Brand submissions for the 2018 Vega Brand Challenge now open

Vega (a brand of The Independent Institute of Education – The IIE), however, believes that South Africa’s talented youth deserve the opportunity to showcase their acumen, creativity and ingenuity on an engaging real-world platform. To that end, Vega hosts an annual Brand Challenge that sees students team up to tackle real briefs from real clients, working in teams to conceptualise, execute and present solution-based concepts to some of the biggest brands in the country.

This year, Vega Brand Challenge will take place from 27 August and Vega invites brands to apply to be part of it. Here are a few reasons why your brand should participate:

1. Find fresh, young talent

Most businesses in search of strategic and creative solutions to the complex challenges they face probably wouldn’t turn to a group of varsity students for help, but Vega students offer an inexpensive solution without being tainted by the industry, provide a wholistic solution based on Vega’s teaching principles, and are often more plugged into current affairs that give them the added advantage of building on consumer insights that stick.

Brand Challenge is an opportunity to note some of the fresh young faces that will make waves in the industry in just a few years’ time, and who might even make valuable additions to your brand’s team in the future. Past clients were so impressed with the calibre of work presented by the students that they have implemented their strategies and concepts with great success.

2. Look at challenges from a different perspective

Sometimes the best ideas are staring you right in the face, but you can’t see them because you’re so deeply immersed in the project that it becomes difficult to see the bigger picture.

“The students form their own mini consultancies and work together to investigate complex brand scenarios and key issues that face the brand,” says Shevon Lurie, MD at Vega. “The students then develop brand and campaign strategies, along with creative communication to address these issues and offer fresh, insightful perspectives to business challenges.”

3. Enhance brand awareness and reputation

Brands receive great exposure by taking part in the Brand Challenge, as an event that is well-known across industries and garnered a reputation for producing impressive work for a range of clients, including ABSA, Microsoft, Reebok and Castle Lite.

4. Do your part for a good cause

Taking part in the Brand Challenge is also an opportunity for brands to support the upliftment of and empowerment of South Africa’s youth, affording more young people from poorer backgrounds the opportunity to attend a higher education institution and one day take part in the Brand Challenge themselves.

In paying a basic ‘fee’, Vega is able to donate the proceeds from the Brand Challenge to the Vega Grant Fund, which awards bursaries to deserving youth who would otherwise not have the opportunity to attain a qualification, much less get a foot in the door of a competitive industry.

Brands looking to work with some of the country’s freshest up-and-coming talent are invited to be part of this year’s Vega Brand Challenge, taking place from 27 August 2018. Applications are open until 31 July 2018. For more information on the Vega Brand Challenge and how to get involved, visit www.vegaschool.com or contact any of the Vega campus principals nationwide.