Ms Maurer, what do you do as advisor for Communication at the German Maritime Centre?
My responsibilities are varied. Among other things, I am responsible for the strategic communication of our projects. This means that I support my colleagues in developing a communication plan for their specific projects in order to increase visibility. We want to inform stakeholders and everyone who’s interested about the current status, recommendations for action and key insights. I also accompany each project via our LinkedIn account, where I develop an editorial plan and ensure a steady stream of content.
Other than that, I also work on my own projects. One of them is particularly extensive and is currently in focus: the maritime youth campaign, for which we will soon begin brand development in collaboration with an agency. The aim is to create a brand that inspires young people to join the industry.
Can you describe a typical working day?
A typical working day for me definitely involves lots of meetings – communication isn’t just part of my job title. Every day, I talk to a wide variety of people, both from our team and externally, to plan, organise and coordinate our projects. I also use the social media editorial plan on a daily basis and try to work proactively here.
Your professional background is in public relations. How did your path lead you into the maritime industry?
Before joining the DMZ in 2021, my professional background was actually not maritime at all. I originally studied humanities – German studies and communication sciences – and worked for many years in PR consultancy for steel and mechanical engineering companies. Later, I was responsible for social media and online marketing at a global automation company. At some point, I wanted a change of location and moved from beautiful North Rhine-Westphalia to Hamburg. That felt doubly “northern German” to me, because not only did I get to move to Hamburg, but I also started working in the maritime industry – it doesn’t get much better than that.
How was your start in the maritime sector?
It was only during my onboarding at the German Maritime Centre that I became truly aware of the diversity of the maritime sector. Our supply chains and our prosperity depend heavily on how well processes and cooperation in the maritime sector are coordinated – I hadn’t realised this to such an extent before. Over time, I noticed how much enthusiasm I have for the industry and for the people who work in it. I genuinely feel there is a different sense of solidarity than I had previously experienced. That’s one reason why I really enjoy generating visibility for maritime topics.
What excites you about working in communications?
I believe communication is essential for us – nothing works without it. Only through communication we can implement initiatives and achieve great things. To me, the subject also has a lot to do with identification and self-expression, as well as connecting with people. Through communication, you learn an incredible amount, for instance about the perspectives of others. You can gain so much for yourself from it.
At the German Maritime Centre, it is something I care deeply about to communicate our topics, our expertise and our competence as a team in a way that allows others to benefit from our insights. We do not do our work for its own sake; we are here for the industry and want to strengthen it. And that only works through communication.
How do you experience communication work for a think tank? Are there specific challenges?
I don’t think communication for a think tank differs all that much from communication in other organisations. Fundamentally, it’s about making new developments and insights accessible to people. You will only be seen if you speak up and make yourself heard. It’s always about creating a connection with people.
What does your work in project communication look like?
Of course, there are basic guidelines for creating communication plans and certain points that need to be addressed. What are the milestones? Which measures can be implemented, and what is the project’s goal? Which content should be communicated to which target groups? Which media might be interesting for presenting a topic? At which events can we participate? I answer these questions together with my colleagues and help them adopt a communication-oriented perspective.
We also strategically fill our formats with the content provided by colleagues – from the newsletter and the maritime talk to the podcast and the website, as well as our Youtube and LinkedIn channels.
What role does LinkedIn play for the German Maritime Centre and your work?
For us, LinkedIn is an appealing channel as a business network, because many stakeholders from the industry present themselves there, as do research institutions and many others. This means we reach a wide range of target groups relevant to us. For similar reasons, Youtube is also of interest to us – we are therefore working to be active there as well.
Do you observe trends in communication, and do you think your work will change significantly in the coming years?
I keep a continuous eye on communication trends, and of course AI is an important topic here too – from text creation to image generation. In the social media environment, we are also sometimes confronted with negative developments, such as fake news, deepfakes or bots in comment sections. As a communicator, you need to be prepared for this and ask yourself: how do we deal with it?
At the same time, the positive developments are just as important, and I am focused on how we can use certain trends sensibly. That’s why we are placing more emphasis on moving images, because videos allow people to grasp much more quickly, and with all their senses, what something is about.
Is there a project so far you found especially interesting?
The project “Employer Marketing 4.0” definitely remains memorable to me. For this, we brought together HR professionals, as well as trainees and students from the maritime sector to develop so-called “candidate personas” for the industry. We looked at which occupations in the sector are likely to be particularly difficult to fill in the future, and for eight of these roles we worked out which fictional, ideal-type person would be a good fit. What interests do these personas have, what do they require from a job, how do you address them? I found this analysis incredibly exciting and practical – and to this day, we still benefit from the insights gained.
