Spring 2025 brought a new and exciting initiative for ISIC Estonia – our first ambassador program. Over the course of three months (April-June), two talented students Liisi Laus and Karmen Palusoo, had the opportunity to become the face of the ISIC brand and introduce other students to the charms of the ISIC card through authentic content creation.
The goal and vision of our program
Our main goal was to reach students through students.Who can speak better about the joys and challenges of student life than students themselves? We wanted to introduce more ISIC discount providers and show how the ISIC card is actually useful in students' everyday lives.
Team and responsibilities
Merily Jakovets – ISIC ambassador coordinator
Merily was the heart of our program for three months. Her responsibilities included selecting the best candidates from nearly 50 applicants, ensuring that the content was high-quality and in line with the brand identity, and helping the ambassadors come up with ideas for content creation. Merily was always there to support us when we had questions or concerns, and kept the team in good spirits. Her professional leadership and warm attitude ensured the program ran smoothly and inspired the entire team to give their best.
Liisi Laus – ISIC Ambassador
Liisi was our energetic and resourceful ambassador, showing that quick thinking and creativity have no limits. Her enthusiastic attitude and ability to create authentic content were admirable. Liisi always brought fresh ideas and positive energy, which is always needed in a good team.
Karmen Palusoo – ISIC Ambassador
Karmen brought a musical background and an authentic approach to the program. Karmen perfectly demonstrated how to combine personal interests with brand messages, creating content that is both memorable and impactful. Her dedicated work and professional attitude made her a perfect role model for future ambassadors.
COOPERATION PARTNERS
Our ambassadors were able to collaborate with eight exciting companies that are part of the ISIC benefits network. The ambassadors created videos, images and other social media materials.
FEEDBACK
What did the partners say?
Photopoint “I have nothing but praise for you – you made a really nice video and Karmen captured some nice pictures with a disposable camera.”
Sokisahtel: “We had a great time at Influkas. All A+”
Gustav & Werner Cafe: “We are grateful for the great cooperation. We were satisfied with the ambassadors and are grateful that they visited our places. Every ambassador has their own handwriting!”
Poke Bowl: “Thank you! Very nice pictures!”
Rahva Raamat: "We have been delighted to be able to work with the bright-eyed young ISIC ambassadors and to be able to expand the visibility of our campaigns through them. The young people's ideas have been inspiring and innovative, which we have really liked."
Brain Games:
Eva Sushi:
EXPERIENCE INTERVIEWS
Merily:
1. What did you learn from being the ISIC ambassador coordinator?
I understood even more clearly how important communication and interaction are. This is both when creating collaborations, planning them, and taking into account the interests of ambassadors. If there is reliable and good communication in the team, then everyone is comfortable asking for help, talking about problems, and expressing their opinions.
2. What was your favorite adventure or incident?
My favorite was when both ambassadors encountered a small obstacle while collaborating a few days apart, one having to get their film camera through security and the other having the café close before the ambassador could go create content. Those few days were a bit tragicomic because they happened so close together, but everything worked out in the end. At the same time, these incidents showed that all problems are solvable and quick communication saved the day once again.
3. Have you discovered anything new about yourself after this experience?
I've discovered that I also enjoy creating content and creating value for companies in this way. While I used to think I didn't like such things, now I've changed my mind 🙂 .
4. Have you ever met someone who didn't know anything about ISIC benefits? What did you tell them?
No...my circle of acquaintances believes in ISIC 😉
5. Let's think about the future: how could ISIC be even more useful for students?
ISIC could be even more useful for students if more information was provided about the opportunities offered, and why not talk more about ISIC in high schools before university or attend more fairs and events aimed at students (student days, summer camps, summer camps, etc.)
Karmen:
What did you learn from being an ISIC ambassador?
“I learned to trust myself more and be my authentic self. Since social media content creation can require you to work quickly and fit the creative and work process into your daily schedule, I proved to myself that I can complete big projects faster than expected and that there’s no need to overcomplicate things. You just have to get going and things will unfold naturally. By “authentic self,” I mean trusting your gut and letting your personality shine through – that’s what makes us and our work special, just like any creative outlet.”
What was your favorite adventure or incident?
“My favorite adventure was obviously the trip to Spain, which was made even more special by the collaboration with Photopoint. For those who don't know, Photopoint gave me a disposable camera with which I was able to take exactly 27 pictures during the trip. If you're used to capturing everything from ten different angles with your phone, it's a huge challenge to decide which moment is worth the shot and which isn't. In addition, you had to take into account the light so that the pictures would still be captured as well as possible. Plus, when I got back from the trip and took the pictures to be developed, there was a particularly anxious waiting period. Namely, I didn't know that such cameras shouldn't be put through x-ray, and my camera went through all the machines at the airport and train stations. Fortunately, the pictures still came out great when developed.”
What was the most challenging for you?
