College students have opportunity to show off fearless advertising ideas
Officials and industry leaders pose for an online live-stream broadcast of the opening ceremony of the 19th Shanghai International College Students Advertising Festival.
Domestic college students have been invited to take part in an advertisement design competition to showcase both their talent and innovative ideas.
The 19th Shanghai International College Students Advertising Festival was launched in Putuo District on Friday to select young professionals for the advertisement industry while offering more job and internship opportunities amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Themed on "fearless," this year's event encourages college students to express their innovation, passion and attitude boldly, according to the organizer.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening ceremony was live-streamed online on Friday during which the invitation to the national competition was released along with topics and rules. More than 20,000 viewers watch the broadcast online.
"COVID-19 has driven another round of reforms in the advertisement industry," said Du Guigen, president of the Shanghai Advertisement Association. "More talent with variety and efficiency is needed to meet the uncertainty, as well as opportunities of the growing digital and nightlife economies."
Duan Yong, deputy Party chief of Shanghai University, said the advertising festival has cultivated a large number of professionals for China's advertisement industry. During the festival last year, more than 10,000 works had been received.
Sun Erhei, president of the judge's panel, said original and imaginative works will be favored this year.
"Innovative ideas that are different from the current industry rules may become the future of the advertisement industry," Sun said.
Putuo District Culture and Tourism Bureau serves as one of the organizers of the festival. The district in the western downtown has gathered a large number of advertisement companies due to its support for the film, electronic sports, animation game and audio-visual sectors, said Liu Yiwu, deputy director with the bureau.
Among the cultural companies with more than a million yuan in annual tax revenue in Putuo, nearly half are advertisement and exhibition firms, Liu added.
