Ambidextrous brains required

Marketing Fellowships 2013

WPP Marketing Fellowships

Hello, and welcome to the WPP Marketing Fellowship.

This unique program was established, some 17 years ago,

to create future generations of leaders for our operating companies. The aim was to attract the best graduates, from the world’s top universities, and give them both a multidisciplinary and international introduction to the marketing communications business. In the course of three years, WPP Fellows work in three different companies, learning three different disciplines, and many do so across three continents.

This isn’t simply an exercise in allowing people to fullfil their Gap Year fantasies at WPP’s expense. As business becomes more global and the traditional boundaries between marketing communications disciplines become less distinct, our clients are demanding that the people responsible for their marketing dollars be fluent in the language of advertising, media, branding, digital, research and public relations, and also be able to move seamlessly between cultures. The Fellowship promotes such fluency and flexibility, and as I write we have current and former Fellows working on every continent, in every part of our business. Many now occupy senior management positions.

Some of our current and former Fellows tell their stories on the following pages, and you’ll see that no two people follow the same route. The good thing is that most stay with us, and continue to grow within WPP as new opportunities open up before them.

Over the last two or three years, in the face of difficult economic conditions, many companies decided to suspend, or to substantially reduce, their graduate recruitment activities. We have continued to support the Fellowship, and to move our existing Fellows around the world, because a challenging economy makes the recruitment, training and nurturing of good people more important than ever. We are manufacturers of ideas, and without constantly improving the talent in our company, the quality of those ideas will suffer. To stop recruiting during the financial crisis might have helped the bottom line in the short term, but in the

long term it would have undermined our ability to compete, and to solve our clients’ problems.

It’s not easy to get a place on the Fellowship. Most years, we attract between 1,500 and 2,000 applications from around the world, and hire between eight and twelve Fellows. The application itself requires a great deal of time and thought, and there are two stages of interviews – the second requiring candidates to spend two days in London – before the final offers are made. Many of those we hire tell us that they were intimidated by the odds when they first submitted their applications, were surprised to get a first interview, and shocked to be invited for final selection. I mention this because those people who are most intimidated by the odds might be the very ones we want to employ. So please don’t be deterred by the numbers, and know that regardless of the outcome, there is much to be learned about our business and about yourself by applying to the Fellowship.

There’s no ideal model for a WPP Fellow. Each year we hire people who are very different from previous Fellows and from each other. While we insist on a certain level of academic achievement (minimum 2:1 degree or equivalent), the subject itself doesn’t matter. We’re just looking for interesting, interested people who, whatever they have done so far, have done it with enthusiasm and done it to a high standard. So if and when you complete our online application, please don’t just list achievements, but give us a real sense of the person behind them. Have a conversation with us. Tell us a good story. Make us want to meet you, to talk some more.

If you choose to apply, I wish you the best of luck. And I hope to meet you early in 2013.

Best wishes

Jon SteelFellowship Director

Cover illustration by Allan Sanders.

WPP is the world leader in communications services.

There are more than 150 companies within the Group – and each is a distinctive brand in its own right. Each has its own identity, commands its own loyalty, and is committed to its own, specialist expertise. Clients seek their talent and their experience on a brand-by-brand basis. Between them, our companies work with 344 of the Fortune Global 500, all of the Dow Jones 30, 63 of the NASDAQ 100 and 33 of the Fortune e-50.

It is also of increasing value to clients that WPP companies can work together, as increasingly they do: providing a tailor-made range of communications services, centrally integrated. Some 730 clients are now served in three distinct disciplines. More than 470 clients are served in four disciplines and these clients account for almost 57% of Group revenues. Group companies now work with 359 clients across six or more countries.

Collectively, 158,000* people work for WPP companies, out of 2,500 offices in 108 countries.

WPP, as a parent company, complements the professional activities of our individual companies through initiatives and programs that provide greater value to our clients, competitive advantage to our companies, opportunities and rewards for our people, and accelerate our development in new media and technology.

To meet changing client needs, WPP has developed a Marketing Fellowship Program. Its aim: to develop high-calibre management talent with experience across a range of marketing disciplines.

The Program is unique in its multidisciplinary approach and is designed to complement the recruitment activities of individual WPP companies.

Terms of the FellowshipThe Fellowship comprises three one-year rotations with WPP companies, with each rotation chosen on the basis of the individual’s interests and the Group’s needs. The multidisciplinary rotation is unique in the industry and grooms future leaders in the range of marketing needs of our clients. Senior executive mentors, many of whom are members of the WPP Board of Directors, are assigned to provide overall career guidance.

