IAA Announces 2010 Big Idea Winner

The International Advertising Association (IAA) in Australia has announced the winner of its 2010 IAA Big Idea student award competitionwith the Kajulu Blue team from Charles Sturt University (CSU) takinghome the award for their response to the Frontier Services client brief. In its eighth year, the competition invites student teams fromacross the country to produce marketing communication solutions for anot-for-profit organisation. 

Caption: Left to right: Missy Dempsey, Claire Crennan, Philippa Gray, Heather Leembruggen (IAA), Chris Colter, David Sullivan (Frontier Services), Anne Llewellynn, Asha Schulz, Ryan George, Sophie Carrad, Michael Agzarian.

Universities compete in agency-style teams to develop integrated concepts for a not for profit client. Seventy university students from across the country entered the 2010IAA Big Idea competition. The judging panel shortlisted three teams whowere invited to present their strategy and creative as finalists inSydney on November 8.  The Lucid Communications team from theUniversity of Canberra and the Kajulu Red team from CSU also made thefinals.

David Sullivan, National Development Manager, Frontier Services says the marketing campaigns produced by the students were first class with detailed research findings that produced a comprehensive understanding of the environment and issues confronting the people of Outback Australia.

“The creative concepts that were presented offer real potential and could well find a place in the Frontier Services marketing mix in the near future,” he says. “The future of the advertising and communications industry is in very good hands if the calibre of these students is representative.”

The chair of the judging panel, Tim Parker, executive director, the Clemenger Group, says the overall standard of the final presentations was astonishingly high.

“This clearly shows that the faculties represented do a superb job in terms of both substance and style,” he says. “Ultimately, the judging panel had to choose between a great idea and a better strategy. The final decision was based on the likelihood of the overall approach being both likely to achieve the campaign objectives and being saleable to the client in question.”

He added that the winning entry, ‘End the Divide’ had robust strategic foundations.

“It was an idea that could be rolled out nationally to deliver a new awareness of the issues facing outback Australians,” he says. “On behalf of the judging panel, I’d like to congratulate all the finalists, and their faculty representatives on a superb response to a challenging brief. As a major consumer of graduate talent, Clemenger Group applauds the efforts being made to prepare the next generation.”

The judging panel for IAA 2010 Big Idea student award competition consisted of:

Chair: Tim Parker,

David Sullivan, National Development Manager, Frontier Services

Alison Wild, Head of Marketing Services, Bupa Australia Group

Iain Schmidt-Weichert, Advertising Director, The Daily & Sunday Telegraph

Darren Woolley, Managing Director, Trinity P3

Lara Sinclair, Online Media Editor and Marketing Writer