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Draftfcb using Imagination to empower young black creatives

The South African advertising industry is embracing young vibrant creative talents and opening career avenues to them through the Imagination Lab, and Draftfcb is working with this inspiring initiative to help identify, nurture and train our youth to ensure a strong industry for the future.

The Imagination Lab network is a Vega The Brand Communications School initiative aiming to develop, amongst disadvantaged communities, those skills used in the advertising and marketing communication industries, and then assisting graduates to secure internships with agencies and other industry suppliers.

South Africa is awash with artistic young blacks who traditionally have shown little interest in the advertising industry and it has become an industry-wide challenge to necessarily entice them into the fold. Says Draftfcb South Africa group human resources director, Lerato Ndoro, "We started looking at our company demographics, distribution of client accounts and to which consumer segments these brands serve. We made recruitment our focus but could not find the relevant people to join our company who understood and lived in those market segments.

"We were in desperate need of fertile ground to breed creatives for future recruitment, and we approached Vega School - a private tertiary institution which offers courses in marketing and communications." Vega started a school called Imagination Lab in Sandton and as part of its corporate social outreach programme, Draftfcb formed a partnership with Vega committing to host students twice a year for ongoing workshops, complementing their theoretical knowledge and providing an opportunity to see how a real advertising agency works.

Draffcb supports the school through financial monthly contributions and imparts experience and knowledge through its free lectures for the duration of the course. The agency hosts workshops on site for the students to get a feel and an understanding of how an agency operates. Redline (Draftfcb's PR company) ensures pro bono media coverage and annually, Draftfcb hosts between 15-20 students for their internship and has consistently kept 90% - 95% of the interns on permanently for the past four years.

Says Ndoro: "The calibre of students produced by the various labs is of a very high standard and has propelled us to new heights in terms of relevant delivery to clients as well as producing the correct creative product first time to the client.

"Most of the Imagination Lab students are still employed by Draftfcb and have produced outstanding work for our clients such as the National Lottery (Lizzy advert). Without understanding the target, one cannot present a solution to the client, and when this project was assigned to a young creative team recruited from the Imagination Lab, they provided the right solution first time."

Currently located in five centres across South Africa (Alexandra, KwaZulu-Natal, Sandton, Westville in Johannesburg and Diepkloof in Soweto), and with plans for more, the Imagination Lab exposes students to a kaleidoscope of creative inputs ranging from graphic design, writing, digital graphics, filmmaking, creative process, performance arts, interior design and fashion design in a one-year certificate programme. With great emphasis on conceptual thought and creative problem solving, these tools encourage the students to explore our diverse cultures and creates a pool of creative thinkers ready to add value to the advertising and communications industries.

Marketing manager of Vega The Brand Company School, Claire Wallace, says: "The student's work has a fresh, raw edge to it and confidently expresses the visual language of the street. Increasingly graduates are welcomed into the industry and there are many inspiring Lab stories including graduates who are now running their own businesses, are junior production managers, juniors marketing managers and junior copy writers and art directors."

Concludes Ndoro: "Draftfcb is proud to be associated with Imagination Lab and proud that we are able to be relevant with our clients whilst creating sustainable employment and exposing these future students to environments where they will be allowed to thrive."

3 Sep 2008 11:01

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