Creatives Under Pressure: 24 Hours Competing In UK Young Lions Competition 2026

By Abi Bennetts, Digital PR Account Director

If you work in PR, chances are you’ve heard of the PRCA’s UK Young Lions Competition. If you haven’t (or you’ve been hiding under a PR-shaped rock), it’s a competition open to full-time PR professionals aged 30 or under, where teams are given a live brief from a charity, NGO or purpose-led organisation and just 24 hours to create a full creative PR campaign in response. The winners go on to represent the UK at the Global PR Young Lions Competition at Cannes Lions - essentially Coachella for creatives and PRs around the world.

Despite feeling permanently stuck at 23 years old, I’m actually turning 30 later this year, meaning this was my final chance to compete in the renowned competition. So, Fiona (Account Exec here at Launch) and I decided to go for it, bracing ourselves for a slightly chaotic but very creative 24 hours.

Having previously taken part in The Creative Shootout, the UK’s leading done-in-a-day creative-for-good awards, where you get four hours to crack a charity brief and just eight minutes to pitch it live on stage at BAFTA, I thought, dare I say it, this could be a walk in the park. But as ever, it turns out you’re never quite as prepared as you think when the clock starts ticking.

At 10am on Wednesday, the brief landed: create an earned media campaign for Alzheimer’s Society during World Alzheimer’s Month, amplifying the message ‘It will take a society to beat dementia’ and drive national awareness and action (donations, volunteering, campaigning).

We were told that judging would be focused on three key areas: creativity (a standout idea with a strong, unifying hook); strategy and insight (is the idea right for the brief, brand and audience); and tactics and execution (would it actually deliver results?). And so began the classic creative dilemma: how do you strike the balance between bold, out-of-the-box thinking and an idea that genuinely resonates with the audience and earns a shedload of media coverage?

From 10am, we camped out in a meeting room at Launch PR HQ, armed with M&S’ finest snacks, including a heroic 400g bag of Percy Pig Phizzy Pigtails that carried us through the day. What followed was a whirlwind of ideas exploring different cultural hooks, focus audiences and formats. After a Deliveroo dinner and many rounds of refining, we finally left the office at 11:30pm with a 10-slide deck in hand.

We submitted our entry with one minute to spare the following morning, and that was that, our fate left in the hands of a judging panel made up of some of the UK’s top creative PR directors, alongside Alzheimer’s Society’s media team. We scored strongly, but didn’t quite win - however with 53 competing agencies, we’ll absolutely take that.

Now that I’m officially too old to compete again, here are my top tips for creativity under pressure, if you’re considering entering the Young Lions competition next year…

1. Don’t overthink it 

   When time is tight, it’s easy to get stuck in the weeds. Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest - and right in front of you if you give yourself space to think clearly. 

   
   

2. Use technology to the best of your ability

   With AI technology as advanced as it is, it would be short-sighted not to make the most of it, however, it’s important not to rely on AI entirely. Tools such as ChatGPT are excellent for bouncing around and validating ideas, spotting things we might otherwise miss, and even acting as a grammar checker. The Young Lions competition now requires participants to submit a declaration explaining how they have used technology fairly, so make sure to include this in your entry submission!
   

3. Don’t be creative for creatives’ sake

   It’s tempting to chase ideas that impress others in the industry, but the best campaigns are the ones that genuinely connect with their intended audience. Focus on how people will feel, think and behave as a result of your campaign idea.
   

4. Commit and move forward

   When working with limited time, indecision is your enemy. Set a cut-off point to choose your winning idea, then invest the rest of your time and energy into making the concept as strong and clear as it can be. Our cut off time was at 5pm, a full seven hours after receiving the brief, allowing us lots of time in the evening to pull together an entry-worthy supporting deck to bring our idea to life.
   

5. Distinctiveness is key

   As Mark Twain famously said, there’s no such thing as a completely original idea - some of the best award-winning PR campaigns have come about as a result of combining existing concepts in new and interesting ways. Just make sure you’re adding something fresh, or something surprising to get cut through with the press.