Creative LIAisons pitch bold phygital ideas to Westfield ANZ in AKQA led workshop
Yesterday, the Creative LIAisons tackled “Create 4 All of Us”, a high-stakes design thinking workshop hosted by AKQA, Westfield ANZ and an entertainment brand. Thirteen teams of ten Creative LIAisons attendees from across the globe were challenged to ideate, make and pitch, enduring phygital experiences for Westfield ANZ and an entertainment brand, applying everything they’ve learned so far in Vegas.
The day’s challenge began with a high-energy workshop led by Tara McKenty, Chief Creative Officer, AKQA ANZ, alongside Amy Copley (Head of Marketing, Brand & Communications, Scentre Limited Sydney), Richard Schmid (Head of Marketing, Activations & Brand Partnerships, Scentre Limited Sydney), Jacqueline Waine (General Manager, Marketing & Community, Scentre Limited Sydney) and Justine Leong (Managing Director, AKQA Australia).
Teams were guided to frame “How Might We” statements, introduced to Westfield ANZ and an entertainment brand’s brief, and given a crash course on phygital: experiences blending physical and digital worlds. Rapid-fire “Crazy 8” ideation (eight minutes, eight ideas) followed before experts circulated to give feedback as team created, made and refined their pitch. “Give it your best shot. We’ll bring your best ideas to life,” challenged McKenty. “You never know, it might just win a Grand LIA next year.”
Over a few hours, teams tackled a live brief to create enduring insta-ready phygital activations or innovations showing Westfield ANZ as a place to create, share, discover, inspire and connect, using the entertainment brand’s franchises to entice more visitors to spend more time offline at Australia and New Zealand’s leading lifestyle and entertainment destinations.
Evaluating each idea for their concept, context and scale, our six facilitators from AKQA, Westfield ANZ and the entertainment brand were blown away by the ingenuity of the pitches produced in such a short time, remarking how quickly the lessons of the week were put into action.
Jacqui Waine, General Manager Marketing and Community, Scentre Group (Owner and Operator of Westfield in Aus and NZ) told CB: “We are thrilled at the quality of ideas from the talented LIAision creatives. It’s an amazing program and it’s been a pleasure to attend alongside our incredible agency partner AKQA.”
So, which team of rising stars shone brightest? Team Wynners walked away with top honours for their engaging idea, Screen Time. While teams Double Down and Triple Sevens emerged as first and second runners-up respectively. The presenters from Team Merger also received a special commendation for being the day’s top presenters, while Teams 9 and 10 also received special mentions for their ideas.
McKenty added: “Every year the bar gets higher. It’s thrilling to watch mentees solve problems with fresh thinking, often in ways even seasoned pros wouldn’t consider.”
