Young Shark Competition 2024
Our annual competition for young creatives & students (age under 27)
2024 Judge - Robin Laurens
Robin is Executive Creative Director @ Energy BBDO in Chicago
Robin moved to the US from Ireland in 2010 to work at the Leo Burnett headquarters in Chicago. Fast forward to today and she is an Executive Creative Director at Energy BBDO.
She is a design focused, creative leader who believes in building brands that are powered by purpose and anchored in culture.
During this time her work has been awarded at Cannes, D&AD, The One Show and more.
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Robin: "This is a dream brief for any creative. It’s a real opportunity to push boundaries and come up with something truly unique and breakthrough. I am excited to see what kind of mad ideas this brief produces!"
2024 Winner
​Chris Will & Ben Neilson - Clone a Pet with Clone a Pet.
Robin: "Overall, this idea was the most on brief and breakthrough of the entries. It’s a simple idea that feels ownable and distinctive. It’s a clever device that feels like it could grow into a more robust campaign over time. I loved the overall approach to the campaign. It was a nice balance of tone and messaging and didn’t take itself too seriously. I especially liked the OOH and digital executions. Smart, simple and well crafted."
2024 Shortlist
This year's shortlist as chosen by Robin, congratulations to:
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Sam Mukherjee - Best Friends Together Again.
May Ruzicka - Grow Old with Your Best Friend.
Aaliyah Rice - Saving You From Cinema Sadness.
Goosebump Collective - Happy Ending.​​
CLONE-A-PET BRIEF
Intro: This brief is for a COMPLETELY INVENTED product. The thinking behind this brief is simply to provide you with a task that (hopefully) will enable you to show us how creative/inventive/clever you can be.
That’s it, dead simple.
So although you might be tempted to tell us “yes but that product/service could never exist” or “I don’t agree with or like that product/service”, remember, the brief ONLY exists to stimulate your creativity.
The brief…
Background: In July 1996 Dolly the sheep was the first mammal to be cloned.
First thought that occurred to us - if you’re going to clone an animal, why clone something like a sheep as one seems pretty much like another?
(another thought was a human naming a sheep ‘Dolly’ was a little..erm..strange).
Anyway, the story of Dolly gives us an idea for this year’s young creative’s brief.
The brief is for pet clones.
Or let’s call the service/product you’ll be selling ‘CLONE-A-PET’, something we believe is now (at least in theory) almost possible using a process called ‘somatic cell nuclear transfer’.
Insight: Many people all over the world have a pet, usually a dog or a cat that they adore and we humans are naturally devastated when these companions pass on.
So what does CLONE-A-PET offer?
Well it does what it says on the tin.
Once your pet dies, CLONE-A-PET gives you your wonderful pet…back to you.
The exact same temperament, same foibles, wet nose, whiskers, growl, bark, meow, whatever.
It’ll be like he/she never left.
It’s an expensive service - £5000 per pet - but for people who REALLY loved their dogs/cats and want the exact same pet back, they may consider this a bargain (and remember, these days some people pay thousands for certain breeds of pedigree pup)
So for this exercise we want a great idea. A creative, engaging idea that’ll sell the idea of the company CLONE-A-PET and what they provide.
And we want a line that will encapsulate your concept - a campaign idea or end-line.
You can give us a TV commercial or a radio commercial or a social media idea (entirely up to you - we’re looking for a great idea first and foremost).
And here’s a tip, it’s usually easier to come up with scripts/concepts AFTER you have your line or overall concept thought.
Example of this logic?
Once Specsavers’ creatives had come up with the line/idea ‘should’ve gone to Specsavers’, the ads almost wrote themselves.
Best of luck from the Sharks.