A Little Competition Goes a Long Way

Big brands are constantly looking for innovative ways to break through the clutter. Now, more than ever, audiences are bombarded by countless messages all vying for a piece of real estate in the minds of consumers. What makes this task even more difficult is the advent of more and more ways to access media on smartphones, tablets and wristwatches.

What are brands to do?

The short answer might be to open up their business challenges to a fresh set of eyes.

We all know that burnout is a real thing in the marketing and agency world. If you’ve ever worked on a piece of business for months, years, decades, how could it not be? We all know that our experiences have a way of limiting our beliefs on what a brand can and cannot do or say based on that experience. We’ve all been hard at work in the wee hours of the morning when a thought emerges that inside we dismiss because “the client would never buy it.”

So, how do we remedy this glaring and very real truth? How do we bring fresh, non-limiting thinking to the table?

We get competitive

The National Advertising Challenge is a competition that publishes briefs to creative teams across the country. The briefs are written by brands; some of them the biggest in North America. Think Nestle, Kraft, The Home Depot, McDonalds, SC Johnson and others.

The teams compete for cash prizes and potentially a trip to France to attend the coveted Festival of Creativity held every year in Cannes. But the incentive goes far beyond the prizing. The jury, which is made up of the creme de la creme of agency CD’s, designers, writers, and producers, vet all the ideas and give brands their point-of-view on why these ideas are breakthrough. Brands own all the ideas and are free to implement them at any time in the future. For all intents and purposes, it’s a chance for teams to show future employers what they’re made of; call it bragging rights or a foot in the door. Either way, it has proven to be a surefire way of getting some very cool ideas for some very big brands.

Last Fall, winners of the competition saw their concept come to life when they submitted an idea for Kraft Singles. The brief was simple. How do we connect Singles with the family pastime of making classic grilled cheese sandwiches, in an unforgettable way? You can see for yourself how the idea was launched to the public, here.

That’s the thing about competitiveness. It brings out the very best in everyone. For brands looking to innovate, opening up their challenges to a fresh set of minds has the potential to unearth ideas they may not otherwise have access to. For creative teams, it removes the shackles of burnout and familiarity so they can explore the freedom of their thinking and impress their peers.

It’s kind of a win-win. And for those who feel like they keep going back to the well to solve new problems with old thinking, perhaps the question is, what exactly is there to lose?

You can learn more about the National Advertising Challenge by visiting their site or following them on Instagram.

Written by Steve Gardner, V.P., Creative Director, TrailerWorks.