On completion of the Program, we work to find a position in the Group that takes advantage of the broad experience gained during the three years of the Fellowship.

Career prospectsFellows are most likely to work in a client management or strategic planning role, although some work on the creative side of an agency. Career paths will vary and will depend on the particular skills and aptitude of each individual and the companies selected for the Program rotation.

In some cases there will be an opportunity to work in more than one country.

Successful applicantsAcceptance is conditional on completion of an undergraduate degree (class 2:1 or above or equivalent). Other than that, there are no set qualifications and we welcome applications from candidates irrespective of age, gender or background.

We are looking for people who are intellectually curious and motivated by the prospect of delivering high-quality communications services to their clients.

All WPP companies are Equal Opportunity employers.

Selection processWe will only accept online applications. To apply, please go to www.wpp.com and submit an application by 12.00 GMT, 08 November 2012. Interviews will be conducted during January 2013.

Successful applicants will begin work in September 2013.

* Including associates.

Apply at www.wpp.comby 12.00 GMT, 08 November 2012

WPP communications servicesOur strengths

– The Group’s greatest strength is its client base: a remarkable list of blue-chip businesses, ranging from packaged goods to financial services and hi-tech companies. Many client relationships span several generations.

– In its range of skills and geographical coverage, the Group is unrivalled and has achieved balance in both. We derive 34% of our revenue from North America, 12% from the UK, 25% from Western Continental Europe and 29% from Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe. Less than half of our revenue is now derived from conventional advertising.

– As ever, the key to servicing the Group’s client base lies with the talents of our 158,000 people (including associates) and the skill with which they are developed and managed.

– Through increasing investment in information technology, training, career development and incentive programs, the Group facilitates, encourages and rewards exceptional work – both within individual companies and in partnership with others.

AdvertisingFull-service advertising agency activity – provided largely by five of the world’s top agency networks: JWT, Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, Y&R, Grey and United – accounts for over 40% of WPP’s communications activities and revenues. Major clients include Bayer, Colgate, Danone, Dell, Ford, HSBC, Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly-Clark, Mazda, Procter & Gamble, Shell and Vodafone.

Media Investment ManagementAs media fragments and media owners consolidate, Media Investment Management is increasingly critical. WPP offers four of the world’s top 10 media planning and buying companies: Mindshare, MEC, MediaCom and Maxus.

Consumer InsightWPP’s Consumer Insight arm, Kantar, incorporates such well-known names as Millward Brown, Added Value, TNS and The Futures Company as well as sector specialists Kantar Media, Kantar Retail, Kantar Healthcare and Kantar Worldpanel. The company – employing 28,500 staff in over 100 countries – provides consumer and business insights to over half the Fortune Top 500 companies.

Public Relations & Public AffairsWith three of the pre-eminent global PR companies – Burson-Marsteller, Hill+Knowlton Strategies and Ogilvy Public Relations, and several other leading firms such as Cohn & Wolfe, Penn Schoen Berland and RLM Finsbury, WPP’s PR/PA agencies offer a wide range of corporate, consumer, financial, government relations, issues management and brand-building services.

Branding & IdentityWPP’s Branding & Identity businesses offer specialised expertise in corporate and brand consulting, corporate reputation research, branded events, brand architecture, employee motivation and training, product identity and design, from companies such as The Brand Union, Lambie-Nairn, Landor, The Partners and FITCH.

Healthcare CommunicationsWPP’s healthcare companies, which include Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide, Sudler & Hennessey and ghg, provide integrated solutions – from professional and consumer healthcare advertising and marketing to medical education and the latest interactive technologies – to pharmaceutical, healthcare and life-sciences clients.

Direct, Digital, Promotion & Relationship MarketingIncludes two of the world’s largest and most recognised relationship marketing brands in Wunderman and OgilvyOne Worldwide, in addition to direct, digital and promotion specialists 24/7 Media, AKQA, Blue State Digital, Possible Worldwide, G2, OgilvyAction, A. Eicoff, RTCRM, VML and Studiocom.

Specialist CommunicationsWPP offers a broad range of specialised communications services, including corporate/B2B, custom media, demographic marketing, employer branding/recruitment, event/face-to-face marketing, foodservice marketing, sports marketing, entertainment marketing, youth marketing, real estate marketing, technology marketing and media & production services.

WPP communications servicesOur strengths

Some of the people on the Program

Dale KirsopI can remember when it dawned on me.

There we were, the Secretary of State and I, hurtling down the Kuala Lumpurian motorway in the Ambassador’s Jag, Union Flag fluttering, motorcycle outriders ahead, while 500 irate passengers on the midnight jumbo to London awaited our arrival. Why were we late? The King wouldn’t stop talking, obviously. How do you tell a King you’ve got to dash to your plane? Awkward.

