On Friday 22 April, the annual Headmaster’s Business Award took place. The award, now in its second year, saw the Head of Business Studies Mr Andrew White team up with the Head of Media Studies Mr Marcus Milburn, to encourage pupils to put together a short advert or infomercial around a given brief. Pupils from both Year 12 and 13 took part in the challenge, and the entries were of an incredibly high standard. Year 12 had been set the brief to produce a suitable and effective marketing mix for a specific product from Gucci, whilst Year 13 pupils were tasked with developing a promotional campaign for a Nike product that exists today. These challenges meet part of the BTEC Business assessment criteria for a unit based around Creative Product Promotion. On Friday, the shortlisted pupils presented their work to a packed Lecture Theatre, and a panel of eight judges!
Governor and Entrepreneur Mr Jonathan Hobbs joined Director of Marketing and External Relations Mrs Katherine Green, Head of Economics Mr Darius Bluck, Business teacher Mr David Rose, Business and Economics teacher Mr Kevin Bloor and award-founders Mr Milburn and Mr White to tackle the difficult task of judging the entries. The judges had to mark the entries on editing and quality, business terminology, how engaging the piece was and the candidate’s use of technology.
Year 13 pupil Guy Pollard kicked off proceedings, with an advert for a little black dress by Jigsaw. His accompanying presentation was comprehensive and insightful, and he had considered the retail locations, turnover, the target audience and marketing, as well as producing a clever advert. Tom Thomson followed, with a promotional campaign for Nike trainers. Tom’s advert was slick and innovative, featuring a video of a professional footballer wearing the trainers with a voiceover, and he had coined the hashtag ‘do the hard thing’, encouraging viewers to take on challenges in all areas of life. Alex Bradley followed this, with a humorous advert that he had put together in a matter of hours, after a shortlisted applicant was unable to attend.
Pupils from Year 12 were next to show their work to the judges. Henry Birdsey opened, with his mini documentary and advert for a Gucci watch. The infomercial showed the process of creating a Gucci watch, and Henry had used text to explain the concept behind the piece. His short advert depicted a man growing older with his Gucci watch, and held the tagline ‘generation to generation’. Christian Hjortland-Marks followed, with an eye-catching advert on Gucci loafers. Angus Munro closed proceedings, with a piece on Gucci. The audience was incredibly impressed with the standard of work this year, and Mr White commented that 'it was really tough to whittle it down to a shortlist of only six and the pupils have worked exceptionally hard. You can see from the end results how much effort they have put in.'
Following much deliberation, the judges returned, and the winners were announced: in a close competition, Guy Pollard won in the Year 13 category, and Henry Birdsey won for Year 12. Headmaster Mr Gregg Davies commented that Guy’s editing was outstanding, and his presentation was well thought through, whilst Henry’s work was well-researched and very moving. The two winning entries can be viewed below:
Guy Pollard's entry:
Henry Birdsey's entry: