The call forms part of a broader effort to grow Effie College’s impact, strengthen its industry position, and deepen collaboration between brands and emerging talent.
For sponsoring brands, the opportunity is both practical and strategic. It means setting a real business challenge, engaging with finalists in live pitches, accessing structured, effectiveness-led thinking, and creating meaningful connections with future talent. Effie manages the full competition lifecycle, from brief refinement and student engagement to judging, finalist selection and awards, allowing partner brands to focus on the challenge itself and the value gained in return. The brief positions this as a high-impact partnership for brands that want to support the next generation while also benefiting from fresh marketing perspectives.
The call follows an extremely successful inaugural programme in 2025. Sponsored by Nedbank, the YouthX Challenge attracted more than 400 students from four leading South African institutions, UCT, UJ, NWU and the AAA School of Advertising, all working on a live brief under the same effectiveness-led principles associated with Effie. The 2025 winning team was Team Stargazers from UCT.
Building on that momentum, the 2026 programme already has participation from UCT, UJ, NWU, Vega and AAA, signalling continued interest from academia and reinforcing Effie College’s role as a bridge between the classroom and the principles of effectiveness in modern marketing.
“Effie College is about real impact,” says Gillian Rightford, executive director of the ACA and for Effie South Africa. “It gives brands the opportunity to put an actual business challenge in front of bright young minds and see how the next generation responds with rigour, creativity and commercial thinking. For sponsoring brands, that means fresh perspectives and early access to future talent. For the wider industry, it means helping shape marketers who understand effectiveness from the outset.”
Brands interested in sponsoring a brief for the 2026 Effie College programme are encouraged to engage with the ACA by 31 May 2026. Student registration opens in July, the programme runs from August to September, judging takes place in September and October, and winners will be announced later in the year.
For more information, visit https://effie.org/partners/south-africa/ or www.acasa.co.za
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