Singapore Polytechnic wins the Crowbar 24 Hour Advertising Challenge

SINGAPORE - It was a tough day for the jury panel after 17 student teams presented their ideas at the Crowbar 24 Hour Advertising Challenge. Jointly organised by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Singapore (4As) and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), the 24 Hour Advertising Challenge is a component of the annual Crowbar Awards that serves as a platform for budding young creative minds to break into the world of media and advertising.

Taking place between 16 and 17 September, the 24 Hour Advertising Challenge saw 84 participants across 17 teams who were selected by their respective schools vying for the coveted top spot at the prestigious Crowbar 24 Hour Advertising Challenge. Participating institutions included Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Temasek Polytechnic, Nanyang Technological University, LASALLE College of the Arts and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

For the Challenge, participants worked in teams of five to propose ideas for STOMP to make the citizen journalism platform resonate with the youth.

Participants had to come up with marketing strategies within 24 hours from receiving a creative brief from Mr Azhar Kasman, Editor of STOMP, at SPH's News Centre before returning the next day for presentations. The students had a chance to dabble at the quest while being mentored by established professionals from the creative and advertising sector, who were available to guide them through the entire 24 hours of the Challenge.

After careful deliberation by the jury panel, the winning team was Singapore Polytechnic's team comprising Marcus Lim, Muhammad Izzul Islam bin Jumat, Junqian Liu, Francesca Fernandez and Kelly Tan Kai Li. They impressed the judges with their brilliant use of a non-apology apology for their campaign entry titled "We're Sorry".

By first acknowledging STOMP's exposé nature, the team then proposed a clever comeback by admitting with pride about STOMP's realistic and raw style of citizen journalism.

The winning team won a cash prize of $500 and a trophy during the prize presentation ceremony held at Zouk on 26 September.

Commenting about how the Singapore Polytechnic's team differentiated themselves from the competition, judge Mr Mel du Toit, Co-Chairman and Creative Director of TBWA Group Singapore, said: "The winning work was refreshingly honest and different to most of the work submitted. Whilst a few had a lot of fun with the brief, the jury felt that there was too much focus on digital apps as solutions, instead of the students focusing on the use of all SPH media platforms to get their idea across. There was some superb art direction and some students even managed to shoot films and conduct research groups, all in the space of 24 hours. Kudos to Singapore Polytechnic Team 1 for their winning effort."

Agreeing on how the winning team differentiated themselves from the crowd, Mr Low Jun Jek, Executive Creative Director of Grey Digital, said: "The work stood out from all the other entries. It was simple, bold and based on a strong insight. Although the idea they presented was primarily for social media, it had the potential for some really fun and creative work across both traditional and new media."

Mr Azhar Kasman, Editor of STOMP said, "We wanted the participants to impress us by thinking out of the box and Singapore Polytechnic's team not only did that, but also managed to deliver a subtle but very powerful message."

The members of the jury panel of the Crowbar 24 Hour Advertising Challenge were:

Mr Azhar Kasman, Editor, STOMP, SPH
Mr Mel du Toit, Co-Chairman and Creative Director of TBWA Group
Mr Low Jun Jek, Executive Creative Director of Grey Digital
Mr Lim Chiao Woon, Creative Director, JWT Singapore
Ms Angelia Tay, Marketing & Communications Manager, Digital Division, SPH
Mr Liquan Liew, Art Director, Foreign Policy Design Group