Creativity took centre stage on 26th January 2023 as The Creative Shootout returned with even more purpose for our Charity Of The Year, FoodCycle.
Nine creative agency finalist teams battled it out live on stage at Picturehouse Central in Soho, responding to this year’s brief from FoodCycle … that they’d received only four hours earlier. Yikes! Slick presentations, plenty of laughs, and some of the best ideas we’ve ever seen at the Shootout were enjoyed by the live audience of hundreds and our celebrated judging panel.
There could however only be one winner, and after careful consideration from our judges (and some edgy voting from our audience), it was Red Consultancy that took the honours. Raw London and Mischief were very worthy runners up.
Red will now go on to activate their winning campaign with FoodCycle, fuelled by the £10,000 prize money and big media support from The Guardian, Channel 4, Acast and OnePoll.
Thanks to all who’ve supported The Creative Shootout project this year. And follow us on social for live updates on how FoodCycle and Red are getting on, and as we open up for charity nominations in June 2023. And, if you just want to say hello, we can be reached at hello@creativeshootout.com.


ABOUT THE CREATIVE SHOOTOUT
The Creative Shootout was a format created by comms and charity entrepreneur Johnny Pitt in 2016, and is now managed by PR agency Launch.
The Creative Shootout promotes the incredible talent and thinking within the UK creative industry, through a radical and real-time live creative awards show, and where the Shootout's Charity of The Year receives the winning campaign, for free.
Every year, one UK charity is chosen as the Shootout’s Charity of the Year. Eight any-discipline creative agencies are then selected by an uber high profile judging panel, from a tonne of unique ‘60 second’ agency entries from across the UK – for the Live Final Show in January.
On Live Final day each agency finalist team (made up of four brave souls) gets just four hours to work their magic on the real charity brief they receive … only at lunchtime.
They then have just 8 minutes each in the late afternoon to pitch their idea and campaign back to a live audience of several hundred industry folk, media, celebrities and of course, our judges. It’s a bit brutal, but exhilarating and incredible (agency words, not ours). A winning agency team is crowned in the evening, from judges and audience votes (which, cue brutal again, are shared live.) Best idea wins.
There’s a thumping After Party and the winning agency then goes on to stage the campaign later in the year for the charity, fuelled by a monetary prize fund, brilliant partner support and one great new charity client. Unicef, Time to Change, FareShare, A Plastic Planet and Crisis have benefitted so far. And what brilliant charity partners they have all been.