Staffordshire University Students Win Prestigious Advertising Award

This is the draft of an article that will be appearing on Creative Boom before you can say boo to a goose:

A Creative Team from the BA(Hons) Advertising and Brand Management Degree at Staffordshire University are the latest recipients of the prestigious Graeme Robertson Trust (GRT) Student Awards. Leanne Holloway and Kieran Ainsworth, who go by the name of LoveKontrast on Twitter, devised an integrated campaign for a new range of Waitrose sweets. Their creative features a range of people, young and old, shot in black and white sticking their tongues out. The art direction is on-brand, typically Waitrose, yet it goes further by adding a crowd-sourcing element to the launch that ties the concept neatly round to Waitrose’s on-line presence. An integral part of their thinking is the packaging. This, along with a direct mailer, also features the tongue icon. All in all, a well rounded and integrated package that the judges deemed to be the most comprehensive solution to the brief.

Judging happened over two rounds – online initially followed by a shortlisted few who spent the day at Tequila’s London offices where their portfolios and concepts were critted by nine Creative Directors. A gruelling, but beneficial day followed by a lovely pint at the Crown and Two Chairmen on Dean Street. The result? A £1000 cheque, free publicity courtesy of the GRT and the Royal Mail (sponsors of the Award) and a very valuable networking opportunity. Leanne and Kieran have already secured an internship at Big Communications followed by another internship at Wunderman. If you’re hiring, look no further ….

BA(Hons) Advertising and Brand Management is an integrated brand communications degree that focuses on strategic creative thinking. This has been its third graduating year and keeps producing graduates who can fill a variety of roles within the communications industries. An ABM graduate will have typically explored the different roles that make up an advertising team and will leave with a creative portfolio with a strong strategic foundation. The emphasis is to develop integrated solutions to brand comms problems and students develop their thinking across all platforms with an emphasis on social media and digital solutions. Students work in teams in our studios on the College Road campus in Stoke-on-Trent and graduate as competent communicators. We work with live agency and live client briefs as much as we can and most students will pitch ideas in agencies in London and New York from the off. Our graduates are now working as Creative Teams, Account Planners, Account Execs/Managers, Brand Managers, PR Execs and Marketing execs for a mix of agencies and client companies in London, the Midlands and the North West. For more information on the course contact the Award leader, John Delacruz on j.p.delacruz@staffs.ac.uk, check out the blog: www.advertisingatstaffs.blogspot.com, the FaceBook page: www.facebook.com/ABMatStaffsUni, or contact John via Twitter: @johndelacruz