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MELBOURNE
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HO CHI MINH CITY
HANOI
Australian advertising Lions roar in Cannes
Two RMIT University students have become the first Australians to win the
prestigious Cannes Future Lions student advertising competition.
Jason Deacon and Ebony Holmberg developed their entry, “The Great Expedia
Warm Up”, as part of coursework in Advanced Art Direction for their final-year
Advertising studies.
The annual Future Lions competition challenges students to develop an idea for
advertising a global brand in a way not possible five years ago. There are no rules
in terms of media or technology; no restrictions around product or target audience.
The students developed an engaging video clip presenting their strategy and
concept. It showed teams of young people using a mobile phone GPS application,
racing around Melbourne’s iconic sights to find a hidden code and win a free trip
with online travel agency Expedia.
“We tagged the entry ‘The treasure hunt that warms you twice’, to highlight the
connection between Expedia and travelling to fun in the sun,” Mr Deacon said.
Ms Holmberg said travelling to the Debussy Theatre in Cannes to receive their
prize was a thrill.
“As part of the prize, we received a video camera to use to document our journey
and create a blog,” she said.
Lauren Murray, Acting Dean of RMIT’s School of Media and Communication,
congratulated the pair: “Jason and Ebony’s win is an outstanding outcome. We’re
very proud of them and their achievement will no doubt be an inspiration to all
students in our Advertising program.
“A Future Lion redefines the medium and the message, and influences the way
media is consumed in the future.”
Rei Inamoto, Chief Creative Officer of San Francisco-based AKQA, which
organises the competition, said “Warm Up” was one of five Future Lions winners in
2009. “We had a record year in terms of the number of entries so it definitely was
not an easy competition. Congratulations!”
For general media enquiries: RMIT University Communications, David Glanz,
(03) 9925 2807 or 0438 547 723.
13 July, 2009
NEWS 
