In October and November 2013, the BBC World News Service put out a global
challenge to young creatives based outside of the UK to develop an advertising
campaign to encourage young audiences to engage with the international arm of
the British broadcaster. JWT South Africa encouraged their interns to enter, and
not only did they exceed the brief, Tal Halili, Katherine Andrews and Thandeka
Kunene won top honours, and were named victors of the competition.
A BBC statement reads “We had a brilliant response to the Global Creative
Challenge, and were overwhelmed with the amount of outstanding, creative
entries we received, from all corners of the globe. The winning entry was
chosen to win due to its particularly pertinent insight into the youth of South
Africa (and possibly the youth of the developed world). It also ties in very well to
their creative concept around promoting the BBC to this particular
audience.’
As JWT Johannesburg’s Creative Director Ronnie Malden explains, “When the
BBC World News Service called for applications to bring their World News Service
to life amongst youths outside of the UK, Senior Art Director John Meyer and I
knew it was a perfect opportunity for our young stars from the AAA School of
Advertising to put what they had learned to the test.’
The overarching insight that drove Tal, Katherine and Thandeka’s idea presented
to the BBC, centered on the increasing global phenomenon of FOMO – the Fear
of Missing Out. Their premise was that with the BBC World News Service, FOMO
would be a thing of the past.
“The brief’s deadline actually coincided with the end of their internship. Through
learning modules during their internship we had mentored them on every step of
the process – how to put together a presentation and how to write a strategy
that underpins the creative idea,’ says Ronnie.
“We take our internship responsibilities seriously and are absolutely thrilled that
the guidance and coaching they received whilst at JWT resulted in the students
winning the overall challenge. The brief from BBC was genius. Our interns were
able to take on a real live brief and put an entire presentation together,
developing additional production, sound and editing skills in the process. We
are proud of what they have achieved.’
The project culminated in global exposure and £3000 prize money.
The winning entry can be viewed on the BBC World Service’s website
http://goo.gl/ylV1Qh
