TBWA\Melbourne and NAB Crown Bullseye Win 2024 Advertising Capstone Challenge

TBWA\Melbourne and NAB have announced Auckland University of Technology (AUT) Bullseye as the winners of the 2024 Advertising Capstone Challenge (ACC). 11th Hour Studios, AUT’s second team, received high praise.

This year, participants were tasked with solving real-life business problems presented by NAB. Students from four universities were given a short, real-life assignment that asked them to connect with Gen Z audiences and increase awareness and positive associations with a brand.

Around 200 students – drawn from Swinburne University of Technology, Western Sydney University, Sunshine Coast University and Auckland University of Technology – developed full-service campaigns covering strategy, creative, media and measurement.

The eight shortlisted teams pitched their campaign ideas to a panel of judges from TBWA\Melbourne and NAB before the winner of this year’s Capstone Challenge was crowned. The winning team received a sought-after mentoring position within the agency, shadowing heads of various departments.

Sarah Tuqua, Client Partner at TBWA\Melbourne, commented: “We are thrilled to be taking part in the Capstone Challenge this year. The level of talent from each university and student group was impressive. I take my hat off to all the participants and congratulate the winners.”

Tom Dobson, acting chief marketing officer at NAB, added: “It has been wonderful to see the energy and fresh thinking of this new marketing team. There were so many strong entries – choosing a winner was certainly not easy!”

Dan Fastnedge, AUT lecturer, said: “Given the size of the competition, we are very proud of the students. This was a challenging assignment for a challenging audience, but the students identified a number of really important ideas. As this is only our second year of participating, we are thrilled to take the top two places. It’s not often that students don balaclavas in the name of helping a bank, but this year’s campaign took a bold risk that paid off. This assignment pushed our team to think outside the box, and their ability to engage with such a complex audience truly set them apart.”

Lola Ella Bellay-Hill, an AUT student, commented: “It was a great honor to represent AUT at ACC with my group. The Aussies were tough competition but in the end we were delighted to win with a complete victory. A huge thank you to TBWA Melbourne, NAB and ACC for such a memorable experience.”

Launched in 2016, the Advertising Capstone Challenge is designed to help bridge the gap between academic study and professional practice, ensuring students have a competitive advantage upon graduation. The program equips the next generation of talent with the hands-on experience, industry connections and skills needed to succeed in their future careers.

More than 1,200 students from 240 teams took part, and the winners from the 230 Australian finalists have been offered more than 40 industry internships since the competition began in 2016.

11th Hour Studios: (Highly rated)

• Lola Elle Bellamy-Hill
• Mitchell Buckland
• Orlando King
• Pablo Perez

Bullseye: (Winners)

• Amber Ayers-Hughes
• Logan D’Souza
• Levi McMillan