Ogilvy & Mather starts its o25 graduate search for 2017

Creative communications agency will seek to acquire, nurture and develop the next generation of talent through its annual graduate programme

Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) South Africa, the integrated communications agency for the digital age, has opened the 2017 applications for o25, its annual talent pipeline programme. o25 gives graduates real-life work experience in the creative industry, with the opportunity to develop their marketing career.

Through o25, which was co-developed by FreshVision Consulting, O&M will again seek to acquire and develop up to 25 young, dynamic, talented students who are brave enough to tackle today’s communications challenges.

Those chosen will enter an immersive 12-month programme and gain hands-on experience in integrated marketing and in their respective areas of specialisation. Over the past six months, the current o25 class of 22 graduates have already been exposed to disciplines across the agency with facets in account management, business development, client-side experience, creative and strategy.

“Ogilvy has always been known to be the leader in hiring giants for the world of advertising and communication, and to this end we need to find, nurture and develop the next generation of thinkers for not just ourselves, but for the industry,” says Angela Madlala, Director of Talent, Ogilvy & Mather South Africa. “The development of skills is being seen in the work done by the 2016 intake, and the programme will continue to up-weight in digital, social and integrated marketing campaigns. o25 is challenging, yet exciting for those selected; each individual is given real responsibility and has the chance to work on some of the country’s iconic brands.”

Online applications for the programme will remain open until August 26th, 2016. Entrants are given a brief to complete a challenge on Instagram, the fastest growing social media platform in the country. O&M’s senior management will screen applications and those shortlisted will be invited to Super Saturday – an assessment day in either Cape Town or Johannesburg in October. Super Saturday will assess on various areas of agency life such as their ability to work collaboratively, manage complexity and resilience, existing leadership skills, emotional intelligence and conceptual thinking.

O&M will also fast-track up to three highly creative final year students into Super Saturday at the Loerie Awards’ Student Portfolio Day in August.

Check out the Inside o25 blog to see the progress on this year’s programme, and for more information, visit http://o25.ogilvy.co.za/.