Round 2 of 8: October 

Riaad v.d. Merwe.

Creative Director on Nike, AKQA Shanghai

Born and raised in South Africa where I was more often than not exposed to very creative advertising, one question would always get stuck in my head “how did they come up with that idea?”. My quest in life soon became the pursuit of answering exactly that question. A pursuit that ultimately led me to China, where I’ve been residing for the past ten years. I’ve taught English, organised automotive events (don’t ask) and even written the most scathing review of a 30 Seconds To Mars song available on the internet to date. But nothing seemed to get me any closer to answering that question.

A brief stint at Grey Shanghai set me off on what I assumed would be the correct course, but finally after joining AKQA four years ago I’ve found myself in the midst of those who come up with ideas that still leave me asking. The majority of my days are now spent creating work for Nike China that would hopefully make a few people ask exactly that question which was, is and always will be the ultimate pursuit of my life - “how did they come up with that idea?”.

Brief: "Ebola Management"

The ebola outbreak in Western Africa has already seen more than 2600 deaths. Hailed as the worst outbreak in history, it has become a threat not only to health, but also to peace and security.

Not focussing on the cause, come up with a tool or service to help better manage future ebola outbreaks - from prevention to faster notice and action.

Think about the benefits of using big data, consider your target audience and the technology they have available (i.e. mobile might not mean smartphones) and most of all incentives that could help Africans take initiative and control in bettering their own health and living.

Brief Deadline: Midnight (Pacific Daylight Time) October 31st 2014