Google’s Keira Spencer and Laura Currie were finalists in the Marketing category, sponsored by Boomtown, at last year’s inaugural Cairns Hatchlings, presented by Yahoo. B&T sat down with the duo – both of whom have entered exciting new roles since they competed in Cairns – to dive into their experience and what they took from it.
Cairns Hatchlings takes place in sunny Far North Queensland and consists of a 24-hour challenge that pushes emerging creatives and marketers with three to eight years of experience to think fast and create boldly and with purpose.
For Spencer and Currie, the brief was as meaningful as it was demanding: create a strategy to secure corporate partnerships for Women on a Mission (WOAM), a charity that offers support for female survivors of abuse, violence and war.
It was a masterclass in balancing business strategy with empathy, all with the added time pressure, and an important lesson in translating marketing skills to real-life settings.
“The level of insight, strategic thinking, powerful creativity and professionalism we saw from these Hatchlings left our judging panel not only blown away, but genuinely moved and excited for the future of our industry,” The Emma Logan Project’s founder Emma Logan, who judged the category last year, said.
Spencer and Currie’s campaign was inspired by how real, systemic change is driven by senior leaders.
“They hold the keys to corporate social responsibility efforts and have the power to secure crucial funding for charities like WOAM. Our campaign was built around the idea of capturing their attention by speaking to both their commercial acumen and their capacity for empathy. We wanted to show them that they can drive significant business outcomes while doing good,” Currie said.
“We tapped into what matters most to business leaders — their bottom line — and challenged it. We set out to prove that a business’s greatest return on investment lies not just in financial results, but in its people and societal impact,” Spencer said.
The pair’s biggest challenge was cutting through the noise. WOAM operates in a crowded space, competing for attention and funding among countless other worthy causes. They had to dig deep to identify WOAM’s unique value proposition and translate that into a creative idea that would resonate with the target audience.
Spencer and Currie overcame this by going away separately to brainstorm, and coming together to combine their thinking to distill ideas. The time pressure is always there, too, ticking away while our Hatchlings’ brains are filled with ideas vying for the winning spot.
“That 24-hour brief window is crunchy. You just have to trust the process, work through the rough spots, and keep pushing. Oh, and managing to enjoy the Cairns Crocs while still hitting the deadline!” Spencer said.
“They say diamonds are made under pressure, and this competition proved that. The intense time constraints forced us to sharpen our thinking and set clear boundaries on how we allocated our time,” Currie added.
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The duo found that time blocking was crucial. There’s no time to overthink, which can be a blessing in disguise.
“It taught me to trust my initial instincts, as they are often the most accurate, and showed me just how much you can achieve in a short amount of time when you’re fully focused,” Currie said.
Looking back no the process, Currie said she was most proud of her team’s critical thinking process that led to a strong central insight. “A powerful insight is the foundation of any great campaign – it clearly sets up your strategy and idea. It allowed us to articulate our thinking and take the judges on a journey. We were able to clearly show them why our idea was great and why it was the right solution for WOAM”.
For Currie, her biggest takeaway is the importance of continuing to build her skills beyond her day job, especially for charities and causes that need it.
“This competition allowed me to flex my creative and strategic marketing skills on a real world brief. It wasn’t just a challenge that helped me grow as a marketer; it was incredibly fulfilling to help a charity that’s doing such great work. It reinforced my belief in using my expertise to make a tangible, positive impact”.
For Spencer, it reinforced the importance of relationships. “At the end of the day, our industry thrives on its people. I was able to connect with some incredible peers and leaders through the competition. It feels like a bootcamp for young marketers — a moment to experience a concentrated dose of energy, knowledge and network and bring it straight back into the industry”.
So, if you’re on the fence, trust that gut instinct and go for it! Enter now!
“It’s an opportunity to push yourself, test your skills, and prove your worth as an expert in your field. It’s a great personal branding exercise and an amazing way to build your portfolio. Plus, you get to use your creativity to help a great cause along the way. It’s an invaluable experience for any young professional looking to grow,” Currie said.
And don’t forget, it’s fun, too! “Do it. Now. Where else can you party with the Ministry of Sound, workshop with Adam Ferrier and tackle a 24-hour charity brief — all in one place? Seriously, give it your all and enjoy the intensity of the process. And when you feel like your entry is ready to go, push it 1% further” Spencer added.
