BMW top managers continue the company's educational course at FESS: students’ feedback

Students’ feedback:

Maria Vasilieva
FESS RANEPA student

«I would like to express my gratitude to Vasily Melnikov for his professionalism, openness and, indeed, for his insights into the subtleties of BMW PR. With the help of clear and illustrative examples, we learned not only how to establish and maintain a steady connection with the target audience but also how the CA reacts to certain communication channels! Also, the way Vasiliy and Anton interacted and exchanged ideas gave us both a sense of connection between different areas in one case, and an opportunity to look at a particular case from the perspective of different types of activities.

Anton Egorov's interpretation of the processes and operational features behind the phrase "business case" was incredibly interesting. His understanding of the triple constraint was also a kind of insight, but no longer in the framework of project management, but in the business case environment: money, competitors and the target audience. Thanks a lot to Anton for a fascinating lecture!

The lecture on the development of post-sales service, conducted by Veniamin Sharipov, was full of the latest data, recommendations and important conclusions, which allowed us to delve into this challenging but very special field. We learned about the current situation on the market and the main trends, as well as understood the reasons for the anticipated changes. I would like to thank Veniamin for the opportunity to speculate and discuss his opinion with a professional of such a high calibre!»

Artem Meniaylov
FESS RANEPA student

«BMW Educational courses are an excellent complement to RANEPA management program. From my point of view, theoretical foundation should have practical evidence. Therefore, both Anton Egorov and Vasily Melnikov not only gave professional insights from their industry, but also inspired us by their energy. Just imagine – a business analyst and PR director talked about their completely different fields, but constantly referred to each other. What is more important, the speakers always sought to engage in a dialogue with us, as was the case with the very communicative lecture by Veniamin Sharipov, the head of the BMW Production Association».

Mariana Geringer
FESS RANEPA student

«In an interactive and even artistic way, Vasily Melnikov told us about the company's PR activities. Since BMW Group includes three very different brands (BMW, MINI and BMW Motorrad), the PR strategy for each of them is completely different. Vasily told us not only how relationships with famous YouTube bloggers, Blanc restaurants and the Bolshoi Theatre are built but also how he participates in the promotion of the Premium Car Owners Club and arranges test drives for Influencers, thus creating an attractive experience of interaction with the brand after a car purchase.

The main thing I’ve learnt was that you never know where a particular acquaintance will happen, so being a versatile communicative person to build your network of useful contacts is always very useful. This is when various collaborations arise, for example on a barter basis, when a company organizes entertainment for a blogger in return for their competent promotion of the company.

Being a product manager in the past, Anton Egorov is now one of the finance managers. With the use of Excel spreadsheets, he showed us that it is impossible to launch a product without data-driven solutions. He also explained why it is important to balance customer needs, budget constraints and product technological characteristics, simultaneously monitoring competitors' activities. Moreover, we noted that there are 2 main tools used for data analytics: Excel and Power BI, and since FESS students already mastered these tools, it was easy for us to be on the same wave with Anton.

Veniamin Sharipov, a professional with 14 years of experience at BMW Russia, gave a lecture on an unfamiliar topic of after-sales customer service. His presentation included analysis of global trends in this area as well as Russian market data and, in particular, basic metrics of customer service at BMW. We also learned that the company is now planning to expand to Asian countries, primarily China as the fastest growing market. Additionally, we learned about the main strategies for the development of VPR: transparency through online service designers; attracting second-hand BMW owners to official service centers; customer retention through company events; and predictive analytics on the condition of the car (teleservice and connected drive technologies).

Veniamin also shared how the company manages risks associated with independent reseller stations, which infiltrate the supply chain and compete with official BMW dealerships and service centers by dumping prices. Separately, the main issue of the current agenda – ESG compliance – was addressed, including the use of sustainable materials and recycled plastics at the production stage of new car models, enabling the company to reduce its carbon footprint».

Mikhail Tanko:
FESS RANEPA student

«Vasily Melnikov is a very interesting speaker. He exuded positive energy and it was immediately clear that he is on the same page with the youth. He understands what we are interested in and what kind of humour we have, as well as having an excellent grasp of his field of work. Examples of various contracts with popular bloggers and musicians made it clear that PR is not about budget size, but about finding a creative approach.

Anton Egorov, Head of Financial Control, had an unusual perspective on project management. The cases and approaches to solving them that he shared were incredibly enjoyable and I guess I will undoubtedly use them in my future work. What immediately caught my attention was that the speaker talked about the practice of cases in a real large company, rather than theory.

Veniamin Sharipov dealt with profound issues and detailed the company's approach to market analysis. The topic of sustainable production and the complex infrastructure of conveyor belts was fascinating, and the issues raised were not only about management, but also about general moral principles and even the future of our planet».