(Intro read in Morgan Freeman voice) This is a story about Meg and Jack, two radio creatives and audio nerds given the opportunity of a lifetime. Buckle up for an inside look into Australia’s hottest new young creative award.

(The remaining article can be read in any voice you like)

MEG: It was March 2025. The day began like any other: snoozed alarms, Vegemite on toast, and light rails into the office. We opened our inboxes to see that our boss, Tim, had emailed us. This wasn’t any old job-delegation email, though; this had been forwarded from the B&T team. Subject line: “Give the Croc a crack????” Initial thought? What croc and who crack. We read on and realised we were staring down the barrel of a competition, The Cairns Crocodiles’ Inaugural Hatchlings competition.

JACK: To save you a Yahoo search, Cairns Hatchlings was established as part of the wider Cairns Crocodiles awards (FKW Cannes in Cairns) to encourage younger creatives with 2- 8 years industry experience to get involved too. Cairns Hatchlings is open to seven categories: audio, design, digital, marketing, media, PR, and video.

MEG: We registered for the audio category, were sent a brief from B&T for Citizens of The Reef and dived (pun intended) into our application. Our task was to create an audio campaign that encouraged volunteers towards the Great Reef Census online. Not having the usual rounds of client feedback meant we had to nail it first go…but it also meant we could push the creative boundaries in ways we don’t always get when working to feedback. Our final product was a written and produced audio campaign designed for both broadcast and podcast, featuring a 3D soundscape that transports you (the honourable listener) to the Great Barrier Reef. We were lucky enough to cast Aussie icon Michael Caton to bring it all to life, and by the end of it all we were just stoked on the opportunity that the application process gave us.

Entries for 2026 Cairns Hatchlings, presented by Yahoo, are open now!

JACK: A few weeks later, the news broke: we were Cairns Hatchlings finalists. We were instantly rich and famous. Without the money or the recognition. A few more weeks later, and we found ourselves hanging loose in the tropics for Cairns Crocodiles 2025. Our first night on tour was a canape-style welcome dinner with the other very talented Hatchlings, industry greats and B&T organisers. Conversations – stimulating. Beers – cold. Net – working.

JACK: After a restful slumber and a call from the town cockerel, we were up and in the briefing room to learn our fate for the next 24 hours. Our live briefing was hosted by B&T, and we were introduced to our client, Christine Amour-Levar from Women On A Mission (WOAM). We were tasked with crafting an audio campaign that attracted C-Suite women to charity-raising international challenges. OK.

MEG: The following 24 hours looked like this: coffee, brainstorm, choose idea, roll with idea, coffee, hate idea, bin idea, brainstorm, pick new idea, lunch, coffee, write scripts, cast voice talent, coffee, build audio, record audio (some of which in our makeshift studio AKA the hotel cupboard), doubt everything, coffee, push on, build presso, gnocchi in a mug, bed, wake up, coffee, brekkie, final tweaks, practise pitch, fight nerves, fight sleep deprivation, pitch (to 6 judges all advertising heros), leave, high-five, pub. An anxious wait was all that remained.

JACK: And by the way, resisting the urge to get stuck into the Cairns Crocodiles delights was no easy feat. What I would’ve done for a colour analysis (Pinterest) while playing a claw machine for Swarovski necklaces (Are Media) while getting a tramp stamp (also Pinterest). Alas, duty called.

MEG: Spoiler alert: we didn’t get the win. But we won hearts (unconfirmed) and won lots of huge learnings, from the winning Audio team (very deserved win) and all the other Hatchlings finalists too (looooots of de-briefing was done at the brewery after). While we’re on the other Hatchlings – AKA the future leaders of advertising – for any brands out there that need creative advertising, don’t fear the future!

JACK: The Hatchlings this year were made up of creative, unique brains and the advertising and arts worlds better buckle up for what’s coming. God bless Cairns Hatchlings for nurturing the talent. The next and final day, we had speed-mentoring.

MEG: Take what you know about speed-dating and replace the hopeless romantics with hopeful creative directors, strategists, CEOs and other industry-greats (Shout-out Lizzie Young!). The mentors were global, coming from around Australia, Germany, India and elsewhere in between, and they all kindly volunteered their time to be interrogated by us Hatchlings. We got 6x 10-minute sessions to sit with any of the mentors and ask for their highly sought-after advice. It was 1000x better than speed dating (trust me).

JACK: The closing party at Mexicairns was the cherry on top of the media-wonderland sundae. Above all, the bowling, pool, darts, nibbles, and refreshments, it was good to shake out the stresses and nerves from a choccablock week.

If we’re lucky enough to have this opportunity again, a few things we’d want to improve:

Our pitching skills
Our deck (graphic designers hmu)
Our clothing choices (Cairns is HOT)

If you’re eligible to apply for Cairns Hatchlings 2026, DO IT. Hopefully, we will see you there!

Entries for 2026 Cairns Hatchlings, presented by Yahoo, are open now!

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