PHILIPPINES – JULY 2011 – Omnicom Media Group (OMG) Philippines welcomed a new batch of young hopefuls for its “U@OMG” classes last June. This is the third consecutive year that the network opened its doors to new graduates who have the makings demanded for a successful career in advertising, particularly in media.
The brainchild of the OMG CEO and President Hermie de Leon, U@OMG was envisioned to be an in-house scholastic mechanism where promising young talents are instructed, rigorously trained, and immersed into the insides and depths of the media industry, then later absorbed into employment. De Leon and her team thought that establishing a ‘school’ within the company, simulating a university setting—complete with classrooms, modules, policies, exams, faculty members and mentors—would be effective and fun at the same time.
“We target fresh graduates from different colleges, and then thoroughly screen those who applied in a series of panel interviews before accepting. These youngsters, I believe, still long for that excitement of going back to school every June, so we thought, why not give them that feeling again,” expressed De Leon.
This year, eight new graduates from reputable academic institutions make up U@OMG-2011’s student body. The bunch shall undergo seven weeks of no-nonsense training in the comprehensive program. “This industry is fiercely competitive, so we want to develop these young minds not just to cope and adapt, but to be future leaders in this business; equip them not just with the basics but as well as with topnotch strategies and techniques resulting in breakthrough outputs” said Regie Gavino, OMG-PH’s Insights & Communications Director, and U@OMG’s Head Instructor.
Courses include Introduction to Media, The Communication Planning Process, Converting Insights to Strategy, How to Make an Effective Pitch, Branded Content, Digital, Business Ethics, among others. A case study will be a major part of each student’s revalida, which is critical to their final grading and assessment.
De Leon has high hopes for the young ones even after U@OMG, saying that these individuals (together with the older batches, now part of OMG’s team) are the future champions of the company, continuing what the agency has started and proactively escalating the level of media outputs amidst the complexities of changing times.
