Sprint week for students in Humber College’s Bachelor of Creative Advertising program, is more than just an assignment, it's an annual academic milestone.
This high-pressure competition takes teams of four to five students from first, second and third years as they take on a brief from an industry agency, working tirelessly over a week to craft and pitch a creative campaign.
The event challenges students to think strategically under tight deadlines and gives them a chance to showcase their talents to industry professionals.
For many third-year students, it’s particularly significant as they prepare to transition into the workforce, making connections and proving their skills in real-world scenarios.
Ceilidh Pate, a third-year student who thrives in the strategist role, has been a fierce competitor in Sprint Week for the past two years. Previously a runner-up for her agency both years, this year she was determined to take home gold.
Pate’s team was tasked with marketing Porch Crawler, a canned alcoholic drink that combines gin, vodka and beer to Ontario consumers looking for a new summer beverage. She developed her winning idea after brainstorming ways to teach people what a crawler is while keeping them intrigued.
Her solution? A cheeky, witty twist: The Perfect Threesome.
This campaign is like nothing she pitched for sprint week before, she had full confidence that this year could be her year.
“Winning Sprint Week would mean everything to me ... it would be a good way to end off the program, at least this year,” Pate said
After she pitched the idea to the agency, not only did she win first place, but, also tied for the highly coveted People’s Choice Award, an honour determined by votes from fellow students.
Other third-year students Alex Liczner and Abby Henderson-Bowman are known for always working together on group projects. But this time, not only were they on separate teams, but they were also competitors.
For Sprint Week, they were placed on different teams at the same agency, turning them from partners into friendly rivals.
Their challenge was to create a campaign for food company Dr. Oetker, making it stand out as the parent company.
Henderson-Bowman’s team developed a political satire campaign, poking fun at the current political climate and using humour to draw attention to the brand.
Liczner’s team, on the other hand, took a completely different approach. They crafted a conspiracy-inspired campaign suggesting that delivery drivers were secretly dissing frozen pizza through sublimate messaging.
It’s been competitive but playfully fun to be against my friend, he said.
"Whenever we see each other we kind of like lock eyes and kind of like put our fists up, but we make sure to like not push it too far. Like we're asking like, how you feeling ... because it's not going to be any fun if (she’s) not having a good time,” he said.
Despite the competition, they remained supportive of each other, proud of what each others team created.
One of the standout campaigns this year came from a team working with Canadian Blood Services, with the challenge of making donating blood more appealing to Gen Z.
Their campaign was a bold, attention-grabbing campaign emphasizing the donation of zero dollars, honing in on Gen Z's desire to help with social issues but without financial barriers.
They created stickers that read, “I donated 0 dollars.” The campaign framed blood donation as an easy way to make an impact, playing on the idea that while money is tight for young people, they can still contribute by giving blood.
The simple, yet effective message won over their assigned agency and the faculty, earning them the prestigious Titanium Award, voted on by professors as the best pitch across all 15 teams.
It took us four days to land on our big idea, Caleb Hauser, one team member said.
“We're like, we have nothing, we're going to fail, and then it got said and all of a sudden it came to us,” Ethan Bryce another team member said.
Richard Bingham, the program coordinator for Humber’s Bachelor of Creative Advertising, was blown away by this year’s Sprint Week presentations.
“In previous years, there's been sort of trepidation, sometimes fear, terror, panic, anxiety ... but they were actually super excited about it because they knew what it meant, and that showed in the work, the work was amazing,” he said.
Beyond the winners, Sprint Week proves how resilient and talented Humber’s creative advertising students are. It’s a chance for first, second and third-year students to learn from one another, collaborate under pressure, and gain real-world experience with industry pros.
For third-years, it’s a crucial stepping stone in their careers, offering exposure and networking opportunities that could lead to jobs.
As another Sprint Week concludes, students walk away not just with projects for their portfolios, but with newfound confidence in their abilities and a pitch they’ll remember long after graduation.
