, Potsdam, and Tostedt were awarded for their company analyses and recommended courses for action.

Berlin, September 25, 2023. Analyze one of four companies based on four questions in a four-minute video—that was the task of the b@s videochallenge. The video competition of the educational initiative business@school of the international consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) took place this year for the seventh time. With their videos, the young students exhibited their understanding of business as well as their creativity. Whether drawn, animated, or with acting, they analyzed root causes of company success and risks in wide-ranging forms of presentation, making recommendations for the future. In addition to four prizes sponsored by the competition’s four partner companies, three special prizes were also awarded. In a video message, Elke Büdenbender, the patron of the video competition, congratulated and commended the teams: “Your contributions have shown me that you are taking on the challenges of our time and are critically questioning things. But not only that—you’re examining it constructively and looking for solutions.”

The winners in the four competition categories:

Jessica (18), Leticia (19), Pelin (19), Robin (18), Salomé (18), and Viktoria (19) from Richard-von-Weizsäcker-Schule in Öhringen

Jimmy (15) and Simon (14) from Karl-Rehbein-Schule in Hanau

Anna Sophia (17), Gina Marie (20), Jule (19),  Julie Francoise Oda (19), and Marie-Sophie (17) from the Medienschule Babelsberg in Potsdam 

Alexander (17), David (18), and Lilli (17) from Sächsisches Landesgymnasium Sankt Afra in Meissen

Special prize for sustainability focus

This year, the GREENTECH FESTIVAL SPECIAL PRIZE for the best video with a focus on sustainability was also awarded for the first time. “I am absolutely impressed by the professionalism and creative approaches of the students,” GREENTECH FESTIVAL founder Marco Voigt, who presented the prize, said enthusiastically about the teams’ numerous sustainable recommendations for action. Alina (15) and Anni (15) from Gymnasium Tostedt were happy to receive the special prize for their video about SOS-Kinderdorf e.V.

Double award for junior duo

In addition to the Company Prize, Jimmy (15) and Simon (14) from Karl-Rehbein-Schule in Hanau were presented with the Youngster Award for their video about Fressnapf. This special prize awarded for the best video up to ninth grade is meant to encourage interest in business topics and fun working with a camera particularly among younger students.

Two awards with the Audience Award

For one week, all visitors to the b@s videochallenge website were able to cast their votes for the videos nominated for the Audience Award. The film by Jessica, Leticia, Pelin, Robin, Salomé, and Viktoria about Flix won out with 39 percent of the vote. So, the team of students from Richard-von-Weizsäcker-Schule in Öhringen was able to celebrate a double success at the award ceremony. They certainly worked hard for it: “We motivated the whole school community and even got to make announcements at school. And we received support from all over the world. Even from abroad, our friends and families voted for us,” reports Salomé (18).

The winners of the Company Prizes can expect exclusive glimpses behind the scenes of the companies they analyze; the winning teams can look forward to spending a day together on an experience of their choice. The winning videos as well as all other nominated entries can be found on the website.

The teams at the finals came from the following schools:

Next round starting January 2024

With the b@s videochallenge, the educational initiative business@school has created an offer for students from all types of schools. The task is to analyze one of four companies, based on four questions, in a four-minute video. In the video competition, 14- to 20-year-olds can demonstrate their business and media savvy—and win great prizes. The next round starts in January 2024.