Insights

Sasha the Mensch is growing internationally with the appointment of creative recruiter, Ro Martese. Ro, a psychologist with a background in human resources, previously held the role of experience manager at Ernst & Young, one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Prior to EY, Ro was a talent connector for Accenture, where she coordinated candidates, leaders and clients to build better teams and help people fulfill their career and personal aspirations. In her new role, she will connect award-winning candidates with top advertising agencies around the world.  “Helping people achieve their career goals while assisting our clients…

Meet Tricia Ting Lee, a creative leader, artist & art director who—after working many years in US—currently leads a team of 20+ creatives at ViewSonic in Taiwan. Her point of view is sure to inspire. If you could attribute one other person or life event to your success, who or what would it be and why? If I were to go all the way back to the beginning of my career, my dad was the first person to encourage me to follow my passion. When my dad asked what I wanted to major in during my freshman year of college,…

The future of work continues to evolve as the pandemic sprints into its third calendar year, keeping people and organizations in flux. Covid-19 brought many major shifts in our day-to-day work and turned the practice of recruiting talent completely on its head. In 2021, we saw many people changing jobs, but these changes were all done remotely, often with the understanding that as things improved, folks would relocate. Only, they didn’t. And as the year wore on, companies relied on hard dates for the return to the office. We are now in a much different situation as candidates are either…

Argentina-based recruiter, Brenna Ferguson, shares her insights on what talent and employers can do to level up their search. What would you say to companies who are looking for fresh perspective and new talent right now as many industries are facing the war for talent? Diversity is an ever present topic for companies right now. It’s been proven that teams of people with more diverse backgrounds get better creative results. Yet many agencies still stick to what they know because of tight timelines, budgets, or frankly because of who you know. Advertising agencies notoriously hire within their “agency experience” world.…

Dany Minaker and Patán Tarazaga have been creative partners for over 14 years, working hand-in-hand on regional, national and global campaigns. We recently had the opportunity to ask them some insightful questions, their answers here. Do you think the pandemic has made Argentina a bigger location for international creative work?  Paradoxically, the pandemic situation was a period of great growth for Wunderman Thompson in the region. Not only for Argentina but also for many WT offices. There was a growth in our business, our capabilities, our processes and our talents. I believe that this is mainly due to three important factors;…

We are happy to share with you some key takeaways from our chat with Polina Zabrodskaya, Creative Director for AMV BBDO. What was the biggest adjustment for you working outside your home country for the first time? Every market has its own set of “it has to be this way” mantras. In Russia, those things mostly have to do with censorship. But when it comes to production — anything is possible. If you wanted to make an app to analyse dog farts, rate them on their artistic merits and sell them as NFTs— there would be someone somewhere in Tver…

Andrea Siqueira, SVP Executive Creative Director for FCB Chicago, has been awarded for her work at Cannes, D&AD, Clio, Clio Sports, FIAP, NY Festival and more. We spoke to her about what’s next in the ad industry. If you could attribute one other person or life event to your success, who or what would it be and why? The fact that I was born in Salvador, Bahia, a very creative but small advertising market in Brazil. From my hometown, I’ve learned the creative spirit of carnival, one of the most diverse and democratic street parties in the world. Today, besides…

Congratulations. An ad agency or company has hired you, your visa has been approved and it’s official: you’re coming to America. Now comes the tough part… and I don’t mean starting your new job. Rather, you’re going to be facing an array of bureaucratic challenges as you get settled, and these can add to the natural stress you feel from the move. For a smoother transition to life in the U.S. of A., I recommend the following steps: 1. Apply for a social security number You can do this once your visa has been approved, even from your home country;…

  A big thanks to Sean Donovan, President of TBWA Asia for sharing his best advice on leadership. What is the number one quality you look for in talent? Over and above the technical ability to thrive at the role in question, there are two qualities I look for that jointly top my list – Empathy and Curiosity. As a talent business, we thrive when our teammates are in an environment where they are dealt with as humans beings and not units of labour. And as humans, our colleagues check in as their workselves showing just part of the picture.…

The Pressure is on for HR and Recruiters, as Agencies Race to the Bottom Line After a turbulent year of layoffs, turnover, and assorted HR complexities, advertising agencies that had healthy fiscal years have relaxed their grip and started hiring at pre-2020 levels. Staff that had been operating with skeleton teams have been able to expand. Many of us in the advertising industry are stretched thin, but as business continues to pick up, demands on internal recruitment teams, in particular, are increasing. Internal recruitment specialists are suddenly handling searches across a wide spectrum – from freelancers to full-time staffers, creative…

  Cher Campbell, CCO of John St., shares some of the adversity she has faced personally and professionally over the past year. We really appreciate her openess and candor. What is one thing you have learned from the past pandemic year that you hope to carry into the future?  I’ve had the craziest year of my life notwithstanding the pandemic. It was a year of distractions. Divorce. Hospitalization. A rare brain condition. A promotion. 2 moves. An electrical fire. 2 very poopy floods. 2 refrigerators died – and I guess they were close with the furnace because it went soon…

  Meeting passionate and creative leaders is part of what inspires us about this industry. We spoke with Sarah Ceglarski, Chief Marketing Officer of Omelet. Read on for more here. What is the number one quality you look for in talent? Critical thinking. There’s rarely a playbook for anything we do in this business, and even with the playbook, we need to challenge ourselves to throw it out and rewrite it. I love it when new people join the team and they’re like, “why are you doing it this way?” And then suggest a genius new approach to something you hadn’t…