The Media Federation of Australia (MFA) has revamped the NGEN Award category of the MFA Awards and introduced changes to ensure it delivers on its ambition to empower NGENers to have successful media careers.
The NGEN Award gives media professionals with less than five years of experience the opportunity to showcase their skills and develop their capabilities by responding to a real brief to solve a charity client communication challenge.
This year’s charity is Dress for Success NSW & ACT, with a campaign objective of increasing client numbers across all of the organisation’s services. Through its signature Styling service and Career Support offerings, Dress for Success aims to help women overcome bias and discrimination when entering or re-entering the workforce.
NGEN Award changes introduced this year as part of the revamp:
• Strategy and NGEN Award Kick-Off Webinar: Being held tomorrow Wednesday 26 June, at 10am AEST, designed to show NGENers how to use facts and research to uncover key insights and build a solid framework for responding to a brief. The webinar will be available to view on the MFA website for those who can’t attend.
• NGEN Award Day: Shortlisted entrants will be notified by phone call and invited to a live presentation to judges on the same day, providing experience in presenting.
• Feedback from judges: Judges will provide feedback to shortlisted entrants, delivering important learning and development.
Winning entries have gone on to become actual campaigns, such as 2022 winners Ben Breden and Olivia Coxon from Initiative, who turned their entry into a fundraising campaign for youth mental health charity batyr with the help of 19 media partners and $1.3 million in donated media.
Breden said: “Entering the NGEN Award and then getting to bring our idea to life in the real world was an amazing experience. Beyond it being a chance to meaningfully support the worthy cause of youth mental health, we were exposed to a far broader experience than our usual day-to-day. We worked on everything from strategy, to planning, to implementation and more. It definitely accelerated our knowledge and skills, and our understanding of how agencies and clients work together. Don’t miss your chance to enter!”
Melanie Aslanidis, head of NGEN, added: “The NGEN Award really is a fantastic opportunity for professional development for NGENers at all stages of their career, and a perfect demonstration of our industry’s We Are The Changers purpose. I encourage all NGENers to download the brief and view the Strategy and NGEN Award Kick-Off webinar to upskill their strategic and creative capabilities and supercharge their careers.”
NGEN Award entrants must be registered members of NGEN with less than five years’ experience and currently working for a media communications agency or media owner.
Key NGEN Award dates:
• Today, 25 June: NGEN Award Entries Open
• 26 June: Strategy & NGEN Award Kick-Off Webinar at 10am AEST
• 26 July: NGEN Award Entries Close
• 22 August: NGEN Award Day – shortlisted entrants will be notified on the day and required to present
• 19 September: MFA Awards winners announced at gala event, White Bay Cruise Terminal, Sydney
The 2024 MFA Awards sponsors are:
Grand Prix Sponsor: Seven Network
Platinum Sponsors: Meta, Outdoor Media Association, SBS
Gold Sponsors: Ad Standards, Foxtel Media, Google, News Corp, OzTAM