Shortlist revealed for 2024 Talent Trailblazer Award

Marketing Week and the Advertising Association have announced the shortlist for the 2024 Talent Trailblazer Award.

The free-to-enter award spotlights the efforts of individuals and organisations to open up the marketing industry to new talent, particularly to those who may not have considered the sector as a career option previously. The award is a partnership between Marketing Week and the Advertising Association.

The shortlisted nominees for the 2024 Talent Trailblazer Award are:

• The Cameron Day Charitable Trust for ‘Roulette’
• John Doe Group for ‘Unlocked Internship Programme’
• The Marketing Academy Foundation for ‘BeTheOne Bootcamp’
• Vantage Partnerships for ‘Vantage talent inclusion and development programme’
• WYK Digital for ‘Breaking down barriers to careers in media’

The shortlisted initiatives take various forms, such as offering paid internships to groups underrepresented in the industry, utilising apprenticeships to encourage greater diversity, building career-focused skills and supplying grants.

The Cameron Day Charitable Trust is a charity that provides tutor-nominated grants to graphic design students. The Trust is shortlisted for its ‘Roulette’ programme, a competition that provides graphic design students opportunities to work with studios and raises money for grants.

The John Doe Group’s ‘Unlocked’ scheme aims to secure access to paid internships for underrepresented emerging talent. The scheme is particularly aimed at redressing the lack of representation across the industry of people of colour and those from low-income backgrounds.

Also on the shortlist is the Marketing Academy Foundation, which introduced a high-intensity bootcamp scheme to help young people thoroughly develop their employability skills, for example through mock interviews.

Vantage Partnerships is nominated for its multi-faceted talent inclusion and development programme. The programme utilised apprenticeships, school outreach, partnership initiatives and mentoring, all designed to help open up the industry to more diverse talent.

Hiring entry-level talent can be a challenge for businesses, while young people from under-represented backgrounds can struggle to find their first roles in the media industry. WYK Digital has aimed to address both these challenges by introducing free skills and jobs-focused training, targeting young people who might not have otherwise considered a career in advertising.

The shortlisted selection was determined by a jury consisting of GiffGaff CEO Ash Schofield, Havas group chief people officer Ewen McPherson, Advertising Association (AA) commercial director and inclusion lead Sharon Lloyd Barnes, global managing director of Grace Blue Partnership Sarah Skinner and Richie Booker, head of diversity and belonging at Hearst UK.

Russell Parsons, Editor-in-chief of Marketing Week, says: “It’s a pleasure to put Marketing Week’s name to this award, and to give much deserved credit to the shortlist, all of whom are doing noteworthy work to open up the industry to diverse talent. Congrats to all.”

“This year’s entries again included some really inspirating initiatives, all demonstrating a real commitment to attracting and supporting talent that might not have thought about advertising and marketing as a career,” says Lloyd Barnes.

Broadening access to the marketing industry continues to be a drumbeat issue for Marketing Week, expressed through editorial content such as the long-running Opening Up series.

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Ensuring the marketing industry can access, attract and retain a more diverse range of talent is also an ongoing focus for the Advertising Association. The AA launched its Talent Plan in January 2023, highlighting the industry’s need to attract new talent, maximise the opportunities presented by the government’s apprenticeship scheme, and address how the sector retains and develops talent to truly compete with other industries.

Last year’s winner of the inaugural Talent Trailblazer Award was VCCP’s Stoke Academy. The Stoke Academy is designed to inspire, identify and unlock creative talent in Stoke, enabling young people to pursue successful careers in marketing and advertising without the need to relocate to London. The academy’s mission is to make the industry accessible and socially diverse through work-experience opportunities, skills training and career guidance.

The winner of the Talent Trailblazer Award will be announced at the Marketing Week Awards ceremony on 7 November. At the same time, the winners for 29 judged categories in the Marketing Week Awards, in partnership with Ozone, will be announced.

The shortlist for the awards was announced in July. Marks & Spencer is among the brands leading the shortlist, having been nominated in four categories. Rival retailers Aldi and Ikea are also up for four nominations each. That tally is matched by travel brands Uber, Transport for London and Travelport, as well as the BBC.