20 YEARS OF PRIVATE DIPLOMACY
IDENTITY, CULTURE & LOCAL CREATIVITY

20 YEARS OF PRIVATE DIPLOMACY IDENTITY, CULTURE & LOCAL CREATIVITY

SEND THE DELIVERABLES LINK TO: Teodora.migdalovici@thealternativeschool.com / win@thealternativeschool.com

MANDATORY. Submissions must be shared via a link. Solutions sent as email attachments WILL NOT BE considered.

Context / Why ?

To celebrate 20 years of Private Diplomacy in showcasing Romanian talent globally.

To explore how branding, national identity, and pop culture continuously shape and influence one another.

To broaden perspectives on “Local Flavor & Branding with Cultural Impact Abroad” through events, speakers, and exhibitions.

Who?

Primary Target: Gen Z creatives, potential Young Lions participants.
Secondary Target: Creative industry professionals, agencies, freelancers, industry organizations, and government bodies.

What?

Creative Challenge:

Design a logotype: 20 Years of Private Diplomacy (standalone + with The Alternative School logo).

Create a poster & stamp series, inspired by philatelic aesthetics, celebrating identity, culture, and local creativity. (Adaptable graphics in both print and digital formats, possibly including NFTs.)

Themes & Tags:

Philately / Collectibles / Typography / Visual Identity

Design + PR / Influential Marketing / Viral Concepts

Where Will It Be Used?

The celebratory logo - in all of the Alternative School’s communication in 2025

Stamps: Social media, potential NFT series, proposed collaboration with Romanian Post.

Posters: To promote the events on Branding, Identity, Culture and local Creativity

Mandatory Elements to be used in the composition:

Logotype: “20 YEARS OF PRIVATE DIPLOMACY”

The Alternative School Logo

Text: 1.“Identity & Culture: [Chosen Region/Nation] Creativity” & 2. Brand Talks

Main Visual: A symbolic representation of the selected region or nation’s cultural essence.

For Posters (Beyond Stamp Format):

Placeholder text for event details: PLACE / TIME & DATE / SPEAKERS / PARTNERS

Key Cultural Focus Areas to select one of your choice:

Regional: Eastern European, Middle Eastern, Asian, Latino-American, Spaniard.

National: Romanian, British, French, American, Scandinavian, Austrian.

Other cultures can be explored, but focus on those with strong brand influence.

Guidelines & Considerations:

Respect cultural nuances and avoid offensive content.

Humor is welcome, but it must be tasteful and relevant.

Ensure adaptability across print and digital formats.

Deliverables:

Logotype – Editable SVG, standalone & with The Alternative School logo.

Stamps – High-resolution PNG (300 DPI) and editable PDF.

Posters – Editable PDF (A4 & A3) with placeholders for event details (Date, Place, Speakers)

Useful links:

Logos

thealternativeschool.com

canneslions.com

Instagram

Deadline: 30.03.2025, 23:32

Format: Upload all your solutions on a g-drive link and send the link to Andra Serea

Email: andra@thealternativeschool.com

Visual Languages, Graphic Design, Typography, Philately

News article cover image.

11/5/26, 11:59 PM

Promotion for 0.5L RGB Ursus Bottle

The Audience / conversation partners

Occasional beer drinkers in small urban areas (corner-shop buyers).

Small shop owners serving their neighborhoods.

The Challenge

Lost habit: People forgot to return 0.5L bottles; they throw them away.

Convenience: No home space for storage; no return routine; shopkeepers also lack space.

Missed moments: At shops, people enjoy 0.5L glass with neighbors; at home, they buy 2L PET as “better value”.

Context

RGB = Returnable Glass Bottle: washed, refilled, reused (20–50 cycles). Not recycled → reused.

Available only in small shops, not in big retailers.

Rural areas recycle more than urban.

Perception: “corner-block beer” → social, affordable, everyday.

Glass = authentic, chic, better than plastic.

Budget

200,000 EUR → prizes for the promo campaign.

Use it as an investment in community well-being.

Mandatory

No “Buy. Scratch. Win a BMW.” kind of a mechanism for the promo.

The campaign must:

Stay simple, meaningful, impactful, human.

Solve real issues of buying–depositing–returning bottles.

Improve daily life for neighbors, shop owners, communities.

Make prizes & mechanics practical, relevant, fun, culturally & anthropologically rooted.

To Do

Create a promo campaign with prizes that motivates both consumers and shop owners to use and return the 0.5L RGB bottle, while improving the experience and their lives in the process.

Show the bottle as:

A social connector, aligned with Ursus’ 140+ year legacy (a natural social glue for the neighbors, shop owners, friends’ lives)

Functional & aesthetic (glass feels and looks better), as their deposit spaces should.

A community builder (shops as hubs)

Sustainable - reusing the same bottle for 20-25 times before being destroyed, means the conscious option)

Deliverables

I. PDF (max 2 pages)

Idea (1 line).

Insight (3-4 lines): habits, challenges + why this moment matters (grounded in local culture).

Strategy:

2-4 lines: how to drive buying & returning, respecting people’s real needs.

2-4 lines: design + community activation.

Promo Mechanism (3-4 lines): what you say & what you offer (consumers + shop owners) to join the Returning-the-Glass-Bottle Movement. Keep it light, joyful (it’s beer, not ink).

Expected Outcome 2026 (2 lines).

II. Three Visual Items

Poster or outdoor – to announce the promo for those enrolled in the Returning Movement.

