J. Walter Thompson Sydney and UTS’ Bachelor of Creative Intelligence & Innovation (BCII) degree have announced a collaboration as part of the UTS winter school.
The collaboration involves senior management from J. Walter Thompson Sydney working alongside academics to mentor BCII students and provide creative methods and innovative insights throughout the degree’s winter school program.
“This is the latest chapter in our innovation program, with BCII opening up endless possibilities for both students and JWT mentors. We are delighted to be teaching, mentoring and working with Australia’s next generation of creative thinkers,” said Jenny Willits, managing director, J. Walter Thompson Sydney.
“Throughout the subject, students will be learning about the past, present and future of innovation, and we will be giving students a chance to put some of our knowledge and methods into action by responding to our brief on ‘The Future of Creative Advertising’.”
Dr Bem Le Hunte, course director of the BCII at UTS said she was thrilled to have J. Walter Thompson on board to work with the students to explore a powerful industry context – the future of creativity within the creative industries.
“The course is specifically designed to take students on a path of discovery and teach them outside of the traditional university context,” she said.
“Our collaboration with J. Walter Thompson ensures BCII students are exposed to some of the most creative innovators in the marketing industry and we look forward to working together to forge industry/university partnerships in keeping with the national innovation agenda.”
As part of the subject the J. Walter Thompson team will mentor students on ‘The Future of Media’ covering topics including:
- The history of the Advertising/Marketing industry – from the Golden Age to the Fragmentation it faces today
- The pain points the industry faces every day
- Different kinds of agency offerings and structures
- Methodologies of working to solve problems and stimulate creative thinking
- Methodologies by which J. Walter Thompson is overcoming industry issues, using innovation focus and pioneering processes
Willits said students from all disciplines – architecture, engineering, business, design and more – will be set a brief to explore future scenarios and to think in different ways to overcome the problems the communications industry currently faces.
“By giving students a chance to put their ideation techniques, design thinking and creative intelligence methodologies to the test, we hope to witness some of the best creative thinkers of tomorrow,” she said.
This collaboration is the latest initiative in J. Walter Thompson Sydney’s innovation program, as it focuses on broadening the pioneering solutions it provides to clients’ brands and business problems.
It’s also established an internal training program to constantly upskill all employees through Curiosity Sessions with innovation start-ups and thought leaders, as well as an external program of events with clients through tech showcases with partners such as Google. They have also appointed an Innovation Manager working alongside Jay Morgan, group digital creative director, to help drive the program and innovation projects with their clients.
