Organised by edcom, Ad Venture is the first Pan-European competition giving students a hands-on experience in the advertising world. By creating their own campaign in response to a brief from a real client, they gain practical insights into the industry. Since its inception in 2008, the competition has attracted nearly 100 teams and over 400 international students each year. The winning team goes to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
For the 2025 2026 edition, edcom partnered with Heinz, a globally recognised brand with over 150 years of history, known for its unmistakably rich products and deeply satisfying taste experiences. Heinz goes the extra mile in everything they do, crafting each product with care, obsession, and quality to deliver a deeply satisfying, uplifting experience.
The brief is finally here, and we are thrilled to share that the TOP 3 finalist teams will pitch their projects directly to the client in Lisbon on 26 March 2026. Plus, the winning team will have the opportunity to experience the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June 2026.
To access all Heinz Kraft related materials and the webinar recording from 9 October, please reach out to the edcom supervisor at your university. For any questions, you can contact the Edcom Secretariat.
Any questions? Don't hesitate to reach out to anna.fanchini@eaca.eu
FAQs
Testimonials
A challenging brief from Edcom with a tough mission: fighting gender stereotyping in the toys industry - to handle with care! I am so proud Sup de Pub participated with 4 teams, out of which 2 made it to the final 10. The winning team Eden had the most long-term outstanding strategy. I could describe them in One word: SPARKS!
S for Self-confident (sometimes over)
P for Professional (getting there)
A for Ambitious (since day 1)
R for Rebellious (when challenged)
K for Kick-ass (oral presentation)
S for Sagacious (acutely wise & insight-ful)
- Gilles Nakhle, Team EDEN's Academic Supervisor, Sup De Pub, France
Participating in the 2024 Ad Venture Competition has been one of the best decisions We’ve made last year. Whether it’s the months of preparation in Paris, the excitement and stress to present to the jury in London or the wonderful memories made at the International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, this experience ended up being full of challenges and rewards. It’s all about preparation, truly believing in the work you’ve put in as a group and giving your best on jury’s day because no matter the outcome, pride in the team’s effort is what matters most! I would say to future participants to have fun, that’s where the best ideas come from.
-Sub De Pub, The 04 Team
It was really rewarding to work on a campaign that we felt was worthwhile and important. It definitely gave us a good reason to be motivated about this project. Taking part was an enriching and exciting experience, and we hope that our work will help in moving the cause forward.
- Mohsen El-Sayed, team EDEN, Sup de Pub, France
Our industry’s future is dependent on a pipeline of diverse, energetic talent entering the market every year. It was my honour to be one small part in helping attract the next wave of thinkers and makers to our world.
- Jordan McDowell, McCann Manchester
Running for the EDCOM Ad Venture, and competing with schools from all over the world, was the highlight of my year. Throughout the months, feedbacks and hard work, we managed to design a campaign for a meaningful NGO, which I believe is what drove us and kept us motivated all along. Knowing that our work had a purpose and touched on key issues in our society made us all very proud.
- Adrien Coucaud, team EDEN, Sup de Pub, France
It's really amazing to be the winner of this competition. It's the result of great teamwork and a lot of support. It's also the envy and passion we put into it that makes it great. To be able to work for such a client, and to be surrounded and judged by great professionals in the field is a unique and extremely stimulating opportunity. We are proud of our concept, proud of this competition, proud of our school. Congratulations to all and especially to the top 3. It was a great final.
- Corentin Hernandez, team Square, École Supérieure de Publicité, France
We are very proud of our campaign and being able to compete against teams from all over the world ! It was several months of teamwork where we all encouraged each other to give the best of ourselves. I think it was a great adventure for all the participating teams and especially for the Beyond team and Studio Loss who went so far with us!
-Elodie Muguet, Team Square, École Supérieure de Publicité, France
What an adventure! It is quite difficult to summarize our journey, because we have experienced so many things, exchanged with different people and professionals, had the opportunity to imagine and create as a united team, competing with schools from around the world. We are really grateful to the client Asahi, but also to edcom for having given us their trust. Of course, we are really proud to have won this great competition, but even more because we truly enjoyed this adventure and working together on a really exciting subject!
- Emmanuelle Lignon, Team Sara Perche Ti Amo, Paris 2 University Panthéon-Assas, France