“The collaboration with Rahva Raamat was an interesting challenge. I was really excited about it because I knew I would really enjoy the process. Ideas flew and the concept came together quickly, but the execution part was new to me. I had never filmed alone in such a location with a constant flow of people before. It’s always easier and braver to be with someone. Of course, the fact that the store employees were actually waiting for me gave me confidence, and I also felt proud that I had been entrusted with such a task. So I set up my little tripod on the shelf and connected my phone camera to my Apple Watch – that way it was easy to get the necessary shots. And to be honest, I didn’t notice that anyone was looking at me strangely while I was working there. This fear of “What will others think?” is more of a fear created in my own head. Maybe someone just thought, “Wow, what a cool content creator is here!” – That’s a much nicer thought to tell yourself.”
Have you discovered anything new about yourself after this experience?
“I've felt this way before, but now I've been confirmed that I really like this kind of creative work. Well, you can laugh a little bit at this, because being a musician by profession, you can't get over or get around creativity. But I mean creating and managing social media content. I feel that ideas flow easily to me and implementing them makes my eyes sparkle. Of course, I've always created something for my personal account before, but collaborating with such important companies gave me a lot of self-confidence and self-assurance. I now want to continue this path and really start working in the field of social media.”
Have you ever met someone who didn't know anything about ISIC benefits? What did you tell them?
“Many of my acquaintances who have been interested in the topic of ISIC have mentioned that they were not aware of these benefits at all, or discovered some by chance. The discussion almost always came to the point that companies offering ISIC benefits could present them more publicly, immediately, and more consistently, whether in their content creation, on their websites, or in local stores. What else could I do but direct them to the ISIC website to check out the benefits and, of course, to follow me on Instagram if they hadn’t already done so. But I actually feel the same way. I have been an ISIC holder for 18 years (unbelievable!) – in connection with the upcoming song festival, it is probably interesting to mention that I made an ISIC card during the first song festival of my life in the ISIC tent in 2007. To be honest, I could have used the charms of this card much more over the years, I lived in the same ignorance for a long time. But, I am glad that I was able to create a positive change and raise students’ awareness of the benefits offered. "I'm going to raise the benefits! Now that my student status is over this year, I'm ordering an IYTC card, that's it!"
Let's think about the future: how could ISIC be even more useful for students?
“It would be great if ISIC discounts could be brought to as many everyday activities as possible. For me, one of the most important benefits is, for example, the discount on a monthly public transport ticket, which I get as a student thanks to it. But think how nice it would be to get a student discount at the grocery store, for example. I think pensioners are already offered such an opportunity in certain chains. And to increase the visibility of ISIC, ISIC could invade schools, just kidding. But what better way to get in touch with students than in the house where they spend most of their day. Or is it only the case with music students, where we only go home to sleep?… haha! In fact, many people have an ISIC card, they just lack information about what its uses are besides being a bank card, for example. Student representatives can certainly do a lot of work here themselves. Maybe we should elect an ISIC ambassador for each vocational school and university? There is food for thought, anyway!”
Liisi:
Mis sa õppisid olles ISIC ambassador?
“I was convinced that every good opportunity is worth trying. Even if everything doesn't go as planned at first, a little “why not?” can lead to an adventure or a nice surprise. Simply taking action often leads to much more exciting places than planning in advance.”
What was your favorite adventure or incident?
“I don't know if I can call it my favorite, but the most memorable incident was definitely when I was making the Eva Sushi reels. Namely, I had planned to film this collaboration on the evening of the last day of my trip to Võru. In the morning, I called ahead to say that I was coming in the evening and everything seemed to go smoothly. At around 4:30 PM, I found out from Merily that Võru Eva Sushi would close at 5 PM that day. Fun fact – I was about a 45-minute drive outside of Võru at the time and had to start back home the next morning. Fortunately, it occurred to me quite quickly that I also needed to do a few errands in Tartu the next day and I should have about 2 hours of free time there, and since Eva Sushi is now in Tartu too, luckily everything went well in the end.”
What was the most challenging for you?
“I think for me it was just stepping out of my comfort zone. Previously I would post on my personal Instagram account at best 2 times a year, but now in these 2 months I posted 4 posts + stories. I'm not going to lie, it was a really strange feeling to post so often, a bit like stage fright :D.”
Have you discovered anything new about yourself after this experience?
“To be honest, nothing really big came to mind. But maybe it's because when I need to, I'm actually quite resourceful and can think quickly. For example, this whole Eva Sushi adventure.”
Have you ever met someone who didn't know anything about ISIC benefits? What did you tell them?
"Young people in my circle of acquaintances still know about ISIC. The only person I could explain a little bit about what it is was my grandmother."
Let's think about the future: how could ISIC be even more useful for students?
“Why not more live events, student parties, or special movie screenings? Students love new experiences – just give them a reason to come.”
FUTURE PLANS
The first ISIC Ambassadors program was a great experiment that showed how powerful an authentic student-centered approach is! The content created during the program reached thousands of students and highlighted the diversity of ISIC benefits in a way that only students themselves can.
Many thanks to our first ISIC ambassador coordinator Merily and to the first ambassadors Liisi and Karmen, who bravely stepped into the unknown and helped create something completely new. We also thank all our partners who trusted our young ambassadors and gave them the opportunity to prove themselves.
We are looking forward to the next season and new faces who want to become ISIC brand representatives!
Read more about the Ambassador Program FROM HERE!
