From the students:

“Competing in the IAA Big Idea Competition was the ultimate constructive experience.”

Working as a team on a real client pitch under high pressure, we realised our limits and were pushed, by ourselves, by our teammates, by our teachers, and by our competitors, to exceed them. As a result, each one of us has developed invaluable, intangible skills that will guide us through the many trials to come.

— Lucy Sheaves, former student at University of Canberra

“I hope to remember IAA Big Idea as the launchpad to an exciting and successful career in advertising.”

Thank you for the wonderful opportunity IAA Big Idea has been. The chance to work with a real client to create this campaign was a truly unforgettable experience and a valuable and inspiring taste of the ad world. My team mates and I are excited about what's to come, made all the more real by the connections and experiences forged by IAA Big Idea.

— Jessica Nord, former student at University of Technology Sydney

"IAA Big Idea has been the most intense, the most fun and the most educational experience I probably will have throughout Uni."

To get the experience of actually working with a real brief for a real client is an incredible privilege that gives you both knowledge and confidence within the field. As a student, you go into this experience both excited and terrified, and to come out on the other side as the winning team is an achievement we will always bring with us.

— Frida Bergesen, former student at Edith Cowan University, WA

“Enabled me to more deeply grasp the importance of storytelling in communication and also helped cement advertising processes.”

I selected to apply for The Big Idea because I wanted to be challenged and pushed to learn in an environment where this was fostered. The Big Idea did not fail to live up to that expectation...The Big Idea highlighted my strengths and weaknesses and allowed me to more accurately assess the most practical career path. 

— John Ryan, former student at Charles Sturt University

From the educators:

“Allowed our students to put theory into practice.”

We always look forward to taking part in the IAA Big Idea challenge. The competition amalgamates the teachings of our course allowing our students to put theory in to practice. It provides the students a mini-agency experience further extending the opportunity to be job-ready graduates. The team took on the challenge with high enthusiasm and it was exciting to see their creative progress in developing their campaign pitch along with strong group cohesion.  Here's to an educative and hands-on competition and we look forward to the next one!

 — Shara Ranasinghe, Lecturer, Marketing Communication & Media,
University of Canberra

“An authentic experience.”

This competition allows our students to apply everything they have learnt over all the years of their degree. The authentic experience our students gain from IAA Big Idea certainly helps make them ready to hit the ground running when they graduate at the end of the year. In fact, we have entered every year since its inception.

— Anne Llewellynn, Lecturer in Advertising, 
Charles Sturt University

“Offers students the opportunity to showcase their learning to industry.”

The IAA’s global education mission is to provide opportunities for the next generation of talent to practice and prove themselves as vital future employees. Competitions such as IAA Australia’s Big Idea offer students that opportunity to compete amongst their peers and showcase their learnings to industry. It's a practice fostered globally by all IAA Chapters to encourage and endorse the application of theoretical learning.

— Diane Slade, IAA Global Vice President Education

"Thank you for the outstanding work."

Thank you for the outstanding work you and all IAA team have done to put this competition together in a year with so many challenges [i.e. COVID]. I really appreciate your patience with us this year, particularly being our first participation in this prestigious award. I look forward to be part of this again. I also would like to thank the judging panel for their contribution in making this real-world experience a valuable one for our students.  

—Dr Nicolas Pontes, Lecturer in Marketing, Business School,
The University of Queensland

From the clients:

  • “I am happy to say, with the quality of work I have seen today, the students have done an amazing job, and very creative and innovative with their campaigns… and thank you for making documents sexy once again!! …I would like to once again thank both the IAA and the students for their involvement in the Big Idea, it has been our absolute pleasure to be involved."

  • “Nestle was thrilled to be a part of this year's IAA ‘Big Idea’ award. The calibre of the students and their professional responses to our brief was very impressive. Congratulations to the winner ‘Ignite team' who displayed strong insight which informed their memorable creative idea and execution. The future looks bright for this group of students.”

  • “All of the finalists impressed us with their passion and professionalism. Across the board the quality of their strategic thinking, creativity and focus on executional excellence was very inspiring. What impressed us most was the way in which all of the finalists put the consumer at the centre of the problem-solving process to develop ideas that created a true value exchange…Ultimately the winning team impressed the judges with their idea as it was built off a real insight, delivered via an innovative design solution and demonstrated an understanding of how to change behaviour over the long term…Judging by the quality of the final presentations and depth of talent on display, it is clear our industry has a bright future”.

  • “It was a real privilege to chair the jury in this year’s IAA [Big Idea] Awards. Passion and commitment combined with strong insights and bold ideas, made this presentation from the five finalists an energy boost in what ANZ can achieve with Financial Wellbeing. A call out to the winners for choosing a new and different idea presented simply and compellingly. Well done to all!”

  • “I am absolutely delighted that ThinkTV is, for the fourth consecutive year, is partnering with the IAA in this initiative. Over the past 3 years I have seen some incredible pitches that would rival those of professional agencies. I have also seen first-hand, the connections and opportunities afforded the finalists and winners of this competition. I can’t wait to see what the students will do this year!”

  • “T2 is honoured to have been able to participate in this years’ IAA Big Idea competition with a brief that encourages the gift of bringing people together for meaningful experiences over a cup of tea. The entries and effort by the student teams were magnificent. The commitment and energy all teams showed was truly inspiring. Thank you IAA for having T2 as the ‘client’ in 2021 and thanks to all the teams who participated!”

  • We were absolutely blown away by the quality, level of creativity, confidence and hard work that the teams displayed throughout the competition. The thinking and delivery of ideas was of the standard we'd expect to receive at a corporate level from our tier 1 agency partners. Each and every participant should feel so proud of what they've achieved and we're confident they will all have every success as future advertising and marketing professionals, and have a huge positive impact on this already wonderful industry.