One visual of your choice for the digital space. Your choice of format and exposure space (insta-tiktok-games will be the indicator of what’s the best media to amplify the message.)

One large-scale design solution – pick one (or propose your own):

New bottle storage idea (home or shop).

New look for bar/outside shop/terrace (landscape, outdoor, upcycling).

Visual statement (e.g., mural).

Experience improvement for small neighborhoods.

III. A3 Board

Team name + Catchy campaign title.

Sections: Idea | Insight / Tension | Promo Mechanism | Strategy

Include at least 3 best visuals.

Samples: A3 boards from different competitions.

Deadline:

Send your solutions on a google drive, under YOUR_TEAMS_NAME link until April 1st at andra@thealternativeschool.com

Recommendations

Make life better for people, shop owners, communities.

Use design: murals, interiors/exteriors, shop-as-bistro, storage units.

Prizes should be meaningful for local lives.

Think about time:

Best launch moment (traditions, seasonal peaks).

Long-term vision (evolving campaign, maybe series-style).

Build on EQ & warmth: small shops = trust, gossip, neighbors, homecoming.

Beer = social glue, it’s not just about generic prizes.

PR twist: What if, for once people don’t win prizes for themselves, but for others? On a dedicated platform, prizes can be given by locals to locals (best shopkeeper, best neighbor, best friend, best wife, best mother-in-law, best football-watching buddy).

From the media perspective - expose the content of the promotion in relevant yet unexpected contexts, so every outdoor / poster / mural or digital content to make sense and be highly specific for this campaign

RGB Cheat Sheet

History: Dominant until 1970s → replaced by PET → eco-comeback today.

Advantages: sustainable, authentic, premium, circular economy.

Disadvantages: heavier, fragile, storage needed, less convenient.

Market: Works best where return culture is strong → Romania can grow.

Explore more about BAM here: https://thealternativeschool.com/news/bam-cia-s-first-program

News article cover image.

3/30/25, 11:32 PM

20 YEARS OF PRIVATE DIPLOMACY. CREATE A CAMPAIGN TO CELEBRATE THE NEXT 20

Influential Campaign Lobbying for Romanian Talent @ Cannes Lions 2025

Disciplines ^ Skills: Strategy, Stunts, Marketing, PR, Viral Campaigns, Social Media, Visual Languages, Effective Lobbying through events, Entrepreneurial mindset

Context: This campaign marks 20 years of #TheAlternativeSchool’s successful private diplomacy lobby for the Romanian Creative Industry in Cannes, Eurobest & Dubai Lynx.

Objective:

Develop a high-impact strategy that amplifies Romanian talent’s global reputation, showcasing that creativity (with a specific flavor) is ingrained in the national ethos.

Where it will be launched: Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity (June 16-21, 2025).

Audience:

Primary: Gen Z talents attending the Cannes Lions festival, those enrolled in the Young Lions Competitions, Roger Hatchuel Academy & See it, Be it.

Secondary: Jurors, speakers, KOL, especially those under 35

Tone of voice / style: outsmarting the system, disruptive, funny, witty, smart.
Budget:

€181,000 – €224,000

Your Challenge:

Maximize impact—make every cent count.

Develop the most effective, memorable, and influential strategy

Promote Romanian creativity at Cannes Lions 2025.

Showcase the under-35 generation—their identity, performance, and creative force.

Deliverables

  1. Logotype – “20 Years of Private Diplomacy”
    Editable format SVG or gif, if you prefer an animated version
    Standalone + version with #TheAlternativeSchool logo

  2. Visual Content
    Branded materials for on-site promotion at Cannes Lions (one poster)
    Social media assets, optimized for Instagram & Facebook (one sample each)

  3. Strategic Presentation (PPT or PDF)

Your strategy must answer key questions:

What’s your insight? (The unique truth or observation fueling your strategy)

What’s your idea to challenge identity cliches or promote interesting attributes, such a specific humor flavor?

How do you decline the idea and insight into a compelling strategy, using the budget in the smartest, most efficient way possible ?

Expected results: What do you want to achieve? What’s your big vision?

The how:

Nasty clichés about Romanian identity can be used as fuel to ignite the campaign and prove them wrong. (Examples – Ladies First was a magazine focusing on local female talent, launched at the festival to address the often heard clichés about Romanian women being the most talented courtesans of Europe).

When building your strategy, take into consideration:

Mind shift → How do you want people to think differently?
Heart shift → How do you want them to feel?
Action shift → What do you want them to do?

Influential marketing tactics → How will this stand out in a cluttered media landscape?

Measurable impact → How will success be tracked? (Credibility + Seduction is key)

Innovation in storytelling → what unexpected tools do you plan to use - graphic design, music, flavors, cinema, video, touch - to make the campaign standing out in a place where the biggest, smartest brands have their say?

Cultural authenticity → How will the campaign reflect the essence of Romanian creativity and leave an impact beyond Cannes, long after the festival is over?

Amplification strategy → What influencers, media partnerships or experiential activations will drive visibility?

Next Steps:
Explore partners & school logos here:

Google Drive Link

Useful Links:

Logos

The Alternative School

Cannes Lions

Instagram: The School for Creative Thinking

✦ Your strategy can redefine how Romanian creativity is seen worldwide. Make it bold. Make it resonate. Make it last.

Deadline: 30.03.2025, 23:32

Format: Upload all your solutions on a g-drive link and send the link to Andra Serea

Email: andra@thealternativeschool.com

Whatsapp: 0744 10 50 15

Make your mama proud:

Make your mama proud: