IAA BIG IDEA 2025 Student Challenge: Telstra named client partner – expressions of interest registration closes tomorrow Friday 8 August

The International Advertising Association (IAA) has launched IAA ‘Big Idea’ 2025 announcing Telstra, Grand Prix winner at Cannes Lions and one of Australia’s largest advertisers, as client partner in this undergraduate students’ national Marketing Communications challenge.  IAA Australia is calling for entries from students in universities nationwide, with registrations of interest due tomorrow Friday 8 August at www.iaabigidea.com.au

Says Anna Jackson, Telstra’s Head of Creative Excellence: “At Telstra, we believe in the power of creativity to provide commercial advantage. The IAA ‘Big Idea’ is right up our street, offering unparalleled access to the industry’s rising stars, as well as fresh thinking and lateral ideas. Can’t wait to see the work.”

This year’s challenge is to create an innovative high impact campaign to reinforce Telstra’s recent brand repositioning which is on a journey to change how the brand feels, making it a more imaginative, warm and optimistic brand.

“IAA BIG IDEA provides hundreds of undergraduate students all over Australia with lots of scope for innovative ideas, critical thinking and creative solutions. IAA BIG IDEA, now in its twenty third year, is recognised for its contribution to the professional development of tomorrow’s generation of marcoms practitioners  and industry leaders and in helping equip participants to shine in gaining jobs and internships,” says Heather Leembruggen, Chair of IAA Australia, who has steered IAA BIG IDEA annually since its 2003 inception.

“The IAA BIG IDEA national challenge offers undergraduate students the opportunity to sharpen sharpening their communication skills and talents in a real world, hands-on, career-ready learning experience that is essential career training in the preparation of graduates for the transition from university into professional practice. IAA BIG IDEA gives students the chance to put their learnings into “real-world” practice, fostering the talents of the upcoming generation of communications professionals, in line with the IAA’s ongoing commitment to professional development”.

Students are invited to devise a marketing communications campaign for a ‘real-world’ client, working in agency-style teams to develop a fully integrated communications solution for a ‘real-life’ project. In response to the client brief, the teams deliver an end-to-end plan from the research stage to the creative concept, right through to the final presentation of their ‘Big Idea’.

The winning ‘Big Idea’, as well as all the other ‘big Ideas’ submitted by the students, will be made available to Telstra with the potential for market implementation.

The IAA BIG IDEA program has been endorsed by students and educators and is recognised for its contribution to the development of tomorrow’s generation of industry leaders and in helping the participants in their careers.

Says Fiona Huynh, student from a University of Canberra winning team: “Participating in the IAA Big Idea challenge was a transformative experience, where creativity met strategy. This invaluable experience not only allowed us to take an innovative approach but also emphasised the power of impactful storytelling in the ever-evolving landscape of marketing. A big thank you to our client and IAA for providing us with this wonderful opportunity to make valuable connections and undertake real-world experiences! ”

IAA BIG IDEA has received strong industry support and is recognised as being a valuable training experience for upcoming industry talent with support this year from Telstra as Client Partner and MultiConnexions as Planning Partner.

A jury of senior practitioners representing key sectors of the marketing communications industry, including representatives from Telstra, will judge the submissions to select the four top-scoring finalists, who will pitch in person to the jury.

All finalist team members will receive the opportunity to participate in a one-to-one mentoring session that will be geared towards career readiness and advancement as leaders and practitioners in their chosen careers. All participants receive an IAA ‘Big Idea’ certificate which highlights their CVs.

The deadline for submissions is 23 September, with four team finalists announced on 30 October. The overall winning team will be judged and announced on 10 November.

The IAA BIG IDEA 2024 website www.iaabigidea.com has all information about the challenge: overview, client project, rules of engagement , conditions of entry, time schedule and all procedures for the challenge and preparation of submissions.

Expressions of Interest to participate are to be registered by 8 August, via the website: www.iaabigidea.com

Pictured: IAA ‘Big Idea’ winning team from University of Canberra receiving the “National Champions” trophy from IAA Australia Chair, Heather Leembruggen with Client Partner Volvo Cars marketing team

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