MADC Creative RAW 2010 winners announced

For the first time two students, Louise Khong and Psembi Kinstan (pictured), have won the MADC Creative RAW 2010 competition and will have their work published in The Age. Both are currently taking part in the MADC Ignition mentor program, with Louise studying at RMIT and Psembi at Swinburne University.

Second place was awarded to Andrew Grinter and Lee Spencer-Michaelson of Marmalade, with freelancers Selina Low and Jessica Leech taking out third place.

Creative RAW is an initiative of the MADC and The Age and is an annual competition open to teams with three years or less experience. It is designed to showcase newspaper as a medium and challenges the teams with a live brief in an all-day workshop.

This year’s client was iconic Australian brand Billy Tea, with the brief asking teams to create ads for an upcoming Australia Day promotion.

The teams had one day to work on the brief before their work was judged by a panel which included the client, Tata Global Beverages senior brand manager Micaela Pinkerton; chairman of judges and deputy creative director of Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, Julian Schreiber; and David Hoath, sales and marketing director of The Age.

“The Age is passionate about supporting young creatives and to have the team with the least experience in the competition win first prize is a thrilling indication of things to come,” said Hoath.

Judging the work was one of the highlights of the day for Micaela Pinkerton: “It was great to see so much enthusiasm and talent on display and it certainly made the judges job a lot harder.  Thank you to all the teams who participated and who put their heart and soul into our brief,” she said.

Speaking at the competition briefing session, Hoath said the fact that the ads would end up running in The Age added a sense of gravitas to Creative RAW: “The ads will also be measured, like any other. There will be pre- and post-campaign awareness testing,” he said.

The day drew teams from interstate and enquiries from overseas.

“It’s one of my favourite days on our calendar,” said Hoath.

Pictured left to right: Psembi Kinston, Louise Khong, Micaela Pinkerton (Tetley), Bryce Ott (CHE) and David Hoath (The Age)