BROOKLYN, N.Y., Feb. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- MAS Event + Design, a leading experience design studio, is once again inviting the country's best design and architecture undergrads to participate in a unique national student design competition, the 2020 Brand X Challenge.
Produced to expose students to the fast-growing experience design sector, this winter teams of undergrads will design an experiential activation for SEPHORA—spanning physical space, digital elements and social media channels. Three finalist teams will be selected and one winning team will score a cash prize, summer internships and a trip to Chicago for the Brand X Awards gala, held May 12 at the annual Experiential Marketing Summit.
"Being able to design and deliver unique experiences has become increasingly more important in the retail industry; experiences not only help to enable more personal connections with all clients, but gives them the opportunity to play and learn within a community-fostering environment, which is a key goal for us at SEPHORA," says Jessica Stacey, Sephora VP-PR and Experiential Marketing. "We're excited to work with MAS Event + Design and Event Marketer to help students cultivate their experiential design skills, and can't wait to see what they create."
Student teams will work directly with SEPHORA and MAS experience designers to refine and enhance ideas, giving them a taste of "real-world" experience design. In addition to developing work for their portfolios as they learn about the experience design discipline, the program and its top scoring teams will be promoted by media partner Event Marketer magazine online and in print to more than one million designers and marketers.
"Too few designers get a chance to study experience design in school, stifling the chances of them pursuing a career in brand experience," says Mia Choi, Chief Creative Officer and cofounder of MAS Event + Design. "We are committed to showcasing this field as a real career path for emerging designers."
Brand X is managed by the editorial team at Event Marketer and begins with a nomination period through February 21 during which teams sign up, followed by online "learning briefings" with SEPHORA and MAS to get educated about experience design and the SEPHORA brand. Teams will then be issued a creative brief on the experiential program, and they begin creating. MAS designers will offer "mentor reviews" of students' designs with advice and comments. Ultimately, designs are submitted and judged in April and winners notified in May. The program's online presence is anchored at facebook.com/brandxchallenge.
"Brand X is one of the most important programs we are involved in this year," says Jessica Heasley, Event Marketer Group Editor & Publisher. "I am proud to help open the eyes of tomorrow's experience creators."
About MAS Event + Design
We are an award winning collective of designers and producers that create moments that make you want MAS.
We don't just mean more - we are MORE. More voices. More backgrounds. More to bring to the table. We're designers, architects, technologists, doers, thinkers, artists, engineers, and always a trusted partner. We transform business objectives and KPIs into the tangible. Sometimes for one, sometimes for thousands—always with more impact.
We create MORE than an event. More than an experience. More than expected.
In 2018, we joined Opus Agency. Collectively, we service over 70 global companies, including 13 of the 20 most valuable brands in the world –among them being Amazon, BMW, Google, YouTube, Microsoft, and other innovative global leaders such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Softbank.
Learn more at http://www.maseventdesign.com.
About Sephora Americas
Since its debut in North America over 20 years ago, Sephora has been a leader in prestige omni-retail with the purpose of creating an inviting beauty shopping experience and inspiring fearlessness in our community. With the goal of delivering unbiased shopping support and a personalized experience, Sephora invites clients to touch and try 25,000 products from 400 carefully curated brands, enjoy services at the Beauty Studio and engage with expertly trained beauty advisors in more than 490 stores across the Americas, as well as over 660 locations inside JCPenney. Clients can also experience Sephora online and through our mobile app, access the free-to-join Beauty Insider program and digital community, which together enhance the experience of Sephora's passionate clients. Sephora has been an industry-leading champion of diversity, inclusivity, and empowerment, guided by our longstanding company values. In 2019, Sephora announced a new tagline and manifesto, "We Belong to Something Beautiful," to reinforce its dedication to fostering belonging amongst all clients and employees and to publicly strive for a more inclusive vision for retail in the Americas. Sephora continues to give back to our communities and advance inclusion in our industry through our Sephora Stands social impact programs. For more information, visit: https://www.sephora.com/about-us and @Sephora on social media.
About Event Marketer
Event Marketer was founded in 2002 to serve the information needs of strategic brand-side event marketers across the spectrum of experiential marketing. Today it is the world's largest information resource on experiential marketing, serving more than 100,000 Fortune 1000 marketers. The EM portfolio spans a flagship magazine, exclusive corporate training, the annual Experiential Marketing Summit executive conference, the Ex Awards, the annual Women in Events Week national event franchise, Experiential Marketing Training Camp, the Experience Design & Technology Awards and more. Learn more at http://www.eventmarketer.com.
SOURCE MAS Event + Design
Share this article