DDB SYDNEY LAUNCHPAD PROGRAMME FOR YOUNG CREATIVES EXTENDED TO MELBOURNE AND AUCKLAND
The unique internship program operated by DDB Sydney and FBI Recruitment for students and young creatives is set to be expanded to DDB’s offices in both Melbourne and Auckland with a series of recruitment evenings scheduled to take place in the coming month.
The expansion will see DDB Auckland and DDB Melbourne now also offering three-month placements to promising creative talent for the first time in the scheme’s five year history. In addition the search for Australia and New Zealand’s brightest talent will now be expanded beyond the traditional pool of AWARD School graduates to actively welcome promising applicants from advertising, design, creative and other relevant courses run by colleges and universities.
The LaunchPad program, which is operated in conjunction with FBI Recruitment, offers those selected the chance to work for one of the top creative agencies in Australia and New Zealand. The lucky candidates will be tackling live client briefs over the 12 week period with a real opportunity to stock their portfolios with a broad range of real work. This may mean they find themselves working on a wide mix of internationally-recognised clients ranging from McDonalds to Volkswagen to Cadbury to Durex.
As recently as August this year, DDB Sydney offered two full time positions to new creatives, Alexander Stainton and Iggy Rodriguez, who had both recently completed LaunchPad internships.
Matt Eastwood, national creative director of DDB Australia is driving the expansion: “Around ninety per cent of the creatives who complete our LaunchPad program find full-time employment at an agency within weeks of graduating. Many of them have gone on to make real names for themselves both here and overseas. The huge advantage is that if you’ve got talent and you’re prepared to put the work in, you’ll end up with a really strong portfolio and some real agency experience.”
Interested candidates are invited to attend a series of introductory briefing evenings at DDB Sydney, DDB Melbourne and DDB New Zealand, hosted by Matt Eastwood in Australia and DDB executive creative director Paul Catmur in New Zealand.
The evenings will give hopeful LaunchPad interns the chance to drop-off their portfolios, meet some of the current DDB creatives and receive a live brief to be taken away for consideration. Decisions will then be made based on the strength of the original portfolio and the response to the brief.
Recruitment evenings take place in Sydney on Friday, September 29th, Melbourne on Wednesday, October 4th and Auckland on Friday, October 6th.
Interested candidates should register with FBI Recruitment on-line at www.fbirecruitment.com or contact Virginia Adler – FBI candidate manager on: +61 (0)2 9247 4755, email virginia@fbirecruitment.com
Testimonials from former LaunchPad creatives now working in both Australia and New Zealand are available on request.
posted by CB @ 11:33 AM
14 Comments:
Guys, this program cops a lot of flack in the industry but I did it and it rocks. I found an awesome job 2 weeks after finishing up and the experience of working at DDB and with Matt was great.
Do it.
Melbourne has run Launchpad for years under Michael Faudet who helped originate the scheme back in 2001.So Matt can hardly be credited for 'driving the expansion'
Tell me 12.24, is your tongue sore?
Yes it is a good program, but lets put it in perspective!
Launchpad is a great way to break into such a tough industry. A chance to get live briefs and get some real work up is an amazing opportunity for any young creative team. I think it's an awesome program and more agencies should take a leaf out of DDB's book.
Wouldbe cool... If DDB Melbourne actually had any good briefs.
Twelve weeks full-time at DDB has gotta be better than doing part-time AWARD for about the same time. I certainly wish that option was available when I was starting out...
who would slag off anyone trying to help give young talent a break in this industry. good on DDB or anyone actively putting their hand up to give junior creatives what they need - experience.
gee you aussies are a pack of whinging pricks.
or is it the poms.
either way, sounds like a good opportunity. it's a win-win for both ddb and the young creatives.
respek.
1.57 – Tongue sore from what? Talking it up??
Mate it rocked. I didn't get a job there but I landed a sweet gig elsewhere AND I learnt how to write an proper campaign – something AWARD never really taught us to do.
At the end of the day, it was tough, but I got what no other agency was prepared to give me – a go. And because you're on minimum wages you're more inclined to do edgy work as there's no pressure to stay on your massive salary and win an award with every charity brief that gets thrown your way.
BTW Thanks Matt, (and FBI) I'm glad the programs expanding.
Does Paul Catmur report into Matt Eastwood now? Surely some mistake?
I am another launch padder.
It was a great time and almost everyone who did it wished they could stay on. Although the money made life a bit of a struggle, I survived for over a year and got 14 tv’s under my belt including a VW spot, so can’t complain. Now that there is the potential if you are really good of getting a job, it makes it even better.
Good luck to anyone applying this year!
What is the story with PC and ME....who's da creative Boss?
I agree with it.
Years ago I came in, nutted out a few ideas there, it was a fairly loose and a not so official thing then. I didn't get a job, infact judging by the looks I got people probably thought I was casing the place looking to flog laptops... BUT I met a good writer, worked together on a book and went forth and got a job. And funnily enough, I still have one.
It's great to see these people doing this. Play it forward.
Does anyone know how long it takes for DDB to get back to you? Or do they only contact the people who got in?
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