Scotland’s marketing community thrives on the creative talents of designers, copywriters, art directors and content creators working in agencies and in-house teams across the country.

A big question for the Marketing Society Scotland is how do we encourage more young people to develop the creative skills our industry needs?

Creative skills, alongside problem solving, team working and communication, are amongst the skills most in demand amongst businesses in Scotland.

Claire Prentice, Head of Marketing, Brand Scotland and Vice Chair of The Marketing Society Scotland

For our economy to thrive in an increasingly competitive global marketplace, where businesses need to continually adapt and innovate, we must encourage more young people to develop these critical creative skills.

Teachers and lecturers are under more pressure than ever, so it’s vital industry plays its part in creating more opportunities for young people to develop creative skills as an integral part of their education journey, better preparing them for the world of work.

One of the Marketing Society Scotland’s objectives is to ‘promote the value of marketing from classroom to boardroom’ and to encourage young people of all backgrounds to consider a career in marketing.

The Society’s Aspiring Creative Award programme sets a ‘real world’ creative challenge to a real-world problem and invites any aspiring creative to develop a solution.

By setting out a clear brief – like the ones marketers will face in their working lives – young creatives get the chance to research and shape a creative response that captures the imagination of the target audience.

Last year’s brief aimed to break the silence around periods by challenging entrants to help normalise talking openly about them.

With a record number of entries from all corners of Scotland, we saw some incredible creative ideas – many worthy of billboards and TV screens!

As a result of his brilliant entry ‘Project Flow’, last year’s winner Lekan Oladunwo won a six-week placement at Union Direct, the customer engagement arm of the Union Group, one of the largest creative agencies in Scotland.

This gave the Edinburgh Napier student hands-on experience of the world of work and chance to develop those all-important creative skills. He said:“The Aspiring Creative Star Awards is very relevant in helping to discover new and budding creative talent- - and the fact that it comes with a placement opportunity in one of Edinburgh’s biggest ad agencies makes it golden.”

The brief for this year’s Award, developed in conjunction with the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, is to encourage blood donations from minority ethnic communities, including African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) and Asian groups.

This year we’re asking anyone who works with young people to consider talking to them about entering the Aspiring Creative Awards programme. It’s a practical way to develop those all-important creative skills and gain industry experience.

To find out more about the Marketing Society and to enter the Aspiring Creative Award visit starawards.marketingsociety.com/

Claire Prentice, Head of Marketing, Brand Scotland and Vice Chair of The Marketing Society Scotland

We’re on the hunt for the future stars of marketing - Claire Prentice