The ‘Creative Futures’ awards competition has been launched, backed by a joint partnership that includes IPIA Member Canon and The Drum magazine, giving students and emerging creative talent the chance to design an omnichannel campaign for leading youth charity YMCA.
This bespoke competition will award omnichannel marketing excellence from emerging creative talent at the vanguard of customer-centric communications.
“Our mission is to prove the powerful role of print, bringing together industry stakeholders to push the boundaries of what’s possible in the changing world of media and marketing. And we want to champion those at the forefront of new ideas that are purpose and sustainability-driven, and combine data and creativity to deliver measurable impact,” explains Cathy Bittner, strategic business development manager, Canon Europe.
Entrants are invited to create and design an omnichannel marketing campaign across multiple touchpoints. This will include data-driven, in-home print media, such as direct mail, door drop, partially addressed mail, insert marketing, as well as complimentary digital channels.
A team of industry experts have been working with leading youth charity YMCA to curate a brief for the competition. The winner will be announced at The Drum Social Purpose Awards 2022. These include IPIA Members Nutshell Creative and Latcham, as well as The Strategic Mailing Partnership, Join the Dots , JICMAIL, Marketreach and AutLay .
For 178 years, YMCA has supported people through some of the toughest moments in history and today strives to give young people safe spaces to feel secure when they have no one else to turn to. The brief sets out to garner support from a younger audience and encourage online donations, through an omnichannel media mix that includes at least one element of letter box media.
The idea behind this initiative is to highlight the role that print plays in hitting a brief for an omnichannel campaign, and how a clever combination of data, creativity, targeting capabilities and personalization can be utilized to deliver measurable impact for a brand.
“This project is amazing as it gives us the opportunity to collaborate in new ways as an industry,” says Cathy Bittner, strategic business development manager, Canon Europe. “In breaking down the silos, we can tap into the real potential of using state-of-the-art technology to deliver next level customer-centric communication. Working with students and young creatives to spotlight data-driven design for both digital and print channels is a first of its kind and we are excited to see their innovative, fresh ideas.”
