Alis H¢f Rees and Amy Armstrong-Jeffery win DMA Breakthrough Award 2016

Students from University of Gloucestershire presented with Award at the DMA Awards night,
in front of senior figures from across the marketing industry

The winner of this year’s DMA Breakthrough Award was revealed at London’s Old Billingsgate during the DMA Awards night. The University of Gloucestershire’s Alis Hâf Rees and Amy Armstrong-Jeffery took home first place, leaving with a cash prize of £1,000, a paid internship at a top agency and, of course, the Award.

Alis Hâf Rees and Amy Armstrong-Jeffery were up against students from 11 different Universities from across the UK, all responding with their own marketing plan for The Economist, this year’s Award sponsor. Their ‘To be read’ campaign was victorious thanks to their understanding of the challenge set out in the brief and presenting a campaign to the judges that they felt could genuinely be used by The Economist.

Cordell Burke, joint chair of the Graeme Robertson Trust (GRT), explains: “This year’s finalists all really excited the judges, showing maturity far beyond their years. However, the winners showed an ability to understand the brief, respond to feedback and questioning, and presented it in front of the panel of industry experts with aplomb. Ultimately, they understood what their campaign needed to do and they did it.”

This year’s second place winner, taking home £500 cash, is Jennifer Grieve and Sam Haynes from Edinburgh College, while third place and £250 went to Southampton Solent University’s Ash Kinsella and Steph Brown.

Kate Burnett, MD of DMA-IDM Employability, said: “We receive entries from all over the UK and this year we were particularly impressed with the level of understanding of the brief and amount of work they had clearly put in to every facet of their entries. If this Award is a peak into the future of our industry and the next generation of talent, then I’m tremendously excited about the level of creativity and drive coming through.”

Stephen Chandler, joint chair of the Graeme Robertson Trust (GRT), comments: “Every year the DMA Breakthrough Award offers a unique opportunity to young creatives a step-up in what can be a notoriously difficult industry in which to get a foothold. This year’s finalists all did a fantastic job pitching their ideas to the panel and we were really impressed with the level of creative skill that had gone into each campaign.”

The DMA Breakthrough Award is one of marketing’s leading awards celebrating the next generation of talent coming into the industry. It’s supported by GRT, founded in memory of legendary Brann creative director Graeme Robertson, and is also part of the DMA and IDM’s joint Employability team that work to help fresh creative talent break into the industry.