No apologies for Stomp's honesty

No apologies for Stomp's honesty

Its brash and uncensored brand of journalism might not be everyone's cup of tea, but citizen journalism website Stomp has its fair share of fans.

That includes five Singapore Polytechnic students in the visual communication and media design course.

They were so inspired by the site's expose nature that they made it the crux of their marketing strategy at The Crowbar 24 Hour Advertising Challenge and won.

The competition, an annual media and advertising competition for tertiary students worldwide, took place on Sept 15 and 16, attracting 17 teams.

Jointly organised by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Singapore and Singapore Press Holdings, the annual competition gives participating teams a creative brief, who then have to come up with a marketing strategy within 24 hours.

For this year's contest, teams were required to come up with a proposal on how to make Stomp resonate with the youth.

Instead of downplaying Stomp's expose nature, the winning team put out a subtle, non-apology apology campaign titled "We're Sorry", which expounds the merits of Stomp as an immediate and uncensored news outlet that is "real".

For that, they won a cash prize of $500 and a trophy during the prize presentation ceremony held at Zouk on Sept 26.

Mr Muhammad Izzul Islam, 19, said his group's idea was well suited for teens as it appealed to their need for transparency in news.

MEMORABLE

He added: "Youth these days want to know the uncensored truth and hate cover-ups.

"That is why we think the immediacy and audacity of Stomp's style of journalism should be emphasised instead of downplayed or changed."

One of the contest judges, Foreign Policy Design Group's art director Liew Li Quan, said the honest and memorable message of their campaign was what set them apart from the other teams.

He added: "Their message really managed to stand out from the rest."

Youth these days want to know the uncensored truth and hate cover-ups. joonlei@sph.com.sg


This article was first published on Oct 24, 2014.
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- Mr Muhammad Izzul Islam

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