| Title | CRYING OUT |
| Brand | ADMA |
| Product / Service | AGENCY SCHOOL |
| Entrant | WUNDERMAN Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
| Entrant Company: | WUNDERMAN Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
| Advertising Agency: | WUNDERMAN Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
| Name | Company | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Matt Batten | Wunderman | Executive Creative Director |
| Amanda Glover | Wunderman | Art Director |
| Ben Peppernell | Wunderman | Copywriter |
| Rebecca Masterson | Wunderman | Account Director |
| Paul Hayes | Wunderman | Producer |
| Steve Greenaway | Pomegranate | Photographer |
| Sarah Greenaway | Pomegranate | Producer |
| James Lucas | Limehouse | Retoucher |
| Kate Furey | ADMA | Communications Director |
In Australia, there are two courses for young people to become a Creative in advertising. AWARD School has been running for over 20 years and attracts 100+ students. ADMA's Creative School has only be running for 5 years and is lucky to get 10 students. Firstly, we had to get advertising agencies to support and be involved in Creative School. Secondly, we had to attract more students. Plus, we had to launch a new course called 'Suit School' in parallel. So we invited high-profile ECDs, Creatives and MDs to be the face of the campaign – in a way they'd never been seen before.
Firstly, the exhibition launch event was huge, with 147 of the advertising industry's top people attending and pledging their support for the course. With all the free press coverage from so many important people gathered in one room, and such high-profile people used in the campaign, the whole industry is now aware of Creative School. The 'Crying Hotline' was flooded with voicemail messages of people bawling their eyes out. Creative School 2011 has been the most successful year ever, attracting four times the number of students. And, off the record, apparently the people who run that other course have expressed their deep concern at Creative School becoming number one in Australia with campaigns and support like this.
With the insight that advertising agencies are crying out for new talent, we put Australia's best ECDs, Creatives and MDs in front of a camera. And made them cry like babies. This not only produced great imagery for the campaign, but involving these key people immediately ensured their agency's support. The campaign launched with a gallery exhibition of the photos, getting lots of industry PR. At the exhibition we also held a live experiential event so attendees could be photographed to get their own 'crying' photos which were immediately emailed to them for use as their profile pics on Facebook and Twitter as social media support for the campaign. The following day, the website went live, and posters and flyers were distributed to agencies, universities, and colleges, and at Semi-permanent (Australia's largest design/creative conference). We also established the 'Crying Hotline' for people to cry on or leave messages of support.