Anyway. “This job is pretty special,” I thought to myself. And it is.

You’re at a scary junction in your life and there’s a thousand ways to turn. Lawyers, consultants and financiers are no doubt schmoozing you with stock photography, animated PowerPoints and massive salaries. But look harder and you’ll notice what’s not on their table. It’s what I consider to be most important: control of your own professional destiny.

At this point, your career aspirations are untested. It’s tempting but dangerous to don the blinkers, and walk blindly into a regimented training program only to regret it later. Thankfully, the WPP Fellowship presents a refreshing alternative. With guidance and mentorship from industry titans, you are free to forge your own path. Where you go, what you do, who you work with… it’s all up to you. Don’t like it? Then change it. WPP will make it happen. That freedom of choice is rare, and to have it in a group as wildly diverse as WPP is truly unique.

My Fellowship took me to every continent. I managed global advertising campaigns, developed smells from scratch, designed new food products, and wrote speeches for the Prime Minister, Prince William and David Beckham. After three years, no other Fellow, indeed no other graduate I knew, had a CV like mine. That’s the whole point of this program – we’re all different. WPP respects and encourages individuality. It’s an incredibly liberating experience. So that’s why back then in Malaysia, and still today, I consider the WPP Fellowship to be so special.

Jessica LehmanThe journey from music teacher in Edmonton to WPP Fellow might not sound like your average progression. But having spent two years coming up with cunning ways of getting 14-year-old boys to sing – turns out you teach them football anthems in four-part harmony – and a further year devising and running education projects for the Royal Opera House, I realised that what excited me most was not the end product, but the creative thinking and problem solving that got us there. Whilst then immersed in running a performance festival in a school’s food garden,

I imagined how exciting it would be to run a large-scale experiential campaign for a global brand. Shortly after that I submitted my Fellowship application, and have not looked back since. For my first rotation I’m working as an account executive at RKC&R/Y&R London. This means being exposed to every aspect of work that an agency does, and every department that is involved in doing it. Vibrant, friendly and fast paced, it’s a thrilling place to learn the craft and gain exposure to the thinking and debate involved in making great advertising. Furthermore, I’m challenged on a daily basis to push the boundaries of my resourcefulness, creativity and organisation – all things which are very handy when your Account Director goes off sick for two months and you are in charge of getting a BBC trail finished and on air. Come September I’ll be sad to leave the team for my next rotation in Asia, but grateful for everything I’ve been able to learn and excited to put it into practice in a different context with an entirely new set of challenges and opportunities. With the Fellowship there’s no time to get comfortable, but that’s what makes these three years so special.

Some of the people on the Program

Emma Ashru-JonesWhen I was eight years old, my favourite story was one by Dr. Seuss about a town with a lazy bee. The town employed a watcher to watch this bee, but in time it became clear that this watcher was lazy too. They needed a bee watcher to watch the watcher. Then maybe a bee-watcher watcher... it was a great story. I told it to anyone who would listen. One day I overheard my parents and their friends grumbling about more middle managers at work and then managers to manage the managers. I had to tell them about the bee-watcher.

That was the first time I got excited about creative responses to business problems.But it wasn’t a straight road from bee stories to billboards. I never imagined I would

end up in marketing. In a bid to discover what I wanted to do after university, I worked for people who inspired me. After stints with a speech writer, an author, a social entrepreneur, a curator, a human rights activist and a Naked Chef, I realised that the golden thread through all of these people’s work was powerful communication. Fortunately, I had this eureka moment around the same time as discovering the Fellowship.

Every WPP Fellow has a unique experience, but I can promise three things. First, you won’t be groomed to become a ‘corporate’ version of your former self. Second, you won’t have to climb up the ladder before being part of making big ideas happen. You will be listened to, while learning to be a great listener. Working in advertising at JWT London for my first rotation, I’m learning from planners with the logic of quantum physicists and the imagination of playwrights. Currently, I’m leading global research on female identity for one of the world’s biggest healthcare companies while trying to crack business puzzles for Britain’s best-loved food brands.

Above all, this job is about people. I’ve met lumberjacks, Olympic silver-medallists and inner-city schoolteachers. And those were just in my cohort of WPP Fellows. There is no mould for a WPP Fellow, but if you are incurably curious, that’s a pretty great start. Oh, and the third promise? You’ll never, ever be a bee-watcher.

