Birmingham City University trio net DMA student award

Three students from Birmingham City University have landed the DMA’s Breakthrough Award, claimed to be one of the most lucrative prizes for young creatives trying to get a foothold in the industry.
Kate Wells, Rosie Clarke and Roberto Cutrera won the pitch for the Pay Your Way campaign, sponsored by Barclaycard. The winners of the award, which is run in partnership with the Graeme Robertson Trust (GRT), founded in memory of legendary Brann creative director, were revealed at last night’s DMA Awards.
As well as a cash prize of £1,000, the trio now have the potential to land internships at a top agency. Each year students battle it out for the chance to impress some of the biggest names in marketing by working on a real creative brief, for a real client or business.
This year’s brief was provided by Barclaycard, who invited students to develop a multi-channel advertising campaign targeted at millennials to build awareness of Barclaycard’s range of contactless ways to pay. Over 70 students from 13 universities responded to the brief, presenting their best creative ideas, but in the end it came down to just three finalists.
Barclaycard head of marketing Paul Alexander, the former Rapier client partner and head of new business, said he was genuinely impressed with the quality of ideas on show. “This year’s finalists all did a fantastic job pitching their ideas to the panel. It wasn’t easy, and we took a range of things into account, including: how well students communicated their campaign, their fulfilment of the brief and the creativity and quality of ideas.”
Alexander adds: “Kate, Rosie and Roberto are to be commended for creating a campaign that really cornered the target market – Generation Z, otherwise known as ‘the experience generation’. We wanted the campaign to be about living in the moment and creating moments of unexpected delight. And I think the bPay your own way really invoked that spirit. I’m walking away from this experience feeling as if the industry is in safe hands.”
Kate Burnett, MD of DMA Talent, said: “Our message to students is that marketing and advertising is an industry for everyone, there are so many ways in and so many skills sets that are needed, from the analytical to the purely creative. The Breakthrough Award is a great way for students to get a taste of industry life, and from our perspective the Award continues to demonstrate that marketing’s future remains bright.”