SELL THE UNSELLABLE; VIETNAM'S FIRST CREATIVE TALENT SCREENING

Happiness Saigon is the Creative Connectivity Agency is well-known to design connected brands that trigger emotions that trigger business. The agency believes in the power of ideas, the power of humanity and in happiness, that fuels both. Happiness believes #IdeasMatter, and in this light it aimed to celebrate the creativity of all young practitioners, regardless of their experience by organizing Vietnam's first Portfolio Night - a global event initiated by the One Show Club of Creativity and organized on 22.05.2019.

Happiness gave the global contest, a local spin adding the challenge for creative young talents to Sell the Unsellable, or basic items that today don't have a purpose in the digital era such as a rotary phone, a floppy disk, a cassette, and a radio.

Happiness prepared 4 Blank Ad templates, featuring the obsolete objects leaving the young talents the space to come up with the idea to sell it in. The attendees of Portfolio Night had to apply their creativity to crack the brief and sell their ideas to prominent experts; Saigon’s 11 biggest creative names coming from international and local creative powerhouses such as Leo Burnett, DDB, The Lab, Rice Creative, Circus, The Secret A, Dinosaur, MullenLowe, Happiness Saigon and brand leaders from Pepsi and Vietcetera.  

The challenge stirred up excitement among the community of aspiring young creatives. On the event day, Happiness Saigon welcomed a maximum of 42 participants with a multitude of ideas (more than 100!) determined to impress the judges with their works, althewile catering and music was organized to sooth the healthy stress in the corridors of Happiness (thank you, Tomatito). 

After 3 hours of critical reviews, insightful feedback and countless offers the jury crowned Ms. Đàm Anh Thư as Vietnam’s first Portfolio Night All-star winner, with her creative twist on the old rotary phone. Her work was highly praised by the judges for the power of the idea, her careful research, and the high-level craftsmanship in execution.

Thư will be on her way to New York this August to attend The One Show's All-Star Portfolio Night, but before that, she will kick-start her career in advertising with a job at Happiness Saigon.

As for the creative services industry, and Happiness Saigon, this confirms the need to design and organize activities that inspire, guide and steer talents towards the understanding of the power of ideas, and the positive lever it has for advertisers, and their business results.