Kiernan P. Schmitt Shortly after I graduated from Harvard, I started working for an international broadcast news organization, expecting a world-class experience in fast-paced journalism. Instead I ended up behind a postage-stamp sized desk uploading videos of obese Americans with electronically scrambled faces to play over scripts detailing how McDonald’s was adding an additional 800 or so calories to their value meals. It wasn’t long before I was browsing job postings in search of greener intellectual pastures.

Luckily WPP had recently made a presentation at my alma mater. I was immediately impressed with the Fellowship’s promise of challenging work assignments, creative engagement and, of course, world travel. This was a far cry from browsing stock footage of roly-poly burger-munchers.

Now in my third and final rotation, I can say that the Fellowship has truly earned its reputation. I’ve had the opportunity to work across world-class clients – IBM, American Express and, believe it or not, Lady Gaga. (I even hugged her mother.) I’ve received a stellar education in strategically tackling business and communications challenges. And, perhaps most importantly, I’ve been entrusted with important decisions and continually challenged by my work.

To me, that is what sets the Fellowship apart: WPP genuinely has faith in its young workers’ abilities and makes available all opportunities for growth and success. If the world is my oyster, the Fellowship was the knife that let me pry it open.

Oh – and my desk is a lot bigger now.

Jason RogersIt’s hard for me to hear the word ‘ambidextrous’ (à la ambidextrous brains) and not think about sports because the truth is that I am actually ambidextrous. Before the Fellowship, I spent 17 years competing in the sport of fencing, in which I am a solid left-hander, but whenever I have tried new sports, I have actually had to stop and figure out which hand to use so as to avoid embarrassment on my first go-around. Curiously, I feel the same sensation every day in my current role because each time I approach a new challenge I’ve got to decide which side of my brain I need to use to best get

the job done (and embarrass myself the least). My path to the Fellowship was an untraditional one, although, I should say that it

seems there are no traditional paths that lead this way. After competing at two Olympic Games and having the good fortune to win a Silver Medal in Beijing in 2008, I found myself on a whirlwind tour working to help fencing better align itself with commercial opportunities. It was then that I began to realize that the marketing space was the perfect intersection of my degree in psychology and my love for great strategy. And so, it was through the perspective of an athlete that I set about looking for a professional experience that could deliver the same elements that I had designed into my training program, such as diversity of environment and experience and above all, great coaching. With a little bit of luck I stumbled across the Fellowship website one late night, and it was clear right away that if there were an Olympics in marketing, this was where one should train.

This journey is just beginning for me, and my current first-year role is as an account planner at JWT New York. I’m happy to say that my transition has been smooth, as I’ve had the unique opportunity to work on Brand USA, the United States’ first ever unified global tourism campaign, and have been able to use my experiences as an athlete that represented the United States to help inform a campaign that is fundamentally about how the United States represents itself. I’ll never lose my athlete’s perspective, and so I’m lucky that all the best training is ahead on what’s sure to shape up to be a wild ride.

Alex GrievesBefore I even knew that the Fellowship existed, I was living and working in Beijing, China, doing marketing and PR for a luxury travel company. I slowly realized that I actually belonged agency-side, working on communications strategy across clients and markets. But the question, “where to next?” made me incredibly anxious. Any one choice – professional or geographical – seemed too limiting.

A fateful Google search turned this notion on its head. Upon finding the Fellowship website, I encountered an enticing mix

of diverse roles across the industry, the opportunity to engage with global markets and consumers, and the time and support with which to do so. I was sold on what I considered to be the ‘choose your own adventure’ of marketing and advertising.

Fast-forward a year as I write this from my desk in New York, where I work at The Futures Company. Here I’ve been lucky enough to work on trends programs and futures projects for clients, contribute to internal knowledge initiatives, and learn first-hand the value and variety of market research. Next year, I hope to take what I’ve learned to Cape Town, South Africa, to do a year in strategy at an advertising agency.

On the Fellowship, professional exploration, diverse roles, and international experience combine to form a fantastic foundation in communications. With so many choices in one, what’s not to like?

Jonathan CloonanI’ll tell you a secret. Growing up, I had an obsession with making mixtapes. The tapes were my gifts to everyone and anyone. Parents. Cousins. Neighbours. I even gave one to my first crush. I was eight years old. She was the mysterious, older woman aged 34: my Spanish teacher. I’ve always preferred listening to a variety of songs by different artists rather than playing regular albums from start to finish. “A mixtape mentality,” my mum called it. A mindset that struck again when I finished university and was faced with the prospect of entering the big bad working world.

Luckily, I stumbled across the WPP Fellowship. It seemed to be designed for those of us who were unsure about specialising in any one thing too early. For those who wanted to explore. To be creatively pushed yet intellectually stretched. To see what doesn’t work for them. But most importantly, to see what does. And to have some fun in the process. “Sign me up,” I thought.

