Recently updated on October 24th, 2022 at 04:18 pm
The University of Lagos (UNILAG) has won the maiden edition of the Young Creative Awards (YouCrea) with a 1 million Naira prize organised by O2 Academy School of Advertising in Lagos.
The competition featured outstanding final year students of UNILAG, Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech) and the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ).
The competitors, who were into three teams – Star Wars (UNILAG), Avatar (Yabatech) and Matrix (NIJ) – were earlier hosted to an all-expense paid one-week boot camp by O2 Academy for “hands-on” training by advertising practitioners.
They produced advertising briefs against smoking in partial commemoration of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) World “No Tobacco Day” marked every May 31.
UNILAG’s 15-minute campaign, with the theme: Go Ahead, Smoke Yourself to Death, was adjudged the best by a panel of judges comprising the managing directors Creative Zone, Extreme Ideas, 141 Worldwide and Black Sea Communications, among other advert agencies.
Founder of O2 Academy, Ozoemene Mbanefo, who presented the award, said the next edition of YouCrea will include competitors from the University of Nigeria at Nsukka (UNN), University of Ibadan (UI) and the University of Benin (UNIBEN).
Mr. Ozoemene Mbanefo added;
“We felt a need to take advertising to higher institutions. The only way we can do so is to bring in some form of competition because competition is very healthy and it inspires people to do more.
So, Young Creative Awards is simply to inspire schools to inspire interest among more young, talented people in advertising, making advertising more ‘cool’ and interesting again.
I think more schools should engage YouCrea because that way we have a platform that connects the town and gown.”
