Innovative Imagery Tilts Competition in Students’ Favour
Lincoln, UK – 21st May 2012 – A billboard advert for The Electric Bar & Restaurant featuring an unusual view of Lincoln, designed by two University of Lincoln students, has been unveiled on Broadgate in the city.
Maria Sousa Machado (20) and Sam Barber (21) won a competition, organised in conjunction with the Lincoln School of Art & Design, to create an innovative advert for The Electric Bar & Restaurant which exuded ‘sophisticated escapism’.
Maria and Sam were among 38 third-year University of Lincoln BA (Hons) Creative Advertising students who entered the competition – either as a team or an individual – and used contemporary tilt-shift photography to capture the view from the venue on the fifth floor of the DoubleTree by Hilton Lincoln.
Despite tough competition from the seven other finalists, the judges felt the resulting image of the Brayford Pool together with the strapline ‘An Elevated Perspective’ best met the brief.
Sales & Marketing Manager Nicola Shepheard, who was one of the judges, said she was extremely impressed by the high calibre of the submissions: “The standard of the students’ work from the Creative Advertising programme was incredible and it was very difficult to choose a winner.
“We could have used any of the finalists’ proposals but Maria and Sam’s innovative use of imagery and clever strapline just gave them the edge.
“One of The Electric Bar & Restaurant’s unique selling points is the fantastic views of the city and their submission really reflected this in an innovative and eye-catching way.”
Maria said the duo brainstormed lots of ideas before settling on the winning entry: “We started off thinking about what makes the bar stand out and of different ways of looking at things through a lens. This translated quite literally in the end to using the tilt-shift image.
“Nicola from the DoubleTree by Hilton was really passionate about the project and treated us like professionals throughout the whole process,” she added.
For Sam, seeing their ideas come to life was one of the most rewarding aspects of the project: “A lot of the work we have done is simply generating ideas, but actually seeing our idea come to life and turned into an ad campaign has given us invaluable experience.”
Also on the judging panel was Principal Lecturer Gyles Lingwood, Senior Lecturer Mike Belton, Restaurant Manager Dan Ralley and Bar Manager Andy Hallam.
Gyles said: “This very ambitious and successful project has given Sam and Maria the opportunity to work with a high-profile, well regarded brand and work alongside a top professional photographer. The ads that they have produced are beautiful, intelligent and will help the new Electric Bar & Restaurant achieve its strategic objectives.”
To produce the advert Maria and Sam worked with Newark-based photographer Clive Doyle who took a photo of the view from the roof-top bar & restaurant using tilt-shift photography to make it look like a miniature-scale model.
As well as having their idea adopted by The Electric Bar & Restaurant as their official advert, Maria and Sam have each won an overnight stay at the DoubleTree by Hilton Lincoln and dinner in The Electric Bar & Restaurant for two people.
The duo, who plan to work together as a creative advertising team after graduating, hope having an ad campaign commissioned by a reputable brand will be a valuable addition to their resumé.
They plan to use their prize to accommodate family members travelling to Lincoln for their graduation ceremony in September.
Commenting on the benefits to students of working on a live campaign, Gyles added: “Projects such as this give students the incredibly valuable experience of progressing their concepts through to final production and enable the university to work with local businesses and transfer knowledge and experience from the academic team.
“Local businesses benefit from utilising the very impressive creative skills of the students before they join the University of Lincoln creative advertising alumni who are working at some of the best advertising agencies in the world.”
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Notes to editors
For more information about The Electric Bar & Restaurant visit www.electricbarandrestaurant.co.uk , follow @electriclinc on Twitter or ‘Like’ our Facebook page www.facebook.com/electriclinc
Kate Strawson
Shooting Star PR
01522 528540
kate@shootingstar-pr.co.uk
www.shootingstar-pr.co.uk
t: @shootingstarpr
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