School of Thought

Congratulations to Emily Cuthbert at McCann Leeds, who was recently crowned the winner of School of Thought 2021, a prestigious competition that showcases the best, fresh creative talent in the North.

The programme is designed for new competitive and fearless thinkers in the region and sees them pitch their ideas head-to-head every week for 12 weeks. Each Monday the entrants are set a new brief from a different agency and are given just a couple of days to develop their response, before having to confidently pitch it to a panel at the end of the week. The briefs cover a range of specialisms, including TV, radio, digital, social, press and outdoor, thereby challenging the candidates to demonstrate how they can flex their creativity and thinking across a wide variety of channels.

Over the course of the competition, Emily devised ideas for leading brands including VISA, Sipsmith and Goodyear.

As well as the accolade of School of Thought champion, Emily also won an all-expenses paid trip to the Cannes Lions next year.

Well done Emily on a phenomenal achievement - we’re all very proud of you!