Neither of my rotations have let me down. Year one was spent as a strategic planner with JWT London, the ad agency that put the hole in Polo and invented the Andrex puppy. My current role brought me to Singapore to experience the boom in branded entertainment with GroupM, WPP’s media investment management arm. Here, my thirst for variety is quenched. No two days are the same. For example, I recently found myself on a sound stage in a Vietnamese studio attending a reality TV show audition. The weirdest part? I was the casting director. You see, I had come up with a wacky programming idea for one of our braver pharmaceutical clients. Two weeks later, the team asked me to fly to Ho Chi Minh City to make it happen. And before you ask, yes, I’m aware of just how bizarre that all sounds.

Welcome to the world of the WPP Fellowship, a program which plunges Fellows into challenging and often surreal situations. A scheme that hands over the responsibility to sink or swim from day one. A three-year journey for those of us harbouring a mixtape mentality. Time to press play.

Tom RichardsonI was told at interview that WPP looks for “people who light up the room”.

It’s a wonderfully concise description of how we find the best people. It’s not just about enjoying the interview, but about finding people who run on enthusiasm.

This is important for two reasons.First, the one thing that those who succeed in this industry have

in common is an optimism that infects others when there’s really no way of knowing that something will work. Even the best ideas

are fragile, and once moderated by consideration, they can only be carried by conviction.Second, Fellows don’t have long in any one place to make an impact. Optimism gets

things done.By the end of next year, I’ll have spent a year each in London, Shanghai and California,

in research, advertising, and digital. I’ll have worked as part of three different teams, for around 20 different clients. I’ll have lived out of a suitcase for 36 consecutive months, and spent at least six months of each year being either “Tom, who just arrived” or “Tom, who’s about to leave”.

If you read that and it makes you worried, it might be that the Fellowship’s not for you. But if you read it and it makes you excited, if you’re already thinking about a long weekend in Bali between meetings in Jakarta and Beijing, then it may be that you’re just the kind of person we’re looking for.

Some of the people on the Program

Katie ChapinAll of my most memorable accomplishments in life started with fear. I know there are amazing individuals out there who are able to march confidently, unafraid into any challenging situation. I’m just not one of them. But I’ve come to learn that there’s an advantage to feeling that nervous churn of the stomach that comes with fear. It’s that feeling that lets you know you’re doing something worthwhile.

Standing amongst the other 30 Fellowship candidates in London, I felt it. Riding the elevator up to the Landor NY office

for my first rotation, I felt it. Flying across the globe to come work at George Patterson Y&R Melbourne, I felt it. I’m two years into my Fellowship experience and it’s rare that there’s a week in which I don’t experience it.

The Fellowship gives you three years to put yourself outside of what you know: new disciplines, new people, new cultures. How much you learn and take away is a direct result of how much you are willing to step into the unfamiliar. For me, I entered the Fellowship after doing two years at the VCU Brandcenter, a graduate advertising program. During that time, I developed an addiction to the terrifying thrill of being pushed beyond my abilities. I couldn’t fathom that thrill ending. I wanted to keep chasing it. Badly.

So why did I apply for the Fellowship? Because it scared me. In fact, it still does. Here’s to hoping I never lose that feeling.

David StocksWhat Fellows tend to have in common, is they come from very different places and are all looking for very different things. What they also have in common is they tend to find what they’re looking for. WPP has the scale and diversity to give you anything you want, except maybe being an astronaut, but that could be just an acquisition away.

My pre-Fellowship life was in industrial design. I designed toys, medical equipment, house wares, baby bottles and even fire-proof safes! I brought my passion for innovation and invention to WPP,

and WPP gave me opportunities to explore and create in three different agencies, three different locations and in three very different ways.

My first year saw me jump from being a product designer of things, to being a digital account manager of integrated healthcare campaigns at Ogilvy. I helped design, build and manage websites, e-learning platforms, digital experiences and even recorded some music videos (I got to be the clapperboard guy).

My second year was based in Paris, building my brand development and innovation skills, in a new agency and in a new language. Working for ABSOLUT vodka, I have travelled alone through the wilds of Scandinavia and Eastern Europe searching for brand truths from the heartland of real vodka. Putting my industrial design background to good use, I also helped re-design Added Value’s innovation offer and had my first conference paper published: Design Empowered Innovation, which I presented at ESOMAR’s annual industry congress in Amsterdam last summer.

