Mumbai: Shruthi Subramaniam, Executive Creative Director at BBDO India, has been appointed to the global jury for The One Club for Creativity’s inaugural Young Ones “Get Out the Vote” brief, a new international creative competition aimed at encouraging greater voter participation through youth-led campaigns.
The initiative, launched by the New York-headquartered nonprofit organisation, invites undergraduate and graduate students from around the world to develop non-partisan creative campaigns designed to promote electoral participation without endorsing any political party, candidate or ideology.
Subramaniam joins an international panel comprising senior creative leaders, many of whom have previously served as jurors for The One Show and the Art Directors Club (ADC) Annual Awards, two of the advertising industry’s most recognised global honours.
The competition seeks ideas across four creative formats—print, video, social media and brand activations—with entries expected to address one of three themes: creating a culture of voting and participation, making voting more relevant to contemporary culture, or encouraging community-driven voting through early participation.
To encourage wider participation, The One Club has made the competition free to enter and announced a total prize pool of US$15,000. The overall winner will receive US$5,000, while two runners-up will be awarded US$2,500 each and five finalists will receive US$1,000 apiece.
Commenting on the initiative, Kevin Swanepoel, CEO of The One Club for Creativity, said the competition is designed to inspire young people to use creativity as a tool for civic engagement.
“Democracy only works when people participate,” Swanepoel said. “This competition isn’t about influencing political choices. It’s about encouraging young people to recognise that voting is both a right and a responsibility, and that their participation can help shape the future.”
The competition is open to students aged 18 years and above who are currently enrolled in undergraduate, postgraduate or portfolio programmes worldwide. Recent graduates are also eligible, provided they completed their studies on or after March 13, 2025.
Entries will remain open until August 31, 2026, with winners scheduled to be announced in mid-September.
According to The One Club, winning campaigns will not only receive cash awards but will also gain international visibility through the organisation’s website and social media platforms. Selected work may additionally be considered for real-world deployment through its out-of-home and media partners, including potential placements on digital billboards in high-traffic locations.
For entries originating from the United States, the organisation said winning campaigns could be activated across digital and out-of-home media during the closing phase of the country’s November mid-term elections, reinforcing the initiative’s objective of increasing voter participation through creative communication.
