Ad industry comes together for #MerryCritmas campaign asking senior creatives to give the gift of time to young talent
Several ad industry names have joined forces to encourage senior creatives to give the gift of time this Christmas by offering guidance to the future generation of marketers.
Magnafi, One Minute Briefs and Trunk are collaborating on a global campaign titled #MerryCritmas which looks to connect junior creatives with agency staffers who can help develop young talent by providing detailed portfolio critiques (or crits as they are known in creative circles).
The seasonal push centres around a website which lets visitors pick the option to ‘roast a creative’ or ‘get roasted’. After sharing a few details, campaign mascot Father Critmas makes those all-important matches between senior industry staff and aspiring creatives.
The idea to save a turkey and roast a creative instead came from a conversation between copywriter Alex Goddard and creative team Asa Bradshaw and David Felton about how difficult it is for young creatives to even get a book crit nowadays.
“People are a little kinder in December,” said Goddard, and the idea grew from there. “For undiscovered talent trying to break into advertising, it’s the perfect gift,” added Bradshaw and Felton. “And for established creatives it’s an easy way of giving something back. Just half an hour of their time can make a real difference. And you never know who might walk through the door.”
Several industry figures have already signed up to scheme, including: One Minute Briefs' own Nick Entwistle; Karamrama’s creative director, Cathy Hutton; Patrick Coffee, senior editor at Adweek; Vikki Ross, copy chief and D&AD judge and vice-chairman of Ogilvy & Mather, Rory Sutherland.
As part of the campaign Father Critmas will be tweeting from his very own Twitter feed, while @OneMinuteBriefs will be running briefs and @AgencyQuotes will be getting involved with Christmas cards being sent out in December.