AUCKLAND, Today: Comms Council industry support group First Five Rungs has launched its latest project; a video content series titled Yarns with… , a series of interviews with senior figures in the advertising & communications industry featuring quick-fire questions to bridge the gap between juniors and senior leaders.
The first video launched this morning with interview participants Andrew Reinholds (OMD managing partner, and OMD head of strategy David McCallen ‘yarning’ over a morning coffee and answering industry-relevant questions.
The two share some interesting industry insights and words of wisdom, as well as trying to settle the age-old debate of ‘does pineapple really belong on pizza?’ “The video is light-hearted, snappy and a great piece of digestible content,” says First Five Rungs chair Harriette Hanson.
“The First Five Rungs team noticed how young industry members often feel detached from senior leadership and that, because of their position, these senior figures seem unapproachable or unrelatable.
“The Yarns with… video content series aims to bridge this gap and show newbies in the industry that senior leaders are approachable and have a lot of great wisdom to impart, they just need to ask.
“The videos are also a nice reminder that the senior leaders started out in junior roles once upon a time too.
“A big part of the First Five Rung’s mission is to future-proof the industry, and these videos help by sharing the stories of how ceos and MDs made it to where they are and shapes what success and leadership looks like in our industry.
“There are real learnings and anecdotes captured in the interviews, making the senior leaders more approachable, as well as offering a real inspiration to newbies for what their futures in advertising could look like.
“It’s daunting when you’re a grad and you feel like a bit of a nobody in the agency. We want to remind grads and young industry members that this is absolutely not the case and that they’d be surprised, but the senior leaders are actually super-approachable and have a lot of learnings to share.
“There’s nothing more valuable than striking up a conversation and realizing you actually have more in common than you might’ve originally thought.”
Building on the strong Comms Council and AUT partnership, the First Five Rungs team engaged with several third year AUT film students to help with the production of the videos.
“The videos are a nice reminder that the senior leaders started out in junior roles once upon a time too.”
AUT students Dominique Asser, Jasper Hankins, Diana Simumpande, Campbell Thompson, Josh Meredith, and Raman Mahi took the First Five Rungs Yarns with… concept and helped them bring it to life, enjoying a hands-on film production experience and getting in front of some big industry players.
Under the First Five Rungs watch, the students were responsible for filming the interviews and editing them working within the frameworks set by the group.
Hanson said: “The Yarns with… videos were so fun to produce and we’re so glad they have a raw, real feel. We didn’t want them to look too polished. The whole point is that these guys feel relatable (because they are!), and that definitely comes through in the rustic editing. The AUT students who helped us did a brilliant job and I think they really enjoyed being involved.”
“There are three more videos rolling out over the next few months, so keep an eye on the First Five Rungs Facebook page where they’ll be revealed. The team are also planning on filming more in 2019, spanning more agencies and more great personalities. Watch this space.”
About the First Five Rungs other projects
A group under the Comms Council, the First Five Rungs’ main purpose is to welcome and support young talent entering the communications and advertising industry and be the guiding voice through the start of their career.
Over the past two years, the First Five Rungs’ key activity has been rolling out the Newbies Welcome Pack programme – a special pack to welcome newbies into the industry – and watching the packs success bloom, with the packs now fully self-funded with agencies purchasing them for their newbies. The pack contains a Survival Guide written by the First Five Rungs team, sharing ‘golden nuggets’, top tips from their experiences and what they wish they had known when they first started. The pack also contains useful items and treats to help with the adjustment into the working world and our unique industry.
The First Five Rungs also hosted an extremely successful ‘speed-dating-esque’ networking event earlier this year, First Five Dates. 120 advertising millennials gathered at Bauer Media overs beers and pizza to network with other young, like-minded industry members. Attendees of the event raved about it and the First Five Teams are looking at hosting several more events in the same format in 2019.
About First Five Rungs
The Comms Council Young Leadership Group was formed in 2012 and has since developed into a team who run First Five Rungs, which is a support group for people in the first five years of their communications and advertising career. With Comms Council industry development manager Marlen Smith at the helm, the First Five Rungs team identified an essential need; that new talent needs to be supported to future-proof our industry. To this end, they created a guide/help booklet and selected support products that would be part of an essential Newbies Welcome Pack. The purpose of this pack is to connect and support those entering the communications industry and to reassure them that they are not alone. First Five Rungs also run events and provide support online to their community of thousands.
First Five Rungs Team: Harriette Hanson (Chair), Bonnie Shum (deputy Chair), Jed Misa, Tara Collins, Abel Banda, Lloyd Thomason, Kate Welsh, Holly Eden, Georgia Woodbridge, Sarskia Melville, Scarlett Sneddon, Max Douglas, Marlen Smith (Comms Council), Katie Ward (Comms Council), Kate Cronin-Smith (Comms Council).
- Contact: Harriette Hanson, harriette.hanson@jwt.com (027 636 5643).
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