Now in my third year, I’m working at Possible Worldwide in New York as the lead digital strategist over both Pringles and Febreze. My work is allowing me to explore the States. Admittedly some states more than others, with a particular emphasis on Ohio (where P&G are headquartered). But exploration nonetheless!

As my Fellowship has progressed, so has my level of exposure to challenging, stimulating work, and my ability to solve challenges. This accelerated learning curve has unrivalled value in professional terms, but also personally. To travel and work in different cultures, languages and with people from all walks of life can only be a good thing. Coming out of my three-year WPP Fellowship, I am in a far stronger position, both professionally and personally than I would have been otherwise. I feel very fortunate to have experienced all I have over the past three years.

Nomfundo Sarah MsomiI always imagined I’d live and work in different parts of the world, although it seemed like a long shot in the South African township where I was born and raised. With a background in international development, and having worked for various charities and NGOs, I might seem like an unlikely fit for marketing. But that’s one of the key strengths of the WPP Fellowship and the type of applicants it attracts. You’ll often hear a Fellow say, “it just sounded like the job for me” whether they’re recent Bachelors graduates, teachers, neuroscientists or photographers. In my case, an unfulfilled creative

drive and passion for communications hung over my head with each professional choice I made. And the threat only rose to a crescendo when graduate school was drawing to a close and I was yet to come across a job description that sounded like me. I can no longer recall when and how, but the call for ambidextrous brains on the front of this very brochure caught my eye and I knew I wanted to be a Fellow.

Internet scholar Ethan Zuckerman once described as “bridge figures”, people who find themselves at the intersection of disparate cultures and communities, poised to use their unique placement to facilitate meaningful connections between people. This is how I interpret what the Fellowship has allowed me to build on. I have the pleasure of working across disciplines, across agencies and across geographies, which brings with it a sense of responsibility no other job could match. As I wrap up my year as a strategist at Digit, a design and technology studio in Shoreditch (London), I look forward to my next rotation in branding in Bangalore. Once there, I expect I’ll often find myself looking around and wondering – as I often do at R&D brainstorms at Digit – how on earth I got so lucky.

Anita BeveridgeI left university proudly clutching my degree certificate feeling on top of the world, filled with optimism, with a sense that the world really was my oyster! Unfortunately, I graduated into a global recession. Youth unemployment was rocketing to its highest level in decades and I couldn’t move for announcements of graduate recruitment freezes. To make matters worse I had no idea what I wanted to be now I was actually ‘grown up’.

After enduring a barrage of rejections, from an array of companies, I gave up on finding employment and instead decided

to embark on a journey to find my perfect career. A few false starts in retail management, fashion journalism and online real player gaming (oh yes, I was open to everything!) later, I discovered marketing communications. It was the wonderful marriage between wild creativity and intelligent logic, with storytelling at the heart of it all, which struck a chord with me. Pleased with my decision to pursue this path, it wasn’t long before I realised that a whole new set of choices now had to be made: PR or advertising? Media or branding? DM or insights? The list goes on, which is why the instant I heard about the three years of rotations on Fellowship I felt relieved that my curious mind might not have to be put to bed just yet.

I have started my Fellowship journey at The Futures Company in London. My job is to gather information about the world around us and turn this into something insightful enough for our clients to unlock potential growth in their businesses. In my short time here I have already worked for a diverse range of clients, looking into the future of indulgence for Dunhill, hair care for Unilever, taxation for HMRC and (most glamorously of all) loo roll for Andrex! Along with all of the wonderful people at TFC, being a Fellow has given me access to so many truly inspiring people across the WPP network, not least of all the other Fellows and former Fellows themselves.

And the best thing about being on the Fellowship? The feeling that, once again, the world is my oyster.

Some of the people on the Program

Matthew NixonTo many, the phrase ‘career choice’ is an oxymoron. A career isn’t something chosen, it’s something grudgingly accepted in the name of pragmatism and mysterious things called ‘prospects’. The ideal scenario might be to indulge a passion, do something creative, see the world; but the reality of most people’s decisions coming out of university is to play safe, hop on the corporate treadmill, and start counting down to retirement, scratching out a forlorn prisoner’s tally of years passed on an office cubicle’s partition wall…

The Fellowship is different. It is the beginning of a career with one of the world’s most successful companies, but one that is built around giving you real, positive choices. You don’t have to choose between your creative passion and being employed, you bring your passion with you through your three years – most likely it’s what got you hired in the first place. And you do get to choose where in the world you want to work, and in which role or discipline. That’s the kind of ‘choice’ you want.

