Opportunity brief
About the Event
Why do certain brands instantly catch your attention? Often, it is their colours, typography, layout, and overall aesthetic.
Brand Bandits is a design and marketing competition that challenges you to explore the psychology of branding by creating original copycat brands inspired by well-known brands while maintaining a distinct identity.
The Challenge
On 26 October 2026, participants will receive a list of 25 well-known brands across food and beverages, personal care, fashion, technology, automotive, and more. Choose any 3 brands and create a distinct copycat brand for each within the competition period.
Deliverables
For each selected brand, your submission must include:
- Original brand reference
- Copycat brand name (completely original, with no phonetic similarity to the original)
- Copycat logo
- Promotional banner (digital mockup)
- Legal justification (50–100 words) explaining the changes made to establish a distinct identity
- Design rationale (50–100 words) explaining the visual and psychological principles behind your design
The Golden Rule: Copy the Feeling. Change the Identity.
Capture the original brand's colour palette, general font style, layout, graphic motifs, and overall aesthetic. However, change the brand name, logo shape, mascot, exact typeface, and distinctive trademarked elements. Your design should evoke the original brand without being confusingly similar.
Judging Criteria (100 Points)
- Trade Dress Accuracy: 25 points
- Legal Evasion: 25 points
- Creativity and Originality: 20 points
- Legal Justification: 15 points
- Banner and Presentation: 15 points
Eligibility
- Open to all currently enrolled undergraduate and postgraduate college students.
- Individual participation only. No teams are allowed.
- One registration per person.
- A valid college ID must be provided upon request.
Submission Guidelines
- Submit one PDF or PPTX containing all three brand designs.
- Maximum 15 pages/slides and 20 MB.
- File naming convention: YourName_BrandBandits_Submission.pdf
- Submit your final deliverable through the submission facility provided on Unstop before the deadline.
- All three designs must be submitted together. Selected brands cannot be changed after submission.
Disqualification
Submissions involving identical or near-identical designs, use of original brand names or mascots, colour-shifted logos, tracing or rotating existing logos, plagiarism, or derogatory or offensive content will be disqualified.
Prizes
- First Prize: Rs. 5,000
- Second Prize: Rs. 3,000
- Third Prize: Rs. 2,000
Important Dates
- Event Starts and Brand List Release: 26 October 2026
- Submission Deadline: 29 October 2026
- Results Announcement: 1 November 2026
General Guidelines
All submissions must be original. Participants retain ownership of their work while granting the organisers permission to display submissions for event-related purposes. Participants are responsible for respecting third-party intellectual property rights. Judges' decisions are final and binding.