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AWARDS

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ENTRIES ARE CLOSED


How does community inspire or impact your creativity?

The annual Young Creatives Contest is back! To recognize the next generation of creative leaders, Ad Age is once again partnering with TikTok and inviting young talent from around the world to show off their ideas, skills and what inspires them.

The 2024 global competition asks entrants to create a TikTok video to illustrate the importance and impact of community, and how it influences creativity. Was 2023 the year that you found your #Rizz? Were you inspired by #girlmath, humbled by a #RomanEmpire or enlightened by #BookTok? Are you a proud member of #delulu or are #FoodTok recipes your thing? Tell us about a community you are a member of or have discovered that has inspired you over the past year.

The Young Creatives Contest winner will have the opportunity to attend the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and be honored at the Ad Age Cannes Lawn Party in June 2024.


Deadline

Monday, April 8, 2024 Thursday, April 11, at 5 p.m. ET

Entries are closed

Download entry kit

 

Questions?

Eligibility requirements
This year's brief
What you'll need to submit
FAQs
Terms & conditions

If your question isn't answered, please contact .

2024 CONTEST INFO


The global contest is free and open to students, full-time agency creatives and freelance creatives who are age 30 or under on June 17, 2024. You must be 30 or younger on June 17 to qualify.

Ad Age and TikTok will announce a number of finalists, but only one winner (or creative duo) will be selected. The winner will have the opportunity to attend the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and be honored at the Ad Age Cannes Lawn Party in June 2024, attending alongside some of the biggest creative powerhouses in the industry.
 

The final deadline to enter is April 11, 2024, at 5 p.m. ET


Please read the brief and follow the instructions. Only entries submitted via AdAge.com/YoungCreatives will be entered into the contest.

THE BRIEF


Last year Ad Age and TikTok partnered on the 2023 Young Creatives Contest. We asked the next generation of creatives from all around the world a big question: What does the future of creativity look like for you?

We received a ton of submissions answering the call, overflowing with inspired creative visions that left us with one thought: the future of creativity is in great hands.

This year, we're back with a new creative call to arms and it’s rooted in community.
Did you know 81% of users believe that TikTok is a diverse platform that represents all walks of life?*
Or, that 70% of people say they feel part of a community on TikTok?**

You, the Young Creatives, purveyors of creativity, are finding new ways to connect and build communities of people through shared interests. You're shaping new digital cultures and ways of storytelling, reflecting our diverse world. You have the unique ability to amplify these communities to inspire your ideas, and the ideas of your peers and brands you work on. And we'd love to see it!
 

So, tell us a story about a community from the past year that has inspired or impacted your creativity, and how.


Is there a community you are a member of or have discovered that has helped you reimagine how you approach creativity? Have you learned something from a TikTok community that has changed how you think about advertising or a cultural moment or a specific topic? Is there a group inspiring you online and in IRL? Has an IRL passion, interest or moment inspired you to create or share with a community?

Video is a powerful medium. Use the TikTok platform to innovate your creative stories. You can create a short film, tell your story through photography via a photo carousel or sound, cast your friends and direct it yourself—any way you want to share your idea is fair game. The only rules are: it must be 90 seconds or less, it needs to be original work and we encourage you to use the in-app creative tools on TikTok to bring your vision to life.

Remember, submissions will be judged on a number of factors, including: your ability to illustrate or highlight a TikTok community that inspired you; your storytelling and entertainment; and how you leverage the in-app tools on TikTok, including effects, text on screen, etc. Need inspiration? Check out the TikTok Creative Codes.
 

A message from our partner

TikTok continues to be an inspiration to that creativity and joy globally. We connect people across cultures through the power of video. We create new ways to hold the attention of the world through entertainment. ForYou Pages everywhere are exploding with creative optimism, telling the stories of everyday people, sharing a world full of diverse voices and points of view. TikTok has challenged the standard of creativity and put the power of imagination into the hands of anyone with a phone.

In addition to using our Stitch creation tool, we encourage you to use the native creative tools on TikTok to bring your vision to life. We want to see how you use our platform in new and surprising ways.
 

*Source: TikTok Marketing Science US, Custom Social Cause Survey via Suzy, September 2021. Base: TikTok MAUs
** Source: TikTok Marketing Science Global Community and Self-Expression Study 2021 conducted by Flamingo

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ENTRY INSTRUCTIONS


Using TikTok's Stitch creation tool, you will need to use the following video from the 2023 Ad Age Young Creatives Contest winner, Ziwei Koh, and add your own video. Your video must be no more than 90 seconds in length and must be your original work.

@tiktokforbusiness Hit the link in bio🔗 to check out AdAge's Young Creatives competition for more details on how to enter. You could be crowned the next Young Creative winner and join TikTok and @adage in Cannes! 👑🇫🇷 You must be 30 or younger on June 17 to qualify. #advertising #cannes #youngcreatives #creative ♬ original sound - TikTok for Business


You will also be asked to write about your video creation, explaining the idea, how you created it and why it represents the inspiration or impact of a community.

All entries are FREE and open to young creatives who reside and work anywhere in the world, but entries must be made in English.
 

Deadline

The final deadline for Young Creatives submissions is April 11, 2024, at 5 p.m. ET


Download entry kit

Entries are closed

 

Questions?

Visit our FAQs section. If your question isn't answered, please contact .

2023 WINNER

 

FAQs

The program is open to students, full-time agency creatives and freelance creatives who are age 30 or under on June 17, 2024. You must be 30 or younger on June 17 to qualify.

We accept duos. Both team members have to be under the age of 30 as of June 17, 2024 to qualify. Teams with more than two people are not eligible to apply.

Once you have created your video on TikTok, you will need to download the file and fill our the entry form at AdAge.com/YoungCreatives.

You can use your own original images, music and videos. You can also use images, music and videos that you paid for (licensed through a performing rights organization or Creative Commons) or those that are royalty free.

Please be careful using music, images or videos that is copyrighted or that you do not have permission to use. See TikTok's community guidelines for more details.

No, you must create an original TikTok video specifically for this contest and you must use TikTok's Stitch creation tool with the video from the 2023 winner, Ziwei Koh.

Not at all! This is a global contest and those based outside the U.S. are welcome to enter.

If your video is not in English, please include English on-screen captions; the written portion of all entries must be in English.

No. Anything included in an entry should be considered as public information. There’s no space for explicitly confidential information, and we ask entrants to anticipate that anything in their entry could become public—mostly because we don’t want to wind up trying to honor a winner without being able to tell anyone why we want to honor them.

This year's contest is open to entrants in areas/regions that have access to TikTok.

The deadline for all entries is April 11, 2024 at 5 p.m. ET.

All entries are free.

First and foremost, judges will be looking at your creativity and how you communicate that in your submission. They will also be looking at your ability to illustrate a clear connection to a community and how you leverage the tools on TikTok.

Unfortunately, once you have submitted your entry, you will not be able to log in to edit the form in any way. If there is factual information that is incorrect, please contact the awards team to request a change.

Please note changes cannot be made once the final deadline has passed and judging has started.

Ad Age and TikTok will notify winners and finalists in early May; the winner will be announced in June.

Our awards team is here to help with any technical issues you might experience. Please contact .

Please note that your account on AdAge.com is separate from an account you create for Young Creatives and any other Ad Age award programs. When you click "Enter now," please make sure to register a new account (unless you've submitted to our awards before and already have one). If you still experience any issues logging in, please email awards@adage.com.

CONTACT US

 

Got questions? We're happy to help

Award Inquiries:  awards@adage.com