It’s a ‘career choice’ that gives you responsibility from day one. Lots of companies promise that, but few deliver. Working in a magic circle law firm, you can be promised responsibility and end up on stapling duty, waiting for the day you’re trusted with a hole punch. It’s similar, but less well-paid, in the creative industries, where being a runner or a night shift website assistant is often all you can expect for the first couple of years. To put that into context, within three days of starting my first role, as an account planner at CHI&Partners in London, having never set foot in an advertising or marketing establishment before, I’d written a creative brief, briefed a creative team who were going to turn in into radio advertising, and started helping to advise my new client on everything from sponsorship opportunities to the best way to crack digital media. Baptism of fire doesn’t do it justice – but I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

My second year took me to South Africa, working for The Brand Union in Cape Town. As well as working on developing market clients all across Africa, and some of South Africa’s best-loved brands (which, given the country’s 11 official languages, was never quite as easy as expected), I had the honour of naming a waterpark. And not many people can say that.

Following that, my third year sees me back in London, working on business that spans the globe at Mindshare, developing communications strategies for some of the world’s biggest companies – no waterparks, sadly (maybe that was a one-time thing), but a roster of global FMCG, technology and automotive powerhouses just about makes up for the lack of family leisure clients, and certainly keeps me busy.

With the Fellowship, you get to make the positive choices that turn your talent and passion into a career. And there’s not much more any of us can ask than that.

Our companies and associates

Advertising

ADK1

www.adk.jpbateswww.batesasia.comCHI & Partners1

www.chiandpartners.comDentsu Y&R1,2,■

www.yr.comGreywww.grey.comHS Ad1

www.hsad.co.krJWTwww.jwt.comOgilvy & Mather Advertisingwww.ogilvy.comSantowww.santo.netScangroup1

www.scangroup.bizScholz & Friendswww.s-f.comSoho Squarewww.sohosq.comTAXI■www.taxi.caTeam Detroitwww.teamdetroit.comThe Jupiter Drawing Room & Partners1

www.jupiter.co.zaUnited Networkwww.group-united.comY&R■

www.yr.com

Media Investment Management

GroupM:www.groupm.comMaxuswww.maxusglobal.comMediaComwww.mediacom.comMECwww.mecglobal.comMindsharewww.mindshareworld.comOutriderwww.outrider.comCatalystwww.catalystsearchmarketing.comXaxiswww.xaxis.comKR Mediawww.krmedia-france.comM/Six2

www.msixagency.comtenthavenue:www.tenthavenue.comJoulewww.jouleww.comKinetic Worldwidewww.kineticww.comQuismawww.quisma.comSpafaxwww.spafax.com

Consumer Insight

Kantar:www.kantar.comAdded Valuewww.added-value.comCenter Partnerswww.centerpartners.comIMRB Internationalwww.imrbint.comKantar Healthwww.kantarhealth.comKantar Japanwww.jp.kantargroup.comKantar Mediawww.kantarmedia.comKantar Operationswww.kantaroperations.comKantar Retailwww.kantarretail.comKantar Worldpanelwww.kantarworldpanel.com Lightspeed Researchwww.lightspeedresearch.comMillward Brownwww.millwardbrown.com

The Futures Companywww.thefuturescompany.comTNSwww.tnsglobal.comOther marketing consultanciesohalwww.ohal-group.com

Public Relations & Public Affairs

Blanc & Otus♦

www.blancandotus.comBuchanan Communicationswww.buchanan.uk.comBurson-Marsteller■

www.bm.comChime Communications PLC1

www.chime.plc.ukClarion Communicationswww.clarioncomms.co.ukCohn & Wolfe■

www.cohnwolfe.comDewey Square Groupwww.deweysquare.comGlover Park Groupwww.gloverparkgroup.comHering Schuppenerwww.heringschuppener.comHill+Knowlton Strategieswww.hkstrategies.comOgilvy Government Relationswww.ogilvygr.comOgilvy Public Relationswww.ogilvypr.comPBN Hill+Knowlton Strategieswww.pbnco.comPenn Schoen Berland■

www.psbresearch.comPrime Policy Groupwww.prime-policy.comQuinn Gillespiewww.quinngillespie.comRLM Finsburywww.rlmfinsbury.comWexler & Walker Public Policy Associates♦

www.wexlergroup.com

Branding & Identity

Addison●

www.addison.co.ukBDG architecture + designwww.bdg-mccoll.comColey Porter Bellwww.cpb.co.ukDovetailwww.dovetailfurniture.comFITCH●

