Investing in talent

Digital Cinema Media’s CEO Simon Rees talks about the importance of attracting and nurturing new talent in the media industry.

Earlier this month I attended the dinner to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Advertising Association’s Media Business Course. The course is created and run by advertisers, for advertisers, and this year was a special one.

Inspiring figures from our industry, including Cilla Snowball, group chairman and CEO of AMV BBDO and Sir John Hegarty, creative founder of BBH, reflected on the best of the past 50 years, while also ensuring the course remained fresh and relevant to today’s business challenges.

Two of our talented young team were in attendance and the course is a key part of our reward and recognition programme. The feedback from DCM attendees over the years has been fantastic, as the delegates who tackle a real blue-chip client brief are pitched to by media owners, and then work through the night to create and pitch their own campaign plan.

The D&AD also offers emerging talent the chance to work on real briefs and this year the D&AD New Blood Awards have opened to a wider pool of young creatives, rather than just to those in education.

This shift has come about due to the changing education landscape and the fact that more young creative people than ever, having completed their education, are unable to find a permanent foothold in the industry.

At DCM, we’re supporting these awards for the first time alongside Sky, Nokia, asos and Unilever. With 16 different creative challenges including our moving image category, as well as graphic design, photography, illustration and typography, the New Blood initiative plays an important role in kick-starting careers.

To top it all off, Al Gore and WPP are setting the challenge to tackle their global legacy project – changing habits to change the world. The winners will have the opportunity to attend a special climate summit next summer – and if the idea is good enough, it could become the basis for Gore’s next campaign.

Helping young people and changing our attitudes to the environment are two causes close to my heart so I’m delighted to be involved. Advertising really can be a force for good and it’s our responsibility to attract and retain the best talent with a huge range of skill sets to make a difference to our society.

At DCM, we’ve introduced a quarterly intake of four interns which is very important to me. It’s about nurturing new talent within the advertising industry, inspiring and motivating intelligent and energetic young people to enter the world that we all find so rewarding.

When devising an intern scheme, it’s important it adds value to the individuals by adding value to the business, and is not relegated to a wasted opportunity to use unpaid labour for photocopying and tidying the stationery cupboard. With four youthful, optimistic and unprejudiced sets of eyes in the building, I also see it as a chance to gain new ideas and thoughts on how we can change our businesses for the better.

More than providing an introduction to a career in media, my mandate is to encourage young people to think deeply about themselves as they face up to the complexities of finding a career in today’s media environment.

These talented individuals are our future leaders and we must ensure they are trained and motivated to embrace the ever-changing world of communications.

This is why we’re also a partner of NABS, our industry charity, which provides support in the form of soft-skills workshops, evening talks from industry luminaries and the Fast Forward initiative for rising stars who get to be mentored in a ten-week programme and then pitch to a real client – as well as an advice helpline and financial support.

NABS recently asked some of our industry luminaries what they would tell themselves when they were about to embark on their careers.

As NABS CEO Zoe Osmond states: “These letters underline that, while technology is changing the profession almost beyond recognition, maturity and experience have an invaluable role to play in nurturing the talent of the future – we are, after all, a people business, and the advice below has universal and timeless resonance to everyone working in the field today.”

My favourite excerpt, which I’ll leave you with, is from Cilla Snowball: “Do the right thing. Give back. You are never too young to be a role model nor too old to need one. Tons of unsuspecting and unpaid mentors will step your way, only too willing to steer you through.

“Listen hard and learn from them. There’s always someone to inspire, to help and to listen. Enjoy every minute. You’re very lucky.”