The North’s favourite crash course in creativity is back for another year as School of Thought returns with 13 more hopefuls looking to develop their skills, meet leading agencies and potentially bag themselves a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Cannes Lions. If you're not familiar with the course, it's a brilliant creative initiative that Upp B2B has supported for years.
We were the Title Sponsor last year, we’re sponsoring this year’s Strategy Award and year after year we welcome new cohorts to take on a B2B marketing brief. It’s an incredible initiative to be part of. As a B2B marketing agency, we’re passionate about inspiring a new generation to bring Powerful Creative Thinking to life in the sector.
We were the Title Sponsor last year, we’re sponsoring this year’s Strategy Award and year after year we welcome new cohorts to take on a B2B marketing brief. It’s an incredible initiative to be part of. As a B2B marketing agency, we’re passionate about inspiring a new generation to bring Powerful Creative Thinking to life in the sector.
Kicking the course off at our B2B marketing agency
For the last three years we’ve hosted week one. It’s a real privilege and a real responsibility to be the agency that sets the tone, introduces the format, helps everyone get settled in and gives them their first brief.Our Creative Director and Design Director also have lots of practical advice on the best ways to navigate an intense 12 weeks having both taken on the challenge themselves.
The Monday session is all about getting to know each other, eating pizza and taking the brief. Then a mere three days later, it’s time to stand up and share their ideas with the group.
Pen, paper and no waffle!
Week one is always a little different, as it’s strictly pen and paper. Claude, ChatGPT and our old friend Adobe can sit this one out… we’re looking for big ideas in their rawest form. Over the years, we’ve found that this really helps to highlight how great work is more about the idea than the polish. A lesson that any B2B marketing agency should never forget.This year also saw the return of our ‘No Waffle’ rule. What started as a joke in our local Co-op has gone on to become a School of Thought mainstay in both the Leeds and Manchester editions. As a bit of fun to keep presentations nice and tight, we time every presentation and the longest one gets the delicious shame of taking home a packet of waffles.
A surprisingly fun and effective game that we might even introduce to our internal meetings soon!
The brief
In a nutshell, we asked them to sell specialist training to transport, logistics and warehouse businesses.With a single-minded proposition of ‘Training that keeps people, businesses and careers moving’ and a focus on print adverts, static social adverts and direct mail, there was a clear message and lots of fun to be had. We’ve had a number of new client wins this year, so we were keen to give the School of Thought group a look at something completely different. And Insite.Training provided the perfect B2B challenge.
In a nutshell, we asked them to sell specialist training to transport, logistics and warehouse businesses. With a single-minded proposition of ‘Training that keeps people, businesses and careers moving’ and a focus on print adverts, static social adverts and direct mail, there was a clear message and lots of fun to be had.
The presentations
As the Champions League music was blaring across the canal at nearby Old Trafford, the real action was happening in MediaCity as our 13 creatives presented an incredible mix of ideas. We were very impressed with the standard this year, especially for week one. Lots of strategically sound approaches, unexpected ideas, great visuals, witty writing and even a live octopus-based rap! Not something you’d expect to see on a Thursday night in a B2B marketing agency, but we loved it.Chris Banner
Creative Director
Share this article
Paying it forward to the next generation of creatives
At Upp B2B, we’re always looking for ways that we can help young creatives and marketers thrive in this industry that we all love. Whether we’re offering work experience, mentoring or participating in events like Two+Two and School of Thought, we recognise, support and celebrate new Northern marketing talent.If you’d like some advice on entering the industry or you’d like to work with a B2B marketing agency that genuinely cares about the future of B2B creativity, I’d love to hear from you.