www.fitchww.comLambie-Nairn●

www.lambie-nairn.comLandor Associates■,●

www.landor.comPeclersParis●

www.peclersparis.comThe Brand Union●

www.thebrandunion.comThe Partners●

www.the-partners.comVBAT●

www.vbat.nl

Healthcare Communications

Feinstein Kean Healthcare†

www.fkhealth.comGCI Healthwww.gcihealth.comghgwww.ghgroup.comOgilvy CommonHealth Worldwide www.ogilvychww.comSudler & Hennessey■

www.sudler.com

Direct, Digital, Promotion & Relationship Marketing

A. Eicoff & Cowww.eicoff.comActis Systems+

www.actis.ruAGENDA+

www.agenda-asia.com

AKQAwww.akqa.comAqua+

www.aquaonline.comBarrows1

www.barrowsonline.comBlast Radius+

www.blastradius.com Brierley & Partners1

www.brierley.comDesignkitchen+

www.designkitchen.comDeliver/Hogarthwww.deliveroffshoring.comDialoguewww.dialoguelondon.comDigitwww.digitlondon.comEWAwww.ewa.ltd.ukFullSIX3

www.group.fullsix.comGrass Roots1

www.grg.comG2www.g2.com– G2 Branding & Design– G2 Interactive

– G2 Direct & Digital– G2 Promotional Marketing

Headcount Worldwide Field Marketingwww.headcount.co.ukHigh Co1

www.highco.fr iconmobile■

www.iconmobile.com Kassius+

www.kassius.frKBM Group+

www.kbmg.comMandowww.mando.co.ukMaxx Marketingwww.maxx-marketing.comOgilvyActionwww.ogilvyaction.comOgilvyOne Worldwidewww.ogilvy.comOOT2

www.oot.itRTCRM■

www.rtcrm.comSmollan Group1

www.smollan.co.zaStudiocom■

www.studiocom.comThese Days+

www.thesedays.comVML■

www.vml.comWunderman■

www.wunderman.com

Specialist Communications

Corporate/B2BOgilvy Primary Contactwww.primary.co.ukCustom mediaForwardwww.theforwardgroup.comDemographic marketingBravo■

www.bebravo.comKang & Lee■

www.kanglee.comMosaicaMDwww.mosaicamd.comUniWorld1

www.uniworldgroup.comWing■

www.insidewing.comEmployer branding/recruitmentJWT Insidewww.jwtinside.comEvent/face-to-face marketingMJMwww.mjmcreative.comMetrowww.metrobroadcast.comFoodservice marketingThe Food Groupwww.thefoodgroup.comSports marketing9ine Sports & Entertainmentwww.9ine.com.brJMI3www.justmarketing.comPRISM Groupwww.prismteam.com

Entertainment marketingAlliancewww.alliance-agency.comYouth marketingThe Geppetto Groupwww.geppettogroup.comReal estate marketingPacewww.paceadv.comTechnology marketingBanner Corporation■

www.b1.comMedia & production servicesThe Farm Groupwww.farmgroup.tv Hogarth Worldwidewww.hogarthww.com Imagina3

www.mediapro.es MRC3

www.mrcstudios.comUnited Visionswww.united-visions.deThe Weinstein Company3

www.weinsteinco.com

WPP Digital

24/7 Mediawww.247media.comBlue State Digitalwww.bluestatedigital.com Fabric Worldwide1

www.fabricww.comF.bizwww.fbiz.com.br/Johannes Leonardo1

www.johannesleonardo.comPossible Worldwidewww.possibleworldwide.comRockfish Interactivewww.rockfishinteractive.comSyzygy1

www.syzygy.netThe Media Innovation Groupwww.themig.comZAAZwww.zaaz.com

WPP Digital partner companies

Ace Metrix3

www.acemetrix.comBuddy Media3

www.buddymedia.comeCommera3

www.ecommera.comHDT Holdings Technology3

www.hdtmedia.comIn Game Ad Interactive3

www.ingamead.cnInvidi3www.invidi.comJumptap3

www.jumptap.comMoment Systems3

www.miaozhen.comnPario1

www.npario.comProclivity Systems3

www.proclivitysystems.comSay Media3

www.saymedia.comVice Media3

www.viceland.comVisible1

www.visibletechnologies.comVisible World3

www.visibleworld.comWildTangent3

www.wildtangent.com

WPP knowledge community

The Storewww.wpp.com/store

Key1 Associate2 Joint venture3 Investment♦ A Hill+Knowlton Strategies company† An Ogilvy company■ A Young & Rubicam Group company● A member of B to D Group + Part of the Wunderman networkAs at August 2012.

AdvertisingMedia Investment Management

Consumer InsightPublic Relations & Public Affairs

Branding & IdentityHealthcare Communications

Direct, Digital, Promotion & Relationship MarketingSpecialist Communications

www.wpp.com