Pressing Fast Forward for our industry’s rising talent

The talent crisis is one of the biggest problems facing our industry. Whether it’s a case of people turning away from the management track or leaving advertising and marketing roles altogether because of a myriad of issues, we’re losing great people.

This means we all, collectively, need to do what we can to retain and train the brilliant people who could, with our support, have fantastic careers with us far into the future.

Enter my experience of getting involved with a training programme for rising stars — an experience I enjoyed so much that I’m returning to volunteer for another year.

Solving business challenges

Just over a year ago, GambleAware was approached by Nabs with a compelling proposition: the chance to share a knotty business problem with some of the best and brightest new industry talent looking at a variety of ways to solve it.

How? Via Nabs’ Fast Forward programme, which gives the industry’s rising stars the opportunity to come together in teams to respond to a real-life brief. It was a unique opportunity that seemed to be a win-win.

The participants would build their confidence and skills, working with their peers, learning from mentors and speakers, and — this is Nabs, after all — having their mental wellness boosted and supported throughout.

For the team at GambleAware, our chance to be a client on Fast Forward was incredibly useful and insightful. Outside formal pitch processes, it is unusual to get a chance to strengthen your own pitching skills, particularly for members of the team who may not have had the exposure to date.

It helps you focus on how you quickly interrogate a response against the original brief — how you analyse a variety of ideas to hold true to your understanding of your audience, your brand and the challenge in the wider market.

Enthusiasm, creativity and dedication

The first night of Fast Forward is the client briefing. It has all the usual theatrics you’d expect — a lovely room, a (hopefully!) compelling brief and some brilliant talent.

What struck me most was the energy. The questions posed were insightful, demonstrating a sharp understanding of the industry and a genuine desire to understand the problem that we were asking them to solve.

As a client team, the final pitch night was a privilege. I was impressed by the enthusiasm, creativity and dedication of the pitching teams. There was a depth of ideas presented. I particularly enjoyed seeing ideas from the tissue sessions that were not quite hitting the audience insights and objectives of the brief developed and transformed in the final pitch.

The pitches also brought the rare joy of seeing excellent strategic and creative thinking distilled down to 10 minutes. It really showed that where there is clarity of thought, you can tell a compelling story in a very short period of time.

It was a powerful reminder of the immense potential within our industry and the importance of investing in our future leaders.

Sharing experience

I’m looking forward to coming back — this time as a mentor.

Having enjoyed the experience as a client, I am curious to see the process from the other side. The teamwork in the pitching groups last year was palpable. You could tell that people enjoyed being there and the role of the mentors in being a critical friend was integral to that.

I’m looking forward to sharing my experience and learning from this cohort of aspiring leaders.

If you were wondering whether you should send any of your emerging talent on to this programme, I couldn’t recommend it enough. It is an opportunity for participants to build strong cross-industry relationships, learn from leaders and get the chance to hone their pitching skills.

Investing in young talent during this period is crucial and Fast Forward is a clear way to help people get excited about the breadth and depth of opportunities in the industry.

You may even consider getting involved yourself. I can personally attest to the enriching experience of participating in this programme and I can’t wait to see what this year’s programme brings.

Fast Forward 2025 starts on 27 February. Registration is open for the last remaining places. Visit here for more information and to book.