NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- DDB Worldwide
(www.ddb.com) is pleased to announce the global expansion of its
successful LaunchPad talent development program with 14
participating agencies across DDB's network of international
offices, effective January 2013.
Designed to bridge the gap between student and professional
creatives, LaunchPad is a three-month internship program at DDB for
students and young creatives working towards their first big
break in the industry. The staggered rollout for the
program includes DDB offices in New
York, Sydney, Singapore, Chicago, Miami, San
Francisco, Dubai,
Istanbul, Helsinki, Johannesburg, Berlin, Sao Paolo, Buenos Aires and Shanghai.
LaunchPad was created by the Sydney,
Australia, office in 2007 and later expanded to DDB's
offices in Melbourne and
Auckland as its popularity
grew. The global expansion is a testament to the program and
the agency's commitment to bridging the gap between classroom
education and hands-on application, helping budding creatives
differentiate themselves within the competitive advertising
industry.
"It is our responsibility as an industry to grow and shape our
young talent into creatively brilliant leaders of tomorrow's
advertising landscape," asserted Amir Kassaei, Chief Creative
Officer of DDB Worldwide. "I am grateful for the incredible mentors
and agencies that helped me break into the advertising industry,
and the industry needs to focus on training its new blood,
particularly when nurturing talent is considered against the
backdrop of the talent shortage that agencies across the world are
currently experiencing."
The following ad schools and industry organizations participate in
DDB's LaunchPad program to develop talent: Art Center, BYU,
Creative Circus, Hyper Island, Miami Ad School, Parsons,
SCAD, Skidmore, SVA, University of North Florida, Washington
University and VCU.
"We have been participating in the LaunchPad program for several
years now," said Pippa Seichrist,
President and Cofounder of Miami Ad School. "The students started
out interning in DDB's Sydney
office. We're really happy that Matt
Eastwood, Chief Creative Officer of DDB New York, expanded
the program to the New York office
so the students don't have to fly halfway around the world to
intern with him. DDB has so far offered four of our 'Launchies'
jobs upon graduation. LaunchPad is a great way for young creatives
to learn and prove themselves."
Launchies, or individuals selected to take part in the LaunchPad
program, work on live briefs at DDB, and receive real work
experience to feature in their portfolio.
"When I started working with DDB through the LaunchPad program, I
was told that it would be a three-month audition, and that was a
very accurate description," said Alex
Stainton, Copywriter at DDB Sydney. DDB is a dynamic,
creative environment, and opportunity is everywhere. You have to
work harder than anyone else and give it everything you've got, but
the results are worth it. We have pitched ideas for major clients,
presented, sold them, met with directors, shot our first TV spot
and more.... We are launched."
Eastwood added, "In Australia, the
vast majority of creatives who completed the LaunchPad program
found full-time agency employment shortly after graduation. We
found that this program truly made a difference to students trying
to break into the agency world after graduating, simply by offering
them a chance to diversify their portfolios while working in a
fast-paced and dynamic agency environment. So it's exciting to
see LaunchPad expand outside of Australia."
A recent testament to the caliber of professionals the LaunchPad
program produces is the highly acclaimed creative team of
Matthew Knapp and John Downing, hired at DDB New York this year as
Senior Copywriter and Senior Art Director, respectively. The
duo joined DDB New York from the DDB Sydney office, where they got
their start in the industry following participation in LaunchPad
in 2007.
Young creatives starting out in the industry and looking for
their first big break can learn more about the program by visiting
DDB's LaunchPad Facebook page. For additional information on
deadlines to apply for the next LaunchPad session, please email us
at: Launchpad@ddb.com.
About DDB
DDB Worldwide Communications Group Inc (www.ddb.com) ranks among
the top five consolidated advertising and marketing services global
networks, according to Advertising Age. DDB emphasizes
Social Creativity to grow the value and influence of brands around
the world by creating ideas that people want to play with,
participate in and pass along. The agency is consistently one of
the most awarded at the Cannes Festival of Creativity and was
recognized by The Gunn Report as one of the Top 3 Global
Networks for 10 of the last 12 years. DDB was also recently named
the Spikes Asia Network of the Year for the second consecutive year
and the Eurobest Network of the Year for the third consecutive
year. DDB Worldwide is part of Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC) and
consists of more than 200 offices in over 90 countries.
Contact
Christie Giera
Christie.Giera@ddb.com
+1 212 415 2186
SOURCE DDB Worldwide