Fast becoming a staple in the student calendar, AdCrawl returns in 2023 for its third year.

Applications are now open for students hoping to secure one of 12 spots for the April 14 event, which offers both insider industry access and real-world experience working on a brief.

First held in 2020, AdCrawl takes the successful applicants on a physical and intellectual tour of a brief. Kicking off with a client briefing meeting, the students then bus between Adelaide’s best creative agencies – learning about a brief’s lifecycle and getting tips from experts in media, advertising, production, design and PR.

Students then work in pairs to produce a creative response to the brief, with their outputs shown on a prominent Rundle Mall billboard with support from oOh! Media.

“We want to show students the breadth of roles in the creative communications industry,” says Ella Wood, AADC’s Chair of Education and AdCrawl organiser.

“When I was a student, I had no idea that Account Management roles even existed. To my delight, they had nothing to do with finance, and once I understood the role I realised it was perfect for me. It was only through meeting people in the industry that I discovered this, and I hope other students can have their own eureka moment through the AdCrawl process.”

For Nicole Jesenko, a 2022 AdCrawl participant and TAFE SA graphic design advanced diploma student, the event helped her appreciate how layered the advertising industry ecosystem is.

“You’re only just scraping the surface when you’re at TAFE or at uni, so this was really eye-opening,” she says.

“All the different work that these different agencies do is incredible. I think the biggest wake up call for me was just going to Wavemaker - I didn’t know there was such a thing as a media buying agency, so going there and listening to what they do and how they view things was really incredible.

“I think it gives you an appreciation for what actually goes into an advert… you appreciate the resources, the time, the energy.”

Applications for the event are competitive, with previous AdCrawl opportunities leading to internships or employment for participants.

Students are invited to apply for AdCrawl 2023 by responding to the prompt ‘If Adelaide was a flavour, what would it taste like?’. Responses are accepted across mediums, with the answer to be supplied as either 100 words, a 60-second video, or as an A3 poster.

Ella says applications are a chance for students to show the AdCrawl organisers their creative voice.

“We’re looking for applications that give us a taste for the student’s creative thinking,” she says. “A response from a designer will be very different to that of a marketing or film student, and we encourage students to lean into their skillset.”

AdCrawl 2023 applications are now closed. Stay tuned for next year!