Media agency Vizeum has teamed up with marketing and advertising festival MAD//Fest and young entrepreneur Jack Parsons to ensure the media leaders of tomorrow come from as diverse a range of backgrounds as possible.
The partnership, titled Flourish, will see Vizeum open the doors of the festival to 25 young people currently outside of the industry, who are looking to get their first step on the media ladder.
Flourish will focus on supporting the progression of people from lower socio-economic and ethnic minority backgrounds – groups that are historically poorly represented in the media industry.
The young people accepted on the programme will devise and pitch a marketing campaign to Vizeum, based on their experience of attending workshops and networking at MAD//Fest. After, Flourish attendees will be paired with mentors and put forward for interviews with the festival’s partners.
Entrepreneur Jack Parsons, 25, has been enlisted as ambassador; after a challenging upbringing, Parsons has picked up multiple young leader awards and is CEO of Big Youth Group, a collective of youth-first companies that exist to improve the offs for young people.
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Vizeum, whose clients include AB InBev, Burger King and IKEA, has committed to making diversity the norm in the workplace and enabling talent from under-represented groups to succeed through initiatives such as its sponsorship of Brixton Finishing School.
“Diversity is high on our agenda, firstly because of our commitment to create a fairer society, but also because we recognise the business value that diversity brings in the form of creative thinking,” said Tia Castagno, global head of innovation and chief client officer, Vizeum.
“Personally, as a mindfulness teacher and coach, I believe there are no limits to human potential if nurtured in the right way, and we must revisit our construct of ‘Talent’ as a given quantity at birth.”
Dan Brain, co-founder, MAD//Fest London, added: “Our partnership with Vizeum is a fantastic way to bring the best talent to the top of the table, regardless of their background. It provides a platform for senior industry leaders to address diversity in a meaningful way, tackling taboos that are often hard to quantify and switching employers on to the creativity, innovation and business benefits of a diverse workforce.”
Young people aged 16-25 who are not currently employed in the media industry can apply to be part of Flourish here.
Launched earlier this year, MAD//Fest London is a new invite-only festival that will connect 2,000 marketing, advertising and disruptive technology leaders.
Speakers include futurist Shivvy Jervis and leaders from Disney, Domino’s, Huawei, Monzo, Uber, Samsung, Direct Line, Google, Pernod-Ricard and Diageo.
The festival will take place on the 28-29 November, at the Old Truman Brewery.
