AJF Partnership’s Brigitte Bayard takes out 2013 APG Planning Idol with answer to UN Syria brief

Brigitte Bayard from AJF Partnership in Melbourne took out the 2013 APG Planning Idol at Friday night’s awards ceremony, which was attended by more than 70 industry players at Sydney’s CBD Hotel.

This year’s contestants were tasked to create a fundraising strategy for the United Nations, to support those affected by the Syrian conflict. Bayard’s strategic plan will be made available on the APG website in the coming weeks.

Impressing the APG Committee, UN Representatives and Chairman of Judges, Gareth Kay, Bayard’s winning strategy came up against competition from almost 50 applications from across the states, and a shortlist of 16.

The 16 finalists attended the ceremony following an intense day of final round judging, whereby each applicant contested the APG Planning Idol title by presenting their strategic responses to the panel of local and international judges.  

Says the United Nations representative, Miss Julia Dean: “The UN was delighted and honoured to be involved in this project. In particular it was wonderful to see the creativity and intelligence that the young planners brought to their presentations. As the Secretary-General of the United Nations recently said, ‘young people are part of the largest generation of youth in history. They were born into a world of enormous challenges – but have even more vast opportunities to shape the future’. I believe that competitions such as Planning Idol, focusing on immense issues like Syria, give participants such an opportunity”.

The Hallway’s Clara Vincent and Droga5’s Michaela Brown both received a highly commended distinction for their approaches, which demonstrated well-articulated strategies, robust research and measurement considerations.

This year’s student winners were Isabella Howard and Ella Newell from New Zealand’s University of Otago. The student’s lecturer, Roel Wijland, who runs the University’s new advertising specialisation, Brandbach, was present to accept the award on their behalf.

Says Russ Mitchinson, APG chairman: “It is fantastic to see such a high standard of strategic thinking from this year’s entrants – young planners don’t often get to lead on such large-scale briefs, and so Planning Idol really presents an opportunity to shine. It has shown that there are some very promising and talented planners in this competition, which is very good news for our industry! Congratulations to Brigitte for taking away this year’s winning title, and to all of the other finalists who presented today.”

Pictured top: Bayard (left) with Lucy Cochran, planning director at AJF Partnership