‘We focus on building capacity key factors in sustainability’
This is the 4th edition of Unleash Your Creativity Contest. How did the competition evolve since inception and what novelties have you introduced this year - if any and why?
The competition has evolved a lot since the first edition! Every year we work on enhancing the overall experience for the participants making it a memorable one. We create the opportunity to meet top notch experts and get one on one with them the opportunity to learn the things that otherwise they can’t find in books. And mostly to network with other students who in turn will be the decision makers of tomorrow.
How are briefs picked each year and do they always relate to one of the group’s brands?
The brief doesn’t have to be for one of Fernand Hosri Group brands actually Saad Tours is part of Saad Holding an independent entity. We try to expose the students to different fields and sectors other than FMCG, which is usually the most common projects at university. We have plenty of interested sponsors in the lineup for the coming years but we can’t give names yet.
And is it a marketing challenge that you’d like participants to solve for real brief-or is it simply an exercise that is not dependent of the actual marketing objectives faced by the brands you select?
It is definitely based on real marketing objectives as the students need to do real market analysis and they are judged on their creativity in overcoming the problematic that was presented to them; for instance, it could be increasing awareness in a specific target audience or increasing sales in a particular region etc.
What did the brief entail this year?
The students were supposed to present a full-fledged campaign for Saad Tours, targeting Lebanese residing in Lebanon, Lebanese expats coming for holidays, and foreigners. The aim of this campaign was to increase the awareness of the brand inside and outside the Lebanese Market while highlighting its rich history and the advanced level of service.
Once the competition ends, what happens do the winning campaigns? Do they ever see the light to market implementation?
The winning campaigns are usually partly implemented and the students are given the chance of actually working on that execution. However, and since the judges are not only from the client side, the client might want to implement one that was not part of the winning campaigns or a combination of different campaigns. What I mean by this is that all the students get exposed by this project and many get recruited. The audience is composed of people from the business sector or banking sectors and are often impressed with some of the performances and offer job opportunities.
What’s the involvement of the professional advertising community? Do they help winners land a job for instance?
Yes sure! Many actually do and it is becoming a reference on their CV facilitating their recruitment by the fact that they got shortlisted among the finalists and have assisted to the coaching sessions.
How would you assess the involvement of the advertising industry in this event?
Are they helpful and supportive with regard to time and efforts in accompanying the students all through? Extremely helpful the opportunity and the amount of information and time the students are getting in their internships be it with Tarek Haddad (JWT) or Joeabou Khaled (Impact BBDO) is beyond outstanding. Their is a lot of personal involvement unlike regular internships that they would otherwise experience.
Unleash your Creativity Contest is said to be a CSR initiative in line with Fernand Hosri group’s ongoing commitment to sustainable development? Can you explain how does this translate all through into the end result?
Unleash your creativity puts forth the young talents on the labor market equipping them with strong baggage through hands on experience with real clients. We focus on building capacity key factors in sustainability.