DEPT® creatives win UK Young Lions Competition
At DEPT®, creativity is not just about ideas—it’s about solving real-world challenges in bold, innovative ways. That’s exactly what Depsters Caroline Doyle and Tara Groot Wassink did with Sizzle Sessions, the concept that took the UK Young Lions Competition by storm.
The creative duo won the Digital category in the 2025 UK Young Lions Competition, run by the Advertising Association, and will proudly represent the UK in the global competition at the Cannes Lions Festival in June.
Entrants were challenged to position the Media Business Course (MBC) as an essential training programme for media professionals, while also refreshing its brand identity with a contemporary touch.
Caroline and Tara tackled the brief with a strategic blend of analytical marketing insights and creative acumen, crafting a concept that’s highly relevant to today’s fast-evolving media landscape.
It was that insight that drove their thinking and the idea behind Sizzle Sessions—a virtual lunch spot located on food delivery apps; meeting busy media professionals where they are, serving bite-sized learnings in a way that fits their schedules.
Their innovative idea impressed the judges, earning its place among the festival’s most celebrated entries. We sat down with the (rightly) proud winners to dive deeper into the thoughts that inspired the concept, their thoughts on winning and the future of media upskilling.
“This is an exceptional and well thought out campaign that masterfully blends insight, creativity, and functionality. The clever use of existing consumer behaviour to drive media learning is highly innovative and relevant. The execution is seamless, with strong digital integration, clear audience targeting, and a compelling call to action. A standout entry!
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Congratulations! How does it feel to have your work recognised through this prestigious competition?
Caroline: “Surreal on so many levels! To have some of the greatest creatives in our industry not only seeing our work, but really liking it, resonating with it and being excited by it—it’s an incredible feeling. To have their trust to represent the UK on the Global stage only fuels us to refine our craft even further ahead of the Global competition in June.
“I’ve competed in the Cannes Young Lions for four years running, entering both the Film and Digital categories twice. It’s without a doubt one of the most intense, exciting, and high-stakes weekends of the year. Each competition, it became clearer to me that the key to success lies in the trust and camaraderie you build with your partner. A great creative partnership can help you find compromise, challenge one another, offer support, nail an exciting insight quicker, and get into a flow that shapes the idea into its ultimate final form.
“I truly believe the strength of our partnership played a huge part in our win, and I’m beyond excited to see what we can achieve together at the global competition!”
Tara: “It honestly feels like I’m in a dream. All week I’ve had a mixture of excitement and shock. This is such a career bucket list achievement and having incredible creative experts pick our idea, it’s incredible. Especially for me, being only just over a year in this industry and being my first entry into Cannes Young Lions, it’s like I’m on this amazing roller coaster.
“Going to the competition with an amazing partner-in-crime like Caroline, I can’t wait to go to Cannes and smash the global competition as well as meet all the amazing creatives in our industry.”
What excites you most about attending the festival?
Caroline: “Trust me, I’ve been crafting my festival itinerary for four years, I’ll be leaving no stone unturned. I wish I could be nonchalant and say I’m most excited for the rosé, yachts, and gorgeous weather, but it’s going to be a mean feat for Tara to pull me out of the Learning Campus.
“The 2025 speaker line up hasn’t been released yet, but if Queen Latifah or Mike Cessario (Liquid Death CEO) come back, you better bet I’ll be front and centre. I’m also massively excited about competing in the Global Young Lions Competition during the festival. I can already taste the post-submission Prosecco.”
Tara: “Is it cheesy to say all of it?! I can’t wait to soak up all the amazing creative knowledge and also network with inspiring creative people in this industry. I want to be a sponge and take it all in. This is my first time going to a festival this size so I’m excited for it all! And of course to compete in the Global Young Lions Competition at the festival and hopefully come up with another winning idea!”
What was the inspiration behind Sizzle Sessions? How did you come up with the idea of a virtual lunch-spot for media learning?
“Truthfully, we were both stumped when we first read the brief. But the creative thinking clicked once we identified our key insights: media professionals feel they’re not upskilling fast enough with the pace of innovation, they prefer bite-sized learning; and those who experience a course taster are 30% more likely to enroll in the full programme. This led us to begin ideating on how we can make ‘lunch and learn’ sessions actually fun and engaging, and not just a glorified way to work through your lunchtime.
“Sizzle Sessions is a virtual restaurant that lives on our target audiences’ favourite food delivery apps. This platform allows us to position our restaurant close to our audience’s workplaces, leverage the existing customer base of corporate food delivery accounts, and encourage them to organise a virtual lunch and learn, powered by the Media Business Course. Once potential attendees have had a taster, they are primed to want to discover the full-course meal.”
“Crazy and brilliant at the same time. It takes advantage of an interesting moment, finding a fresh and innovative perspective to address the brief. The execution is bold, showing a unique approach that effectively engages the audience while maintaining relevance to the objectives.
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The judges were looking for creativity, effectiveness, and innovation. Why do you think your concept did that?
“We think they liked how we solved a business and consumer problem with a very simple, refined strategy and “out there” creative solution. Our idea was obscure at first glance, but obvious once you understood the problems we were trying to solve.
“It was also a really fun way to target a difficult to engage and expensive to target B2B audience with an non-traditional media stream, where most other entries likely targeted through LinkedIn.”
How do you see the future of media upskilling evolving, and where does a concept like Sizzle Sessions fit into that landscape?
“Our research revealed that media professionals feel overwhelmed by the rapid pace of innovation, even just keeping on top of AI advancements could be a full time job in itself. As we see it, the more innovation, the more opportunity. The less people clued into it, the more likely you are to stand out. So it’s not about knowing everything—it’s about discovering little nuggets of information that can spark inspiration or further research.
“That’s why we love Sizzle Sessions: it offers media professionals a taste of fresh insights and innovations, empowering them to develop their own unique perspectives and ideas. In the end, it helps accelerate the creation of distinct strategies that truly engage and excite audiences.
“Ultimately, this innovative content platform, powered by the Media Business Course, reinforces its position as the leading course in the industry and highlights the incredible opportunity that attending the full course presents.”
