Time to enter 2011 ADC Student Brief Awards

The global competition (www.adcawards.org/student/brief/, deadline 18 March 2011) is open to students currently enrolled in graduate, undergraduate and continuing education programs in advertising, graphic design, photography, illustration and new media. This year's brief is for gourmet snack foods manufacturer Popcorn, Indiana (www.popcornindiana.com/), which is challenging students to develop a marketing plan to make their popcorn products into household favourites.

The brief asks students to determine how to get a large number of people to try and buy the snacks, as well as recommend them to friends and family. Working within a modest budget, students will need to consider design, print/broadcast and interactive program components to support the product's nationwide distribution in 80 000 stores, ranging from local convenience stores to large drug and grocery store chains.

"We're fortunate to be working this year with a client like Popcorn, Indiana," said Olga Grisaitis, director, ADC. "Their brand is energetic and fun, and they have a marketing team who is excited to take chances. It's a great opportunity for students to be wildly creative in their entries, and use all forms of media to drive awareness and snack sales."

Be brave, take a risk, be creative

Creative thinking and risk taking are a tradition for the ADC Student Brief. Ideas submitted by finalists in last year's program promoting the Nissan Cube car included a hotel that was literally made of automobiles, and a car as a mobile gaming platform.

A jury of industry creatives will select Gold, Silver and Bronze ADC CUBE winners, and award US$3500 (about R24 500) in scholarship cash prizes. All ADC CUBE-winning work will be included in the Art Directors Annual, the Annual Awards Exhibition at the ADC Gallery in New York and in the subsequent global travelling exhibition, permanently highlighted in the ADC online archive, and used in future ADC advertising and promotional materials. Winners will also be invited to attend the ADC 90th Annual Awards Gala in New York in May 2011.

Deadline for entries is 18 March 2011. Fee is US$35 (about R245) per entry, or US$25 (about R175) per entry for 10+ student entries submitted as a group.

Entry deadlines for all ADC 90th Annual Awards categories:

Design, ADC Design Sphere, Photography, Illustration, Student: closed (28 January 2011)
Interactive: extended to 4 February 2011
Advertising, ADC Hybrid: 6 February 2011
ADC Student Brief: 18 March 2011

For more information and to enter the 2011 ADC Student Brief, go to www.adcawards.org/student/brief/. For information about the ADC 90th Annual Awards, go to www.adcawards.org.